Our history
We are a family of winegrowers whose heritage is the ancestral and traditional know-how of our ancestors. In turn, we try to develop our 6-generation old vineyard, looking to the future and new practices in viticulture.
Our strength ? Sharing our life as a winegrower and our whole universe, with each of our customers.
The ESCOÏ family's vineyard dates back to the early 1860s, when the family acquired the first plots of vines in the town of Roquecourbe-Minervois: the "Moulin à vent" and "Clots" plots still present in the family estate. today. The wine is then made in a small cellar in the heart of the village which is now one of the family's dwellings.
A hundred years pass and generations follow one another to reach the years 1985 when the castle of Roquecourbe-Minervois, owner of a large majority of the plots of vines in the town, gradually sells almost all of its land. This situation will thus give the opportunity to Philippe, supported by his father Gaultier, then later by his wife Patricia, to settle as a young farmer and thus considerably increase the size of the estate, exceeding twenty hectares.
For more than thirty years, Patricia and Philippe ESCOÏ faced many wine crises and climatic hazards, but continued to expand the estate, convinced that investments would help overcome all these difficult times. For several years, the family has been working to reconstruct the old exploitation of the Château de Roquecourbe and thus recreate this beautiful wine-growing entity.
Today the result is here! The ESCOÏ family has succeeded in bringing together the old cellars of the château and its annexes, as well as a vineyard representing more than 110 hectares of vines. This vineyard is divided into three distinct entities, the first attached to the cooperative cellar "Le Progrès" located in the neighboring town, the Montaude estate, and finally the Clos Joseph estate, created more recently.
Domaine Clos-Joseph
The Clos Joseph estate takes its name from Joseph ESCOÏ, who arrived in France in the 1920s and was cellar master for the Château de Roquecourbe. His garden plot "les Clots" is one of the oldest plots in the family. The term "Clots" designating hollows in Occitan, has been transformed over the years and writings into "Clos", giving its name to the estate.
The Clos Joseph estate represents approximately 15 hectares of vines cultivated according to the principles of the HVE label (culture with high environmental value) and mainly produces wines under the IGP Pays d'Oc appellation in red and rosé.
You can find the different cuvées of the Clos Joseph estate mainly on the mass distribution circuits but also, soon, directly in the tasting cellar of the Montaude estate.
Domaine Montaude
Domaine Montaude is the historic estate of the ESCOÏ family. It is also located in the town of Roquecourbe-Minervois. The main plots of the estate are located on hillsides overlooking the Aude river not far from the village:the "Mont" above the "Aude".
Its vineyard of 9 hectares of vines therefore extends over gently sloping hillsides and the terraces of the balconies of the Aude.
With a traditional grape variety, composed of Carignan, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault in old vines, as well as Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, the vineyard produces wines in AOP Minervois and Vins de Pays d'Oc .
It is with a passionate and resolutely forward-looking effort that Patricia and Philippe ESCOÏ perpetuate a family tradition built by the work of older generations.
Attached to the respect of the environment and their terroir, the ESCOÏ family practices on its vineyard, a culture with high environmental value (HVE), and has been committed since 2019 to an ORGANIC conversion, by putting into practice the principles of organic farming. 'Organic Agriculture.
It is with pleasure that the ESCOÏ family will welcome you to their cellar in the heart of the village where you can taste their various cuvées and discover the old cellars whose vats, built in freestone, have walls and vaults reaching 1.45 meter thick.