This is the Bar á Vin on Cours Jean Jaures in Pézenas - it's a 10 minute walk from our villa, at the edge of the old town heart of Pézenas, and a perfect excuse to stop and enjoy the street atmosphere of this wonderful medieval area. With a beautiful house white or red, costing only €3 a generous glass, to draw you in, this wine bar also serves food, tapas-style, in the evenings, and has an extensive wine list featuring many of the region's best.
If you are interested in visiting some vineyards, there are many hundreds to choose from in the area - we can recommend a trip to Domaine Montrose on the road to Tourbes, less than 2 miles from the villa; it's a wonderful working domaine, and their wines are much admired and prized. Their reds are excellent, look out for the wonderful Merlot - though I've often heard their Rosé is award-winning.
It's a vineyard of 85 hectares, with the objective of creating great wines from the south.
According to their website, in order to achieve this, they have adopted environmentally friendly agricultural practices, which allow a "better expression of the terroir". Red grapes and rosés are planted on "Villafranchian gravel" (small pebbles) and basalt, with scarce water reserves and deep roots for obtaining concentrated and balanced wines. The rosés are harvested early to retain freshness and fruit. The white varieties are planted on clay and limestone marl to promote smoothness and elegance. Some parcels of Chardonnay are planted on the basalt to contribute to the minerality of the wine.
Grapes varieties used at the Domaine are:-
Reds: Grenache Noir, Grenache Gris, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Mourvedre, Carignan.
Whites: Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, rolles (Vermentino), muscat petits grains.
During the harvest, whites and rosés are picked at night to preserve their full flavor and prevent oxidation of musts by the sun. White and red are stored in refrigerated bins, via temperature-controlled tanks until bottling local storage and kept at low temperature to avoid altering the wine.
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