Cave d'Irouleguy

A most cooperative winery

Founded by Alexandre Bergouignan and Pierre Minjonnet in 1952, the Cave d'I'rouleguy is the major player in the appellation of the same name. Originally, it was composed of 9 winegrowers who decided to join together to develop their production and work towards the recognition of the region's terroir. It is in 1970 that the consecration of the wines of Irouleguy took place thanks to the recognition of the PDO. Since then, the cellar has not stopped growing and today counts 39 wine growers who work for its development orchestrated around the values of cooperation. A simple ethic that guarantees the quality and consistency of the wines: all the winegrowers commit to supplying the entirety of their production to the winery and then participate in the elaboration of the establishment's vintages. The partner winemakers mark the profile of the wines with their own personalities and those of their vineyards. Among them are Daniel Dupuy, Jean-Michel Iribarne, and Christine Iriart, to name but a few. Thus, the Irouleguy winery is today a central player in the Basque vineyard thanks to its involvement in the local economy and which integrates into its governance all of its stakeholders in order to promote the impact of its activity on the communities. Finally, it is also a meeting place. The winery's teams are at your disposal to help you organize your seminars or to welcome you for tours of the winery and tastings of the company's wines and local products.

The diversity of wines from unknown terroirs

Due to the large number of winemakers associated with the Irouleguy winery, the aromatic profiles of the winery's wines are very diverse. Indeed, the mountain vineyards of Irouleguy offer a wide variety of climates and terroirs, and the different estates that come from them each present their own specificities in terms of flavors. First of all, the domains of each winemaker benefit from soils with different geology. Sometimes light on red sandstone of the Trias, sometimes clay or limestone. These typicities of are not to be neglected as regards their influence on the style of the wines. The altitude of the vineyard also allows it to enjoy a micro-climate with wide temperature range and subject to southern winds that cool this southern vineyard. These elements make it the ideal territory to host the typical grape varieties of the region and some forgotten varieties.

The vineyard, planted with almost 90% of red grape varieties, sees vines of Tannat, Cabernet France and Cabernet Sauvignon, typical of the area, while the white grape varieties that represent 10% of the vineyard are less known. Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng and Petit Courbu are some of the old and forgotten grape varieties that have been brought back to life in the South West. The blending of these grape varieties from such varied soils makes all the difference in the elaboration of the Cave d'Irouleguy's wines.