Languedoc, Cléo, Mas des Brousses - 2022

Situated in the centre of the greatest terroirs of the Hérault valley, Mas des Brousses has become one of the best known names in its appellation over the last twenty years. After working in other wine-producing regions, but always with the desire to carry out a common project, Xavier Peyraud and Géraldine Combes settled in 1997 on Géraldine's family estate, which had previously been destined for the cooperative. Xavier comes from a family of well-known wine-growers in Bandol (Domaine Tempier), but rather than being yet another Peyraud in Provence, he decided to make Mourvèdre (and other grape varieties) sing in another land. The Mas is made up of nine hectares of vines located in Aniane and Puéchabon, the epicentre of the Golden Triangle of the Hérault. Its neighbours include Mas Daumas Gassac, La Grange des Pères and Montcalmès, which is also a close neighbour. The soils are ploughed sparingly and the cultivation is organic, even certified as of the 2019 vintage. To speak only of the reds of the estate, which also produces an aromatic white and a vinous rosé, they are marked by the combination of a deep vinosity and maturity, without losing a freshness due to the terroir as much as to the local climate, which induces thermal amplitudes that are unique in the Languedoc, not to say in France. Vinified without sulphur but stabilised very sparingly at bottling, they are best...