In the village of Saint-Chaptes in the Gard stands a former Commanderie of the Knights Templar, built in 1212. It’s now home to La Tour de Gâtigne, a wine estate run by the Guibal family since 1936, where the fourth generation is already hard at work.
The estate was run as a mixed farm until the 1980s, when Jean Michel Guibal turned his attention to viticulture, and particularly winemaking.
In 2005, Jérôme Guibal introduced more change: the focus was now on soil quality and protecting the terroir. He instigated the first trials of clover as a cover crop, known to stimulate microbial life around the vines, protect soil from erosion and reduce the need for tilling. Cover cropping also put a natural limit on yields, leading to better concentration and improved quality in the wines.
Pauline Guibal joined the team in 2009, the year the new wine shop opened. The first wines meeting Duché d’Uzès appellation criteria were bottled soon afterwards, and the estate started its journey towards organic certification.
In 2020, all 103 hectares of vineyard under production were certified organic, and the first AB-accredited organic wines were bottled.
