Domaine la Négly
It had been a while since I visited Domaine la Négly, so it was high time for an update. They now have a very smart tasting room, which is run by Philippe Santouil who gave us a warm welcome and was very happy for us to taste through their quite extensive range. The estate belongs to Jean Paux-Rosset and his children Bastien and Marion are now involved with the running of the estate. On my previous visit, I had met the young winemaker Didier Lecreu, but he has moved onto pastures new. Claude Gros still advises as their oenologist and Camille Raymond runs the cellar.
Altogether they have 120 hectares of vines. They have added to the original estate, buying land from retiring cooperative members, and concentrating on appellation land in La Clape. Philippe observed that with people drinking less but better, maybe the appellations are becoming more important, and also the IGPs are quite difficult with more competition amongst them. They also have Domaine la Boède, further down the lane, with Château Moyau in between the two properties. The 17 hectares of vineyards at la Boède have quite different soil, red and black grès, as opposed to clay and limestone at Négly. And then there are 25 hectares of vineyards in the Hérault near Nissan-lez-Enserune and Colombiers, with more international varieties for IGP and simple AOP Languedoc and yet more vineyards near St Pargoire, seven hectares including the iconic 1.90 hectare Clos des Truffiers. Officially the vineyards are HVE, but that system has come in for a lot of criticism recently. Let’s say they are somewhere between organic and conventional viticulture. They do what feels right.
Altogether there are about 25 estates in La Clape. One or two are up for sale. Domaine de la Ramade has become Domaine Catherine de Montgolfier and Mas de Soleilla has been bought by Gerard Bertrand. Things are not easy. The heat is a problem. They lost 20% of their crop last year because of the summer heat. The export market is becoming more complicated, and with the decline in French consumption, the domestic market is fairly saturated. However they are working on oenotourism, to good effect.
Altogether they have 12 white varieties and 8 red, so with apologies for a list in no particular order of importance- Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Muscat à petits grains, Muscat d’Alexandrie, Roussanne, Marsanne, Bourboulenc, Sauvignon Gris, Petit Manseng, Rolle (or Vermentino), Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc, and the varieties are Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Grenache Noir, Cinsault, Cot, and a small plot of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Philippe was game to give us a complete tasting, finishing up with some barrel samples for their top wines.
2023 les Astérides, Pays d’Oc - 9.90€
A blend of 40% each of Chardonnay and Grenache Gris, with 20% Sauvignon. Quite a rounded nose, quite fresh with a little acidity and a pithy note. Nice easy drinking.
2023 Oppidum Chardonnay - 8.00€
From vines at Nissan. Elevage on lees in concrete. Light golden. Quite a rounded nose and palate, with a dry finish and a little weight in the mouth. Correct, and very pleasant. but for a Chablis lover it did not excite!
2023 La Falaise Blanche, Pays d’Oc - 22.90€
The only white wine to do a malolactic fermentation. One third each of Sauvignon, from Colombiers, Sauvignon Gris from a vineyards right by the sea and Grenache Gris from les Cabannes de Fleury close by. And just a touch of Petit Manseng. Vinification and élevage in Stockinger demi-muids, with bâtonnage, and blended just before bottling. A little colour. Oak on the nose. Quite a firm palate with a distinctive salty note. The oak is a little too dominant on the finish, making the finish a little flat.
2023 L’Ecume Blanc, AOP Languedoc - 10.00€
A blend of equal parts of Marsanne and Roussanne from the Hérault and Rolle and Bourboulenc from la Clape. A little more Rolle than the others. Kept in concrete, on the lees.
Light colour. Rounded nose, with some white flowers. More weight on the palate with balancing acidity and a slightly bitter finish. A new wine to the range, developed after Covid.
2024 La Brise Marine, La Clape Blanc - 12.50€
70% Bourboulenc, the classic variety of la Clape, with 20% Roussanne and 10% Rolle. Elevage sur lies. Concrete vats. A few whole bunches. A little colour. Lightly salty nose with a firm salty palate. Tight knit and still very youthful. Philippe explained that they do three bottling a year, January, spring and June and this was the first bottling of the year, and still tasted a bit edgy and not yet completely harmonious. I made a mental note to go and by some after their spring bottling, as this is a wine that I have really loved in the past. They don’t produce enough of it and are planting more Bourboulenc.
Then we went on to 2023 rosés - the 2024s will not be released until the spring.
Les Terrasses, Pays d’Oc - 6.70€
A blend of Cot, or Malbec, from vines in Nissan, with Grenache Gris, Syrah and a little Grenache Gris. Pressurage direct. And very little colour. Quite rounded dry raspberry fruit on both nose and palate with a fresh finish.
L’Ecume Rose, Languedoc - 8.20€
A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. Light gris colour. Quite firm and crisp and fresh.
L’Astérides, Pays d’Oc - 9.90€
A blend of Syrah, Grenache Gris and a little Merlot. Pale colour. Quite firm nose. Quite a rounded palate with some raspberry fruit, A new cuvée developed since Covid, during which they had some time to reflect on developing their range.
La Natice, AOP Languedoc - 12.50€
A natice is apparently a small snail that you find in the vineyards, but they are too small to eat! A blend of Grenache Syrah and a little Mourvèdre, which is macerated for a short time and then saigné. Pale orange pink. Quite firm and structured from the Mourvèdre. Good fruit. Quite tight knit with a juicy finish.
