If you care less for fame and more for the taste of the wine you will find gold nuggets in the wine regions that are a bit lesser-known. We have selected four producers that we unreservedly recommend. They have several things in common. They all come from the south of France, from the Languedoc. They are all young, enthusiastic and very talented. And most importantly, their wines are delicious and outstanding value.
Consumers are willing to pay more money for a wine from a famous wine region than from a less famous one. This doesn’t come as a surprise. We all know that price differs enormously between wine regions. Prestige means a lot in the world of wine. In Languedoc in southern France, however, it is refreshingly absent. Instead, you find wines that are exceptionally good value for money, of outstanding quality but lacking the celebrity factor. Below I recommend four of our favourite producers in Languedoc.
- Domaine du Nouveau Monde, Languedoc
- Domaine L’Arbussele, Faugères
- Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, Minervois
- Domaine des Terres Georges, Minervois
This is a longer version of an article published on Forbes.com.
Domaine le Nouveau Monde
Domaine Le Nouveau Monde is located in Vendres, southwest of Bézier. The Gauch family has been making wine here for several generations. A good friend of the family in the early 20th century, a writer, thought the surroundings reminded him of South America, where he had spent a lot of time. He was the one who suggested the name Le Nouveau Monde, “The New World”. Today, Anne-Laure Gauch, an oenologist, and her husband, Sébastien Borras, take care of the 20-hectare wine estate. The wines have been organically certified since 2020.
The Mediterranean Sea is close, and part of their vineyard area is located in the sandy soil between the sea and the Etang de Vendres. In this location they make white, rosé and red IGP wines in an easy-going style. Still close to the sea but a little more inland, they make AOP Languedoc wines. Here, syrah, grenache and mourvèdre grow in gravelly soil, making the wines more structured, says Anne-Laure.
Sansourire Blanc 2021, Domaine le Nouveau Monde, IGP Hérault blanc, is one of the few white wines in the range. It is a blend of chardonnay and rolle (synonym for vermentino), a pleasant everyday wine with good acidity and citrus and white flowers in the aromas. (6 euros)
Fandango Rosé, Domaine le Nouveau Monde, IGP Pays d’Oc is a very pale rosé made with grenache. “The colour is important for the rosé wines,” says Anne-Laure. “It’s all about getting it right,” she says with just a hint of regret that buyers sometimes seem to focus more on the colour than the taste. Fandango feels a bit like a white wine with only a tiny note of red berries. On the palate, it is long and refreshing.
Domaine Le Nouveau Monde Rosé, AOP Languedoc is a bit different, with grenache, syrah and mourvèdre. Here too, the colour is very pale, but it feels more like a rosé and less like a white wine. It is delicious with red berries and an amazingly long aftertaste.
Les Petits Mondes, Domaine le Nouveau Monde, Vin de France, is a 100% mourvèdre made in a light and refreshing style (an unusual style for mourvèdre) with aromas of sweet and sour raspberries. The alcohol level is 13% which is low for Languedoc. Anne-Laure harvests early and she gives the must only a short skin contact of 8-10 days. She ferments at a low temperature, 21-23 degrees C. It gives the wine a soft structure but still with some tannins. You can drink it as an aperitif or with food, Anne-Laure points out. (6.50 euros).
Carabènes Rouge 2021, Domaine le Nouveau Monde, IGP Coteaux de Béziers is 100% syrah, a “syrah de plaisir” (uncomplicated syrah), with lots of fruit and the typical black pepper aroma of the grape. (8 euros)
Un Monde Nouveau Rouge 2020, Domaine le Nouveau Monde, AOP Languedoc: A slight change in the estate name and meaning of the name changes. For Anne-Laure and Sébastien, “A new world” was a fitting name for this wine made during the lockdown – le confinement. The grapes are 70% grenache and 30% syrah. Grenache gives a lovely sweetish fruit and syrah the structure and the tannins. Full-bodied and flavourful. (10.20 euro)
L’Estanquier Rouge 2018, Domaine le Nouveau Monde is a rich, intense wine with black fruit and tannin a a touch of licorice on the palate. The grapes are syrah and mourvèdre. (16.50 euros)
Domaine de l’Arbussele, Faugères
In 2014, Sébastien Louge made his first vintage at Domaine de l’Arbussele. It was his dream to create something of his own, to be able to do everything from beginning to end. He studied and trained in Bordeaux and worked in various wine regions – including Virginia in the United States – before deciding to settle down in Faugères. He likes the slightly wild and desolate landscape here. “My vineyards are at an altitude of 300 meters; it gives a good acidity even in very hot and dry years,” he says. He wants to avoid making over-extracted or heavy wines at all costs.
We first met Sébastien about five years ago when we worked on our book about Languedoc-Roussillon. We were very impressed. We recently tasted his wines again, and we haven’t changed our minds.
