Domaine Costeplane in La Clape

 

Chloé Costeplane explained that she is the fourth generation of her family to have vineyards. Her great grandfather was a member of the cooperative of the village of Fleury, and her grandfather made wine which he sold in both bottle and en vrac, but he died very suddenly when Chloe’s father was just 16.  Consequently, her grandmother sold most of the family’s vines.   Her father, despite having a career away from wine, decided to make wine again and bought some more vineyards.  Chloé trained as a nutritionist but then realised that she was also interested in making wine – laughingly saying that as a nutritionist she told people not to drink wine, but as a winemaker she encourages them to enjoy it.   Her first vintage was 2023 and she is largely self-taught, with the help of an oenologist.  And her brother Clément is interested in olives, so they also have olive trees. 

 

They now have five hectares of vines, from which Chloe makes 15,000 bottles a year, of which about 70% are sold at the cellar door.   The entry level is l’Envol de Perdrix in three colours, and AOP Languedoc.  The white is nicely rounded; the rosé almost impossible to tell that it is a rosé, but it has some delicate raspberry fruit. And the red wine has some black fruit and tapenade,  

 

The 2024 la Clape Blanc is a blend of 30 % Bourboulenc, with some Vermentino and Grenache Blanc, and just a drop of Viognier, all fermented in oak, with six months élevage and some bâtonnage.  She has two new barrels, and one of one wine.  The oak is present, with notes of vanilla.  There are some floral notes and some appealing weight balanced with acidity in the month.   14.00 €

 

And then we tasted some of her father’s wines.  Constance, La Clape Rouge, a 2019 Mourvèdre Grenache blend has some fresh red fruit balanced with elegant tannins.   It wore its 15% very lightly.   2018 Espérance La Clape,  a blend of 60% Syrah with 25% Grenache and 15% Mourvèdre is ripe with some black fruit and tapenade and spice.

 

And the final wine in our tasting was 2021 le Bois des Perdrix, a Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre blend given 12 months ageing in oak, with a rounded nose, redolent of oak and spice and fresh tannic streak on the palate.

 

I hope Chloé will not mind me saying that she is only 26, so it is all very new to her, and she is working on ’finding her balance ‘ as she put it.  They would like to plant more Bourboulenc, and maybe some drought resistant varieties.   As she said, she is the smallest and the newest estate of La Clape, despite the history of four generations, and she is looking for a bright future.   I wish her well.