Where am I ? Inevitably, this question haunts you when, on the very first day your gaze, from the vines of elmaure, falls on the Serre (limestone mountain). The heavy, arid mountain lying like a dozing old lioness, petrified speaks to you only of the South. Your eyes dream of the Andalusian sierras heated white-hot by the midday sun. Of the soothing ochres of the Atlas as evening falls. Of the violence of the Argentinian pampas, when the wind rises. Because you must not underestimate the Serre. This magical mountain, a sort of limestone crown eaten away by vines, protects the little plateau of elmaure over its full length from the cyclothymic influences of the sea. In its recesses survive, in a perpetual struggle with the rock, sober garrigues whose only vanity lies in the powerful fragrances of thyme, rosemary and lavender they give off. Springs, caves and a host of other mysteries lie hidden in its entrails. In contrast to the Mediterranean light of the Serre there is to the north the dark and angular brilliance of the long flows of black schist. Here, in the Corsican way, the thickness of the maquis, hesitating between green and anthracite, covers the slopes of the high hills annexed from time immemorial by the heavy hoards of wild boar whose hard bristle reflects the shades of the soil. Between the kermes oaks, junipers, strawberry trees, mulberry trees and rockroses, there remain tracks, paths where Man only rarely obtains the right of way.

Grande Cuvee Corbieres - 2006

A stunning red wine with an equal proportion of Grenache and Syrah from 20 year old vines and a dash of Carignan from 40 year old vines. Aged for 12 months in Bordeaux oak barrels. Deep ruby-purple, rich with layers of concentrated ripe black fruit on the nose, yet extremely well balanced, velvety and elegant with an unrivalled aromatic length. ❝Lusty, meaty and spiced with great mid-palate weight and succulence. Excellent value.❞ Tomas Clancy, Business Post

750ml	€19.90	1 Bottle 2 Bottles 3 Bottles 4 Bottles 5 Bottles 6 Bottles 7 Bottles 8 Bottles 9 Bottles 10 Bottles 11 Bottles 1 Case 2 Cases 3 Cases 4 Cases 5 Cases 6 Cases
1.5 Ltr	€49.50	1 Bottle 2 Bottles 3 Bottles 4 Bottles 5 Bottles 6 Bottles 7 Bottles 8 Bottles 9 Bottles 10 Bottles 11 Bottles 1 Case 2 Cases 3 Cases 4 Cases 5 Cases 6 Cases

Fairytale magic or eye for the main chance, Hervé Bizeul's star is certainly in the ascendant. A former sommelier, restaurateur and food and wine pundit, he left the boulevards of Paris for the wild tracts of Roussillon in 1998 to chance the life of vigneron. Ten years on he is the talk of the region, his wines fetching an incredible price and the aptly named Domaine du Clos des Fées (fée meaning fairy in French) more than truly launched. Spellbinding is the word to describe the region he chose to enact a change of career. The Agly valley in the north of Roussillon offers a spectacular landscape of steep-sided hills, stony garrigue and bush-trained vines offset by the high Corbières and almost permanently sunny skies. In its upper reaches lie prehistoric Tautavel and the magnificent bowl-like cirque of Vingrau. This is the heartland of appellation Côtes du Roussillon-Villages and home to the Clos des Fées. Hervé Bizeul's confidence and willingness to turn the page has already led to various highs and lows in his vinous career. He became Meilleur Jeune Sommelier de France in 1981, opened a fashionable wine bar in Paris and in the 1990s published an ambitious directory of wine producers and professionals, Grappes, which saw three editions. In 1997 he visited Vingrau. 'I was fed up with Paris and impressed by the terroir at Vingrau so decided to buy a parcel of vines to cultivate as a hobby,' he explains. The ball rolled quickly from there. A house, marriage to Claudine, the offer of other parcels of unwanted old-vine Carignan, Grenache and Lladoner Pelut at a knock-down price and before he knew it he was faced with the 1998 vintage. 'I had no practical experience of winemaking – only what I'd learned as a journalist – but friends like Gérard Gauby helped. 1998 turned out to be a great year.' The first vintage was vinified in one cellar, pressed in another and aged in a third. He now owns an 18ha vineyard.

Located near Perpignan, the vineyards of Chateau la Casenove lie to the South and the Southeast, on gently sloping hillsides that are not as steep as those found along the coast and further south. The soil is made up primarily of clay and small rocks that originally were found in the Pyrenees. The climate is quite warm, with a distinct Mediterranean influence. Etienne Montès owner and winemaker Château La Casenove is from the commune of Trouillas, a few kilometres south of Perpignan. As a young man he left the place where he was born, to travel all over the world. Etienne was a photo-journalist and something of a globetrotter, someone who sometimes risked his life to take pictures for the famous Gamma agency. His photos were shown and printed all over the world. In the late '80’s, he renounced that life, overshadowed by war and conflict, and returned to the familiar soils of Château La Casenove. He has since enjoyed success, no doubt bolstered by oenological advice from consultant Jean Luc Colombo. The varieties planted are a mix of traditional Languedoc-Roussillon (Maccabeu, Carignan, Grenache) with some Catalan influences (Muscat, Malvoisie) and some improving varieties (Syrah and Mourvedre), the latter being planted in 1967 by Etienne's father Jacques, the first in the region to do so. His wines are absolutely divine to drink: subtle, evocative and deeply flavoured with aromas of dark fruits, warm stones and silky, sensuous tannins. What else could we tell you? That Etienne’s wines are like the negatives he developed yesterday, revealing themselves in stages as the image emerges.