He has added a white wine to the range, Angéline Blanc 2021, Domaine de l’Arbussele, IGP Pays d’Hérault, from half a hectare of white grapes, 80% roussanne and 20% viognier. It is a pleasant wine, full-bodied, with freshness, almonds and honey. There’s a hint of bitterness at the end that I like very much. (~ 10 euros)
Envol 2020, Domaine de l’Arbussele, Faugères is his most important wine by volume. It is an easy-going wine, relatively light in style but with some tannin. A nose of fresh fruit, red berries and spiciness. A wine with character with a very reasonable price tag. Syrah dominates with 70% and is blended with grenache and carignan. (~ 9 euros)
Authentique 2020, Domaine de l’Arbussele are 70% old vines of carignan. Lots of red berries, good structure and body, intense aromas of fresh fruit and red berries and no oak at all. (~ 10.50 euros)
Revelation 2017, Domaine de l’Arbussele is 60% grenache and the rest carignan, syrah and mourvèdre. The wine has been aged for a year. It has a dense structure and a lot of tannins. Aromas of red berries and fresh herbs. (~ 16 euros)
When we first met Sébastien, he told us he had plans for a 100% mourvèdre, probably oak-aged. He discussed the mysteries of oak ageing with his cooper in Narbonne. One of the results of these discussions is Alexis 2018, Domaine de l’Arbussele with 80% mourvèdre and 18 months in new barrels, a wine full of character with a dense and concentrated style but still with an outstanding balance.
Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, Minervois
Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre is not that far from the small town of Minerve, even though the road there is winding, says Audrey Rouanet. She started working at the family’s vineyard in 2012, with a degree in oenology in her pocket and work experience from abroad. The estate’s ambition went up several notches when Audrey came home. They started converting to organic farming, and in 2015 the family left the cooperative. Audrey now makes wine from the family’s total acreage of 20 hectares. However, she currently sells a third in bulk. The remaining amount is divided between bottle and BIB (bag in box). Wouldn’t it be nice if she could bottle all of her wines herself at the domaine?
Her wines in the Se Canta range are easy-drinking IGP d’Oc, single-variety wines, but with a distinct character of their own.
The white Se Canta Blanc 2020, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, IGP Pays d’Oc is 100% colombard that gives an expressive wine with ripe yellow fruits. The wine has the label “Bee-friendly”, a complement to the organic labelling, says Audrey, which means that you must constantly improve the diversity of flowers and plants. (~ 7.50 euros)
Se Canta Cinsault, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, IGP Pays d’Oc Rouge is 100% cinsault and a light, elegant wine with crunchy fruit. Cinsault is Audrey’s favourite grape, even though it can be difficult. You have to be careful so that the wine doesn’t feel “diluted”, she says. With her old cinsault vines, it is never a problem. (~ 9 euros).
There is also a Se Canta Carignan, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, IGP Pays d’Oc Rouge which is, of course, 100% carignan and a bit more structured and concentrated.
The white Alvéoline, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, AOP Minervois is made with 60% grenache blanc, 30% rolle and 10% roussanne. The white grapes thrive in the limestone in the vineyard, which has a northeastern exposure. The wine has complexity and aromas of melon and ripe apricots; it is full-bodied and completely dry.
Avéoline 2018, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, AOP Minervois with 70% syrah has a beautiful aroma of black currants and a dense structure but at the same time a refreshing fruit. Aged in concrete tank. (~ 11 euros)
Boréalis, Domaine Rouanet Montcélèbre, Minervois La Livinière 2018 with syrah and grenache from the best locations also has a dense yet smooth structure with exotic spices (cinnamon) and a long, enjoyable taste. (~ 20 euros)
Domaine Terres Georges, Minervois
Roland and Anne-Marie Coustal made their first vintage in 2001. We have tasted their wines regularly since 2006, and we are always equally delighted. The vineyard surface is 14 hectares. They export 50% of the volume to around ten countries, 25% is sold by wine shops in France and 25% directly to private individuals. The red wines dominate, but the range has recently been expanded with an excellent white wine from grapes planted six years ago.
Lulu 2021, Domaine Terres Georges, Vin de France is made with vermentino, roussanne and muscat d’alexandrie. The wine stays for two months in a steel tank on its lees with regular batonnage. A delicious wine with great character, freshness and floral aromas. (~ 10 euros)
Roland and Anne-Marie have thought a lot about the style of red wines they want to make. “We extracted a lot initially,” says Roland, “but we stopped after a few years. Now we know what profile we want for our wines: freshness, finesse and elegance. People want easy-drinking wines with fruit and not so much oak, wines with good drinkability and not too much concentration.”
Etcetera 2020, Domaine Terres Georges, AOP Minervois has a crunchy and refreshing fruit, very pleasant. The grapes are carignan, grenache and syrah. (7.50 euros)
Racine 2020, Domaine Terres Georges, Vin de France with 100% carignan has elegance and finesse with a lovely aromatic finish. Roland likes carignan very much. Terres Georges was one of the first members of the Renaissance Carignan association. (13.50 euros)
Caméléon, Domaine Terres Georges, IGP Pays d’Oc justifies the name chameleon. From the beginning, it was 100% merlot. Then it became a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon until 2009. Then they started adding a bit of syrah. Now it’s 70% merlot and 30% syrah. Here Roland wants to have more power. The wine gets 35 days of skin contact and a little more extraction. A lovely wine with a lot of fruit and some spicy syrah notes in the finish. (10 euros)
Quintessence 2019, Domaine Terres Georges is 80% syrah and 20% grenache, partially fermented in small oak barrels, which gives power, flavours and concentration to the wine. But the balance is there too. (15 euros)
Wine consumers increasingly realise that they can find quality wines in the Languedoc. But there is still a lot of skepticism, says Anne-Laure Gauch at Domaine Le Nouveau Monde. I think this scepticism will soon be gone entirely.
