At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Languedoc
- Village
- Pennautier
- Legal estate
- SCEA Château Lalande
- Wine brand
- Domaine Lalande
- Wine categories
- Cabardès, IGP Pays d'Oc, IGP Aude, IGP Cité de Carcassonne
- Featured red
- Réserve Merlot
- Featured white
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Defining feature
- Varied soils and a steel winery
The Producer
At Pennautier, Domaine Lalande makes red and white wines across several geographic categories. SCEA Château Lalande is the legal estate name, while Domaine Lalande is the wine brand. The range includes Réserve Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Les Hauts de Lalande and Château Lalande Cabardès.
Château Lalande Cabardès brings Mediterranean and Atlantic grape varieties into the range. Les Hauts de Lalande carries the Cité de Carcassonne designation. The producer also makes wines under IGP Pays d'Oc and IGP Aude.
Place
The Canal du Midi borders the vineyard at Pennautier, between Toulouse and Carcassonne in the Languedoc region. Pennautier is the village setting, while the wines use several geographic categories on their labels.
Cabardès is an appellation, a regional name governed by production rules. IGP, or protected geographical indication, also links wine to a defined area while allowing a broader set of grape and production choices. Domaine Lalande's range therefore includes both appellation wines and IGP wines.
Soil And Site
The vineyard has soils with a diverse composition. Different soils alter water supply and ripening speed, which can change fruit weight, acidity and tannin from one part of a vineyard to another.
The site is varied rather than built around one named soil type. That variation gives the vineyard several growing conditions within the same property.
Story
Pierre Degroote, a Belgian agronomic engineer, and Bernard Montariol, a French winegrower, acquired Domaine Lalande in 1996. Their partnership brought agronomy and winegrowing together at Pennautier.
Today, SCEA Château Lalande is the legal estate entity, with Domaine Lalande used for the wines. The current range continues across Cabardès, IGP Pays d'Oc, IGP Aude and IGP Cité de Carcassonne.
Vineyards And Cellar
The vineyard includes vines over 20 years old. Production and ageing take place in a steel winery.
Steel is a neutral cellar material, so it does not add oak flavour. Fruit and acidity remain more directly tied to the grape and vineyard rather than to wood.
Wines
The range includes Château Lalande Cabardès as a red under the Cabardès appellation, Les Hauts de Lalande as a Cité de Carcassonne red, Réserve Merlot as the Merlot named red, and Sauvignon Blanc as the named white wine.
Château Lalande Cabardès uses Mediterranean and Atlantic grape varieties. The broader range also includes wines under IGP Pays d'Oc and IGP Aude, giving the bottles different geographic positions alongside their grape names.
In The Glass
Château Lalande Cabardès is concentrated, with blackcurrant fruit and length from its Mediterranean and Atlantic grape varieties. Les Hauts de Lalande combines red fruit with roasted spices, richness and smoothness.
Réserve Merlot 2024 shows a fruity profile with oak, lavender, vanilla, liquorice and chocolate. The palate is supple, with natural tannins balanced by deep fruit.
Sauvignon Blanc 2025 has good acidity and balance, giving a rich mouthfeel and good length.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Domaine Lalande Réserve Merlot 2024. Its label foregrounds Merlot and the vintage, while the Cabardès and Cité de Carcassonne wines foreground geographic designations. It is the clearest bottle for seeing how Domaine Lalande uses a grape name as a range marker alongside its appellation and IGP wines.
Anecdote
Local tradition holds that Paul Riquet, the architect of the Canal du Midi, drew the plans for the historic canal at the Lalande property in the seventeenth century. The vineyard lies at Pennautier, between Toulouse and Carcassonne in the Languedoc region, and the canal borders it. Riquet's work belongs to canal history, while Lalande's wines come from the vineyard beside that route.
Final Word
Domaine Lalande is a Pennautier producer with a vineyard beside the Canal du Midi, varied soils, a steel winery, and wines that move between Cabardès and IGP categories.
Sources
- www.hachette-vins.com/guide-vins/producteurs/35849/scea-ch-lalande
- www.hourlierwines.co.uk/collections/domaine-lalande
- www.hourlierwines.co.uk/products/les-hauts-de-lalande-cite-de-carcassonne-red
- www.hourlierwines.co.uk/products/chateau-lalande-cabardes-red
- www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/2229901
- www.cwwsc.net/resultados/resultados-2024/ficha-producto.html?product=649
- www.cwwsc.net/results/results-2025/product-sheet.html?product=419