Clos des Nines
In 2002 Isabelle Mongeart decided to make a lifestyle change and take up a completely different career as a vigneronne. She and her husband Christian Marbler had fallen under the spell of the rather magical place that is le Clos des Nines, a little property of around 10 hectares of existing vines and olive trees, which they named after their three daughters ('nines' in the old 'langue d'Oc').
There are clay-limestone slopes with scattered oyster fossils, and two parcels on red stony soils. The youngest vines were planted in 2008 whilst the Carignan and Alicante are over 80 years old. Yields are naturally low, from 30 to 40 hectolitres/hectare. The site is in an elevated position above the plain which leads to Sête on the coast, which can be seen on the horizon.
This Trophy Winner (White Langedoc-Roussillon, over £15) is the result of a lifestyle choice by its maker, Isablle Mongeart. In 2002, after a business degree and a career in sales, and after stopping work to have three children, she and her husband Christian Marbler decided on a radical change in direction. The bought Clos des Nines - 'nines' being the local Languedoc dialect word for 'girls' - after falling in love with this spot above the plain leading down to the coast at Sête. Two years later, Mongeart made a high-quality white from its vineyards. She planted one hectare of four varieties - Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussane and Vermentino - on chalky soils filled with fossilised oyster shells, with the aim of having 'the rich fruit and volume of ripe south of France wines, but with the freshness, acidity and elegance of northern regions'. An apt objective, given her origins in Champagne. Decanter World Wine Awards 2015 (Jul 2015)