And then onto the reds:
2023 Les Terrasses, Pas d’Oc - 8.00€
Made from a little bit of everything, Cot, Syrah, Merlot, Grenache. It is the entrée de gamme, and it is thermo-vinified, making for some easy ripe fruit. As Philippe observed, you can’t get great grapes all over your vineyards, so you have to be practical and make simple, easy drinking wine from the less qualitative plots. This was easy and ripe and just a tad cloying on the finish.
2023 Les Asterides, Pays d’Oc 9.90€
A blend of Syrah, Carignan and Cinsaut from any vineyards by the sea. The sea gulls are apparently eating more grapes than they used to say ten years ago. And apparently the salt is not such a problem in sand as it is in actual soil.
Very ripe fruit. with a rounded palate. Ripe and slightly jammy, and full-bodied.
2023 Cinsault, Vin de France - 11.00€
Another new cuvée. Medium colour. Quite fragrant and fresh on the nose, but on the palate there is a steak of firm tannin that makes it quite dry on the finish. With the 2024 vintage they are aiming for fresh fruit and more acidity. Work in progress.
And now onto red appellations, La Clape and Languedoc
2022 La Côte - 12.00€
Their entry level la Clape. A blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre, given a classic vilification and Carignan and Mourvèdre with a carbonic maceration. The largest production of a red wine, and very successful. Medium colour. Rounded spice. Media weight. Supple tannins and nicely balanced with nuances on the finish.
2023 La Falaise - 24€
60% Grenache, with 30% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre. The blend depends on the vintage. 2021 contained 60% Syrah, but they find that Syrah is really suffering from the lack of water and the quality is simply not so good. Syrah was the identity of Négly, with wines with a high percentage of Syrah, but no longer. Consequently the blend is shifting towards Grenache, which performs much better and they are even pulling up some Syrah. Vinified in tronconique vats of 55hls and then aged in demi-muids of two or three wines.
Deep colour. Tapenade and black olives on the nose and palate. Quite solid and rounded with a strong oak influence.
2020 La Petite Villamanda, AOP Languedoc - 14.50€
A blend of Syrah and Carignan grown near St Pargoire. 2014 was the first vintage of this cuvée. Kept in concrete, and a few barrels. Quite a solid rounded nose with good fruit. Some tapenade and black olives. Quite solid and gutsy. Ripe fruit and 14.5% The vineyards are hotter than Clape, so the wine is not quite as fresh. They are higher in altitude, with schist soil, and some hollows in the vineyards, which retain the heat……
2021 La Boède, les Grès, la Clape - 22.00€
Grown on red sandstone. A blend of Syrah and Grenache, with a little Mourvèdre. The same élevage in oak as for La Falaise. And the oak is very apparent on both the nose and palate, with a note of freshness on the finish. Ageing potential, but for the moment the oak is the dominant flavour.
2020 la Villamanda, Languedoc - 80€
A blend of Syrah and Carignan grown at St Pargoire. Deep colour. Two demi-muids, one for each grape variety with 36 months ageing. Producing just 1000 bottles. We were lucky, a bottle had been opened the previous day for a rather important customer…Rich and ripe and concentrated, A nicely rounded palate with lots of nuances. The fresh finish of the Carignan. Lots of youthful potential.
And then we adjourned to the barrel cellar to complete the range
2023 l’Ancely from a 77 year old vineyard comprising just 2.80 hectares of Mourvèdre and just half a hectares off Grenache of the same age. Planted en gobelet. The wine is given 24 months ageing in oak, in barrels from Boutes; we were tasting it in the 16th month. Deep colour. quite solid and perfumed, with a little tapenade and some black fruit and balanced tannins. Lots of nuances. Freshness on the finish. Ancely is the old name of Négly.
Philippe talked about the vines, observing how intelligent they are. As a free standing gobelet vine they stand tall in June with high branches and then in the heat of the late summer the branches drop to protect the grapes from the sunshine .
2023 Porte du Ciel, Vin de France
A pure Syrah. The comment was made that vin de France is more trendy than Pays d’Oc and we can do what we like. Certainly if I see Vin de France from a good producer, I know that the wine will be worth trying and that there is a reason why the wine is not conforming to any criteria, and with something interesting to say.
These vines are at Négly, where the soil is very stony. The grapes are sorted and destemmed. A 40 day maceration in tronconique vats. Very deep colour. Solid ripe oak. 24 months in barrel, Taransaud and Darnajou. Ripe and gutsy with youthful oak with an appealing fresh finish.
Clos des Truffiers
Pure Syrah and made in the same way, as Porte du Ciel, but from a small vineyard in St Pargoire. Higher altitude but in a cuvette. Philippe observed that ‘le terroir prend le dessus sur le cepage’.which I might translate as the terroir speaks more clearly than the grape variety. Deep colour. Solid dense oak. Quite perfumed and almost sweet in its ripeness. Maybe a hint of cinnamon. More elegant than Porte du Ciel. A firm tannic streak on the finish. Good length. In 2023 there was more rain at St Pargoire than at la Clape.
Thank you Philippe for a very generous and comprehensive tasting. He said that they see very few English in their welcoming visitors’ centre, so if you are in the area, it is really worth a detour.
View from the terrace on a rather grey day.
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