Domaine Lafage “Nicolas” 2021 red (pack of 6); Bottle price € 17.50

The Grenache Noir is the solo grape here and the description of this wine is a tribute to their son Nicolas, hence the name. Vieilles Vignes here means grape vines of 65 years old. The grapes are of course picked by hand and vinified separately, then aged in oak barrels for 12 to 15 months, resulting in a powerful and full wine with cassis flavors that continues to ping in the mouth for a long time.

Price €17.50 and packed in boxes of 6

Below more about the winemaker and his background:

Languedoc/Roussilon/Minervois or Sud de France.

An area that was looked at with a crooked face for a long time. It was extinct. I was there a little over 40 years ago. No sign to be seen with references to “Les Cathares”. Now there are an annoying number of references in that direction. The area, as mentioned, was extinct at the time and therefore left behind. Former hat factories in Quillan and Espéraza stood abandoned, empty. The one in Quillan has unfortunately been demolished.

So wine production was no different. Was for local use or was sold en vrac for the Vin de Table. But with the rise of tourism, the tide in wine growing has turned for the better. Beautiful wines are currently coming from here. First of all, the climate is favorable: warm and windy, often due to the Tramontane, the equivalent of the Mistral.

The predominant grape varieties are Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carrignan, Syrah, Cinsault and for white the Macabeo and around Limoux de Mauzac. The latter is for the traditional bubbles of Blanquette, but Chardonnay and Viognier are also widely used. We let you taste a selection consisting of three different families with a distinct vision.

Domaine Lafage

Domaine Lafage is a family business and has been making wine in the Maury en Canet region around Perpignan for 200 years. They call their wine Côtes Catalanes. The official name is Indication Geographique Protegée. The family currently owns 36 hectares of vineyards spread along the coast and inland, a total of 6 plots. Everything shows that they are, rightly, proud of their company, which has already been described in many trade magazines and has received many awards, including the Médaille d'Or Paris 2022 and a mention in the well-known Bible Guide Hachette.