The nose opens on complex hints of pear, glazed citrus fruit, honey and fennel.
The mouth is wide and elegant with a long, slighly anise finish.
A really top southern wine.
Wine characteristics
- Vintage : Prieuré Saint Jean de Bébian, blanc
- Year : 2014
- Appellation : Coteaux du Languedoc Pézenas
- Colour : White
- Grape types : 50 % Grenache blanc, 40 % Roussane, 10 % Clairette
- Soil : chalky
- Harvest : manual
- Type of viticulture : traditional
- Contenance : 75cl
Tasting - Cellaring
- Appearance : deep gold
- Nose : pear, glazed citrus fruit, fennel
- Mouth : wide, rich and long
- Serving temperature : 12°C
- Cellaring : 5 to 10 years
- Drink from : 2016
- Winemaking process : in casks
- Maturation : 12 months on lees in casks
Food-matching
- Food-matching : sea bass with fennel
Domain :
Already known in Roman times, the estate has risen in quality again under the managmenet of Benoît Pontenier and the oenologist Karen Turner. On 32 hectares and 40 plots, it produces flavoursome and sprightly wines with great personality.
Appellation :
See the latest sales in this region
This is the wine-growing area that has made the greatest progress in terms of quality over the past 30 to 40 years, morphing from coarse reds into a multitude of quality wines with very distinctive characteristics. For some time now, the whites have also kept pace with the reds.
There are 245,000 hectares of vineyards, producing 1,245,000 hl of wine, mainly reds.
The region is situated between the Massif Central, the Corbières and the Mediterranean, covering a wide range of ‘terroirs’ and appellations. There’s shale, sandstone, pebbles, limestone and alluvial deposits.
The climate is very much mediterranean, with hot summers and irregular and poorly distributed rainfall.
The grape types currently planted, apart from carignan, often date from after the Second World War, in line with the subsoil. This makes for complex, exciting wines.
Reflecting this dynamism, many of the vignerons produce wines that are non-AOC (vins de pays, table wines, etc.) as they keep on searching for quality and originality.
The Languedoc has 11 AOCs, the main ones of which are Coteaux du Languedoc, Saint-Chinian, Faugères, Minervois, Minervois-la-Livinière, Fitou, Corbières, Limoux and so on.
Recent vintages
- 2011: good year for whites, which are well-balanced and fresh. The reds are more even.
- 2012: the reds are mature and fresh, with lower alcohol content. The whites are fresh and fragrant.
- 2013: the finest vintage since 1998. The reds display freshness, quality tannins and fragrant finesse. The whites blend good balance with maturity and acidity.
- 2014: fresh, tender reds to be drunk young. Tonic, aromatic and fresh whites.