Our history

Cyril Codina is an independent winegrower from the Aude department who started crafting vinegars more than fifteen years ago. His vineyards can be found at Ferrals-les-Corbières, in the heart of the Corbières-Boutenac terroir, the top-of-the-range cru of the Corbières appellation. Even though the production site for the wines and vinegars will initially be located in Ferrals, in order to offer his products for tasting and sale, Cyril has decided to set up in Lagrasse, a tourist destination and the only village in the Aude to be classified as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”.

Between 2006 and 2009, Cyril created a wine tourism project called the “Musée 1900”, a museum of sorts dedicated to different aspects of everyday life in Lagrasse and winegrowing during the Belle Epoque. The museum closed its doors permanently at the beginning of 2018.

In May 2017, a shop was opened in the middle of the Promenade in Lagrasse, with all of Cyril’s production on sale and offered for tasting and where several products from regional producers can also be purchased. Finally, in 2021, the “Cour des Saveurs” is inaugurated, regrouping a restaurant (opening in July 2022), local producers and also the vinegar workshop, where Cyril creates all of his delights, which we propose to visit
today.

After all these years, the range of vinegars and balsamics now consists of over 40 different products. Acidic, sweet, fruity, spicy, there are as many possibilities as there are vinegars! No chemical additives are used in our products: no preservatives, colouring agents, thickeners or artificial flavouring.

Cyril works with local and regional producers who supply him with a large part of the products he uses to flavour his vinegars, balsamics and olive oils. Moreover, several collaborations with chefs, including a few starred chefs, lead us down increasingly surprising and unique gustatory paths.

Cyril has developed different flavouring techniques which allow us to offer vinegars with moderate acidity but intense flavours. The first technique, called “contactless”, is used to flavour wine vinegars. Small pouches are hung from the cork in the neck of glass jars placed on the walls and roofs of the vinegar factory. More than 120 jars are exposed to the sunlight causing the vinegar inside them to be flavoured by evaporation and condensation. An explosion of flavours in the mouth, as with our incredible vinegar with Timut or Nepalese pepper.

Our second flavouring technique for wine vinegars consists of adding to the wine or vinegar what will be used to flavour it: honey, Espelette pepper, seaweed, tomatoes, spices, etc… Next, the mixture will be stirred with a wooden stick in order to create a homogeneous blend. The acetic fermentation takes place slowly. It will take close to a year and a half to obtain a barrel filled with
flavoured vinegar. Our honey flavoured vinegar is a perfect example of this technique!

Finally, our balsamics: made from grape must which is cooked in a cauldron, the liquid is transferred into barrels, in full sunlight all year round. Once the outside temperature begins to rise, the aceto-balsamic fermentation starts and goes on for several weeks. After 5 cycles, i.e. 5 years, the balsamic is ready. But we prefer to let it age in order to give it more powerful flavours and a softer texture. This is why our plain balsamic ages for 10 years. As far as our flavoured balsamics are concerned, different varieties of fruit (raspberries, blackberries, apricots, figs, etc.), plants (basil, wild garlic) or other ingredients (coffee, black truffles, fish bones, etc.) macerate directly in the barrels for about a year. Which means that all our balsamics are at least 6 years old before they are
bottled.