Château de Paraza
Passion for wine, travel and history
Back in 2005 Annick and Pascal Danglas threw themselves into a new adventure by renovating a French wine estate Chateau de Paraza. Driven by the family spirit, the Château de Paraza relives: from the parents to their three children, everyone is involved in hands-on work with the vineyard.
Situated in one of the oldest areas of France, this estate also bears a rich history. In the seventeenth century, the engineer Paul Riquet stayed there when supervising the building of the Canal du Midi that connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
The classification, grape varieties and terrain
Minervois is one of the oldest Mediterranean vineyards. The Romans were the first to establish the first vines in Languedoc Roussillon. Vineyard is located in the Minervois part called “Les Serres”. This soil is essentially characterized by a clay-limestone soil dating from the tertiary period. The average age of the vineyard is thirty years old while the oldest vines, those giving birth to our great wines, are 50 years old. Château de Paraza grows Grenache Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Mourvèdre and Marselan for their red wines. Marselan is a fairly new and local variety, a crossing between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache created in the 1960s. For their whites, they grow Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. They also produce several excellent rosés.
Typically soil types include clay-limestone or clay-pebbles. The family devotes a lot of attention to winemaking with details of control of water consumption, recyclable packing and maintenance of biodiversity.
