Our story
History of the Laurent Cassignol winery
Presentation
The Laurent Cassignol winery, located in the upper Corbières in the heart of the Aude department, is a place rich in history and tradition.
The house dates back to the late 18th century and was part of a group of three estates inherited through various marriages: Fonjoncouse, Durban and Villeneuve-Les-Corbières.
Founded at the end of the 18th century, the winery has been run by the Cassignol family for several generations and has undergone several changes over the centuries.
The winery over the centuries
Originally used for mixed farming (olive trees, wheat and vines), the land was gradually turned over to vine and wine growing at the end of the 19th century by Léon Bellissent and Noémi Gazaniol, the parents of Laurent Cassignol’s great-grandmother Jeanne, born in 1889.
The arrival of phylloxera in the early 1870s forced the entire estate (250 acres) to be pulled up in one year. It took three years to replant and five years to harvest the first grapes. Throughout these years, with no harvest and no income, the estate’s 18 employees were kept on.
From generation to generation
When her parents died, Jeanne took over the property with her husband Pierre Cassignol, a 33-year-old colonial infantry captain. They had two children, Jean, born in 1906, grandfather of Laurent Cassignol, and Anne-Marie. Pierre died at the start of the war in August 1914 in Zillishein, where he was commanding the 280th infantry regiment, leaving his 19-year-old wife and two children aged 8 and 4. Jeanne remarried in 1919 and ran the winery with her husband until 1958, when her son Jean took over.
Jean Cassignol
In 1958, on his return from Algeria where he had been chief medical officer in a military hospital, Jean Cassignol set up as a general practitioner in his native village and took over the running of the family winery at the age of 52. He carried out major renovation work in the 1970s and 1980s, renewing a large part of the winery.
Married to Gisèle Hermitte (born 1917, died 1985), whom he met in Algeria, they had three sons, Pierre, the eldest, born in 1940, Philippe, Laurent’s father, born in 1943, and Michel, born in 1950. He handed over the running of the winery to his son Philippe in 1976.
Philippe Cassignol
Philippe Cassignol, a dentist, took over the running of the winery at the age of 36, two years before the death of his father in 1978 at the age of 72.
Under his impetus, the winery became a private winery in 1987, which he called Château L’Espigne, in reference to the hill on which the plots are located. He would use this name again for the estate’s first cuvée. Married to Claude Parmentier, he has three children, Laurent, born in 1969, Anne and Marion.
From 2006 onwards, Philippe passed on his expertise to Laurent, leaving him to manage the estate in 2018. He continues to work at the winery today.
Laurent Cassignol
In 2006, after a career as a military doctor in France and abroad, Laurent Cassignol moved to Perpignan with his wife Florence to be closer to the family winery. They have three children, Jean, Martin and Louise, whose first names inspired the names of three vintages in our current range. Initially an emergency doctor in Perpignan, he honed his winegrowing and oenological skills with his father in the cellar and in the vineyards. A true self-taught man, he also obtained a BEPA certification in viticulture and œnology, the first diploma enabling him to manage a winery.
While continuing his second job as an emergency doctor at Narbonne hospital, it was in 2018, 12 years later, that Laurent Cassignol took over the family business: his project, his duty, his story.
His first initiative in 2019 was to convert the vineyard to organic farming, with a focus on biodynamic viticulture, in order to offer a wine of the highest quality that is eco-responsible.
« Each generation that has cultivated the vines has had a very different approach, and each time, the new generation has contributed its know-how while doing what was in keeping with the times. »
Laurent Cassignol
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