Domaine des Soustres

A chance meeting in London at the Top 100 dinner last year with Jean-Paul Mamert led to a visit to Domaine des Soustres with Sylvain Roche, who runs the estate in Jean-Paul’s absence.   The name of the estate comes from the original owner, Thomas de Soustres and the name apparently describes land that is cultivated to provide food for the farm animals  The origins of the property go back to the 13th century, where there were large barns run by nuns and used to store the tithes, or agricultural produce that had to be paid to the church.  

The estate has produced wine since the 1650s.  They now have 32 hectares of vineyards, reduced from 55, and with a total of 100 hectares, including olive trees, woodland and garrigues, on slopes near the village of Montady.   There is a flat 22 hectares plot on the top of the hill. Sylvain did not suggest that we visit the vineyards - it had been raining heavily…. and mud was the order of the day.  Instead Sylvain showed me the cellars.   There are some enormous stone vats, as big as 500 hectolitres.  And well as old foudres, which are still used, and concrete vats.  The concrete vats have been modernised with stainless steel doors and they are partially below ground which helps maintain a steady temperature.   Jean-Paul’s father bought the estate in1977 for the pleasure of making a little wine, but most of the production was sold en vrac.  But Jean-Paul has other ambitions, and Sylvain arrived here in 2018, to help develop the range.   Another detail in the cellar was the old railway to facilitate moving the press. and they still have a couple of old presses - 'we are a press museum'. observed Sylvain.

All the wines, apart from the orange wine, and the sparkling wine, are IGP Coteaux d’Ensérune.

2023 Blanc de Gris - 9.00€

Pure Grenache Gris.  A light colour.  Rounded, light white flowers on the nose. Floral notes on the palate, with a firm finish. Un joli amer.  Sylvain obsersved that bitterness is the signature of Grenache Gris, and not to be confused with acidity. 

2022 Linium Blanc - 13.50€

Grenache Gris.  Fermented in stainless steel and then in contact with staves for seven months.  A little colour.  Quite a rounded nose with a hint of oak.  Lightly buttery and some satisfying texture on the palate, but with a slightly jarring dry oaky note on the finish.  

Linium relates to wood in Latin and there is a Gallo-Roman site nearby.

2023 Gris de Gris - 8.30€

Grenache Gris, saigné after three hours.  A little rounded raspberry fruit on the nose and palate. Nicely rounded with a note of acidity, and a touch of bitterness on the finish.  

Aureum Orange, Vin de France - 10.30€

Grenache Gris, which is saigné after four days on the skins.  Spends two to three months in a tronconique vat.  Orange gold colour.  Some good fruit on the nose and the palate is quite tannic and firm.  I found it quite dry on the finish, without perhaps quite enough fruit on the palate.  

2022 Grenache Noir - 9.50€

Medium colour.  Ripe fruit, cherries, on the nose.  Quite a rounded palate with a tannic streak.  Easy drinking but no great depth.

2022 Grand Carignan - 9.90€

From their biggest single plot, 4.5 hectares all planted with Carignan. Classic vinification.  Quite easy rounded red fruit.  A little confit on the palate with a dry finish.

2022 Linium rouge - 13.50€

A blend of Grenache Noir, 85% and Carignan 15%.  7 months in foudres.  15º  Medium colour.  Liqueur cherries and spice on the nose and plate, balanced by a tannic streak.  Some ripe fruit and a fresh finish, despite the high alcohol.  

2022 Cuvée Pierre

A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon.   This was the very first wine they bottled in 2017, named after Jean-Paul’s son.  Not made every year, probably two out of three years..  The Cabernet Sauvignon,  grown on lower sites,  can get too hot and stops ripening.  In 2020 they had frost, with a temperature of -7ºC on 8th April.   And 2024 enjoyed a cooler September, which made for later ripening and different ripening times between the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan.

Medium colour.  More structured nose.  Nicely rounded palate with some ripe cassis.  Good structure.

Sylvain then mentioned PIWIs. the experimental grape varieties that are being planted to see how they resist disease and drought.   They have one that is related to Chasan and another that comes from Muscat d’Hamburg.  Just half a hectare of each, that is being tested by INRA, one of the official research stations.

Anrosa, Vin de France - 13.10€

This is produced a prestateur, Rivarose,  in Provence from Grenache Gris juice, using what Sylvain termed as the méthode provençale, which I had never heard of before.  The problem with the traditional method of making sparkling wine is the ultimate high alcohol level.  The vin clair will have quite high alcohol and the refermentation will make for even higher alcohol.  So you keep some juice on one side, freezing it to prevent any fermentation.  The remaining juice is fermented in the normal way and the prestateur adds the finished wine to the juice, without any need to add any sugar, but some yeast are added, which provokes the second fermentation.  And the wine is then bottled for the second fermentation to take place in bottle, and then disgorged in the normal way, with a dosage of 5 gms/l

Pale pink with a hint of gold.  Smells of Grenache Gris with a slightly bitter nose.  Fun, fresh, frothy and rounded, with some raspberry fruit and elegantly mouth-filling.   It made for a fun finale to our tasting