Domaine Caillaubert - famille Tariquet

This is one of the sites of the Tariquet's vineyards.
The Domaine du Tariquet has a long history as an Armangac producer, likely back to 1683, the same year that some of the buildings also date.
But the Artaud/Grassa family only bought the estate in 1912, thus they already celebrated their 100th anniversary.

History: Pierre Grassa was born in France to Spanish parents from the Sierra de Guara, just the other side of the Pyrenees. He spent most of his youth outdoors, as a cowherd or manual labourer, and had little formal education; he became a hairdresser. But 1939 marked the end of Pierre’s career, as mobilization for World War II changed the course of his life. Taken prisoner of war with his battalion, captivity was unbearable for this restless character. He escaped and joined the Resistance in South West France, in Éauze to be precise--home to Tariquet, where he met Hélène Artaud.
They got married and together brought a new lease of life to Tariquet. The château and property need restoring to their former glory. Soon, thanks to Hélène and Pierre’s efforts, Tariquet’s vineyards are once again producing Bas-Armagnac brandies. They had four children, Maïté, Christiane, Françoise and Yves. Maïté and Yves choose to remain on the property and continue the family tradition.
In 1972 they created the first company with their father, boosting sales of Bas-Armagnac brandies produced at the property.
In 1982, they started producing white wines—only white wines are grown at Tariquet. A pioneering step for the region, as they became the first Gascon wine bottled at the estate. Previously it was only bulk wines in Gascony.
Yves’ sons, Armin and Rémy, are now winemakers themselves and run the estate. Yves now lives in Romania and grows wheat and corn.
Domaine du Tariquet today is the largest single family estate within one appellation in France. They have 950 hectares of planted vines.
Yves Grassa also made a number of innovations at the estate. He placed presses and tanks in each of his three vineyards, so a truck could move the must without losing freshness; dry ice is used during transport.
He also designed a machine harvester that has a destemmer attached. He invented this in order to avoid this operation at the winery, save time and so, to avoid oxidation.
He was also among the first in France to put a water treatment facility at his estate, so that water used in the winery could be reused.
Domaine du Tariquet’s wines are also imported to the U.S. A.

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