Welcome to the website of the Château du Grand Caumont AOC Corbières since 1985, one of the jewels in the crown of the Corbières appellation.

The estate already existed in Roman times. There was a large house built here known as Villa Manzanetto. Several centuries later, the estate came into possession of Charles II of France, who offered it to his nephew in 847.

During the French revolution in 1789, the castle and all its outbuildings were entirely burned down. In 1850 the estate was bought by Auguste Sarda who reconstructed the buildings, planted the vineyards and built the winery. Through these efforts Grand Caumont became an experimental estate, presented as a model throughout the region and was even awarded a diploma.

In 1906, Louis Rigal who originated from the Aveyron and was founder of the famous Roquefort cheese company which carries his name, bought the estate as his family home and later handed it down to his son Louis Rigal.

IIn the early 1980s his wife Françoise Rigal took the reins of the family estate with drive and enthusiasm. She took over the management, modernised the operations and established the bottled wine marketing company. She made numerous improvements in terms of grape varieties planted while making sure to keep the precious old Carignan. Certain parcels were replanted with AOC varieties: Syrah,Grenache noir and Grenache blanc and others for Vins de Pays wines, with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon... At this time Corbières became an AOC appellation. She very carefully oversaw the total renovation of the winery, its materials and the buildings on the estate and deployed a very strict quality policy which has more than yielded its fruit in terms of the number of medals and distinctions won by the estate’s wines throughout the world.

In 2003, her daughter Laurence joined her to help run the estate further to having spent fifteen years in the marketing and communication sector in Paris. On the strength of her experience in the field of marketing and her international business knowledge, Laurence Rigal is now opening the sale of the family’s character filled, elegant, aromatic wines to new clients in France and abroad and is developing new types of wines to respond to the present day expectations of wine lovers around the world.

The estate itself is a beautiful site and well worth a visit. There is a Moorish tower from the top of which one can look over the entire estate.

The various buildings and outbuildings around the house represent nearly one hectare of roofing .

There is also a 13th century noria, a well covered with a magnificent stone vault, with walls over one metre thick, from which water was drawn by a wheel and pulley system drawn by a donkey.

The winery, which was formerly equipped with magnificent, imposing oak vats painted in red, is today home to cement vats and also shiny-finished stainless steel vats.

The old stone walls of the winery are covered with the many diplomas awarded to the estate’s wines and are also decorated with old vine cultivation and wine making tools.