View larger 
A both powerful and subtle wine that has a nose evocative of garrigue scrub and blackberries. On the palate, it is an explosion of aromas that extend into a long finish marked with complexity. A wine of utmost richness!
Notes :- Bettane + Desseauve 17,5/20
Wine characteristics
- Vintage : Clos des Cistes
- Year : 2005
- Appellation : Coteaux du Languedoc
- Colour : Red
- Grape types : Syrah 85 % - Grenache 15 %
- Soil : stony chalky-clay soil
- Harvest : manual
- Type of viticulture : organic
- Alcohol content : 14,5%
- Contenance : 75cl
Tasting - Cellaring
- Appearance : cherry red robe with purple nuances
- Nose : garrigue scrub, glacé cherries, blackberries
- Mouth : concentrated and fresh with delicate tannins
- Serving temperature : 15 - 17 °C
- Cellaring : 5 to 7 years
- Drink from : 2015
- Winemaking process : partial de-stemming and long vatting
- Maturation : several years in vats
Food-matching
- Food-matching : leg of lamb stuffed with herbs, matured rib of beef
Experts reviews :
Bettane + Desseauve
Rated wine : 17,5/20
Domain :
Located in the middle of nowhere, this 26-hectare estate, standing on very poor pebbly soils, only produces 35,000 bottles a year of exceptional wines that have an inexplicable and bewitching magic about them.
Praised by both the specialist press and private individuals, every winelover should try one at least once in his/her lifetime.
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.