Located at the heart of the St. Chinian appellation, the domain extends over a pretty hillside surrounded by vines and garrigue. Violaine and Xavier de Franssu, both oenologists met when they were studying in Montpellier. They both worked a few years for different domains before they purchased Mas de Cynanque in the Saint Chinian Appellation. Mas de Cynanque had its first harvest in 2004 and the vineyard is now under organic management since 2008. Yields are low – in the region of 20 to 25hl/ha and harvest is done by hand.

After several years working with Châteauneuf du Pape and in Languedoc, Frédéric Albaret makes the decision in 1995 to start his own domaine. The Domaine Saint Antonin was born, and the name refers to an ancestor of the family. Why Faugères? Impressed by the beauty of the site which dominates the plains, convinced of the quality of the schist grounds and finding good vines there, Frédéric Albaret is sure of meeting all the conditions to make elegant wines, concentrated and able to age. Frédéric is passionate so much so that he is known as the only vine grower who does not raise the head when one hoots in the vines! After work tough, his exuberant and delirious side will make you have a memorable time accompanied by the pleasure of drinking its wine. Domaine Saint Antonin is located North of Béziers with a full Southern exposure. The soil is made of schist - a stony ground which filters water allowing a major rooting of the vines. The 15 hectare vineyard is planted with Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault and the yield is really small: 35 hl/hectare.

Lying back from the Roussillon plain, the Maury terroir benefits from a geology (Schist and Clay-calcareous)which allows it to create robust wines of exceptional taste. The Maury wines fro the Domain come from vines situated in the heart of the commune of Maury. The Domain also owns vines in Latour de France Appelation, a part if which were planted in 1901. They produce a red wine of rare complexity. Paul, the grandfather, was born in 1909. A pioneer of Maury and a tireless defender of the legislation for A.O.C. Robert, the grandson and present owner of the Domain, is carrying on the tradition with a growing program close to nature, respecting the soil, biological diversity and the ecosystem.

Jean-Pierre Jullien is a very jovial man approaching his 70’s. Jean-Pierre comes from a long line of "vignerons" and, at that time, he followed most of his colleagues as they closed their caves and attempted to survive by participating in the local cooperative. In the late 60’s and early 70’s nobody wanted to hear about the Languedoc and the wines were sold as 'big reds’ in bulk to enhance the quality of some of the top Bordeaux. Jean-Pierre's son, Olivier, refused to follow the path of the cooperative and established his own domaine, the "Mas Jullien", in 1985. Jean-Pierre, in a reversal of the usual process, took the example of his son, resigned from the cooperative and recreated his own estate in 1993. He sold the bulk of his vineyards and kept only the best terroirs, in all 8ha. Since, he has had the great happiness of making his own wines with the careful help of his son. “It was a real chance to have our son to guide our first steps in this new life as a winemaker”. The vineyards feature five grape varieties in approximately equal parts: Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault. The vineyards are treated organically, and harvest is done manually. The average age of the vines is 30 years with some parcels considerably older. Harvest levels are approximately 28 hectoliters per hectare. As Jean-Pierre finally decided to retire, Isabelle and Vincent Goumard joined the estate in 2004 in order to follow his task in creating great terroir wines. “Vincent Goumard looks set to carry the domaine's reputation for excellence in the future.” Mentioned in Decanter Magazine, September 2005.

Cyril Fahl, the young man behind this wine, is known as 'The Monk' to his neighbours. This is because he is not married, he does not socialise with friends and he seems to have no hobbies or activities other than his beloved wines and vines. He is obsessed. He trained in the Loire valley before, like many young wine makers these days, finding land to buy down in Rousillon. These particular vineyards have 50-100 year old vines and are on north and north east facing slopes of Gneiss soils. He farms completely biodynamically and does everything by hand. And his wines are, in our opinion, quite sensational.

The Abbé Rous cooperative is based in Collioure, right beside the Méditerannée, where the sun shines over 300 days of the year! State of the art cellars and obvious investment in the vineyards is paying off handsomely as the quality of the wines has improve enormously. The hills above Banyuls and Collioure, are rocky. Shale-littered slopes support ancient bush vines of Grenache that defy the seemingly barren and waterless conditions. Many are planted on terraces, and yields are strictly controlled through natural conditions of old vines and lack of water, but also through careful vineyard management. This cuvée “Cyrcée” is a blend of 35% Grenache, 25% Mourvèdre, 25% Carignan and 15% Syrah, spending almost a year in new oak barriques. There are notes of coffee, dark chocolate, violet and deep, dried-blood scents on the nose, with quite a powerful gamy character emerging, and plenty of black fruit. It has huge concentration with a real depth of plush, glossy clove and spice-dusted black fruits melding into a super-sweet depth of ripe tannin and oak. This wine was made in conjunction with Dr Alain Raynaud of Bordeaux. It grabbed a score of 90 points from Robert Parker.

Jean-Louis Poudou represents the fifth generation of the Poudou family to produce wine on this domaine in the Languedoc, close to Carcassone. Poudou was recently called “The Happy King of the Minervois,” by the French magazine Saveurs. He is known for the wonderful AOC Minervois wines he produces and makes pure classic wines from the appellation. When Jean-Louis took over the Domaine in 1987, he knew he would not be a passive winemaker and the progress he has made shows in his wines. Many of the wines of Minervois can get swamped with too much new oak. But not here! All his wines are impeccable! His 81ha vineyard is planted with Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Marsanne, Maccabeu, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc…