Domaine de La Coste (Coteaux du Languedoc)

Keep off !! Wine watchdog...

The Domaine is located near Saint Christol, in Languedoc . The owners, Luc and Elysabeth Moynier, have several generations of vignerons behind them . We had just parked the car and were waiting outside until they finished with customers . I don't know if it had to do with the fact that boxes of wine were being loaded at the back of the van , but this dog was kind of touchy . He looked at us approaching, standing on the driver's seat, and was on his guard . I was tempted to gently put my hand on his head but preferred to abstain from this risky move, from the stare I caught in his eyes . I'm quite sure this is a retriever , this is a hunting region . We walked a few meters to the vineyard , I had noticed old vines rows in the back , wich I learned later are old Carignan vines . A second dog followed us . I am not an expert in dog breeds but this one was frighteningly looking like a pitbull and I was careful to move slowly so as he would not misinterpret my approach . I took this pic of him near the old Carignan vines ( on the left ) . Also looks at me a strange way , as if wondering why I come around here . Do you know that when these dogs bite, they don't let it go ?...

Luc Moynier, posing with the two dogs, Grenache in the back
Luc Moynier and his wife come at our rescue and show us the chai and tasting room . They settled there 30 years ago . Most of the vineyard was labelled as VDQS then ( the label just under the AOC ). The wine was then sold in bulk to wine merchants . But as they were improving the quality and working a lot on it, they had to begin to sell in bottles to have a rewarding price level . This is what they did in 1981, with a first 500 hectoliters . They had a silver medal in Macon with this first bottled wine . The following years brought more recognition, locally and nationally . They worked at the beginning in Elisabeth's father's chai, 2 km from here , until they built the present facility . Their wines began to be really well-known in 1985, thanks to the "Festival de Théatre" in Montpellier, also known as "Le Printemps des Comediens", where it made a sensation among the actors and guests . Until now, they have made only red and rosé wines . 2005 will be the 1st year they make white wine ( 2004 harvest ), with Viognier and Roussanne that they planted 4 years ago . The land where the Domaine's vineyards are located is mostly arid villafranchian soil, with big pebblestones on the surface . As strange as it seems, there were torrents and glaciers around here . Whatever, this type of soil, plus the sunny and hot summers make for potential great wines . They work with 6 emplyees, on about 30 hectares . Yields here are 30-40 hectoliter/hectare for AOC, and 50-60 for Vin de Pays . Ground is plowed between the rows .

The sun was getting low and the temperatures cold as when we began to taste the wines . This picture was shot just behind the chai, with view on a Grenache plot and a cross . __1 Rosé 2003 . Grenache and Cinsault , vinified together . This is a "rosé de saignée" ( bled rosé ) : Juice macerates with skin and pulp a few hours, then part of the juice is taken to ferment separately, white wine style . Nice summer rosé . Spicy and round . Still young, beautiful in 7 months or so . 4,3 Euro . All the following wines are reds . __2 Rouge Tradition 2003 . Vin de Pays . Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre . The base red . Complexity with some sort of sweetness . Nicely textured tannins . 3,6 Euro . __3 Domaine des Brus 2003 Merlot. Vin de Pays d'Oc . 100% Merlot . Harvested very ripe . Dense . Chocolate, blackcurrant, prune . 14° . 6-8 years lay down potential . Matured in vats ( like all the wines in the domaine, except one ) . __4 Domaine des Brus 2002 Canernet-Sauvignon . Labelled as Vin de Pays . Fruit aromas . 4,2 Euro .

__5 Domaine de La Coste "Cuvée Prestige" 1999 . Mourvedre-Grenache ( 70%-30%). Elegance wich points to the Mourvedre . The oldest available millesime in the Domaine . Here, they don't keep stocks of their different wines, when all the bottles are sold, no more . 5,4 Euro .
__6 Domaine de La coste "Cuvée Merlette" 2000 . Coteaux du Languedoc . Mourvedre . The variety is ripe one month after the other ones . Also, it blossoms much earlier . 3000 bottles of this wine only . 7,2 Euro .
__7 Doimaine de La Coste, Coteaux du Languedoc "Cuvée Selectionnée" 2002 . Syrah-Grenache ( 80%-20%) . 10 000 bottles . 13,5° . Rich , with guarrigue aromas . Round in the mouth, coated tannins . 7 Euro .
__8 Domaine de La Coste, Coteaux du Languedoc "Cuvée Selectionnée" 2002 . Same grape vaieties . This one is matured in oak casks ( the only wine here ) . Volume in the mouth . Fleshy . Crystallized cherry . 10 years laying down potential ( like the former ) . 7,5 Euro .

Just before visiting the Domaine, 200 meters from there, we saw this worker, pruning with his cutter connected to a compressor .
Phone 33 (0)4 67 86 02 10 Fax 33(0)4 67 86 07 71 luc.moynier@wanadoo.fr

Comments

[Charity]

Sorry to say it but that dog is definately not a pit bull, additionally it is untrue that pit bulls' jaws lock when they bite.

[Lynn Roberts]

Three years ago when staying in Sommiers, we enjoyed your 1999 Saint-Christol. Is this wine or are any of your other dry rose wines from Languedoc distributed in the U.S.A.? We live in the environs of Washington, D.C.

Lynn Roberts