2020 Domaine La Terrasse d'Elise ‘Le Pigeonnier’, Languedoc

Xavier Braujou is the owner of Domaine la Terrasse d’Elise, he started his life as a woodcutter. He loved the hours spent alone in the forest, in direct contact with nature. However, his real passion was wine. For this reason, he started to buy some vineyards in Saint Jean de Fos in 1998. After a few years practising both activities (wine and wood), Xavier decided to work 100% in the vineyards. Spending so much time out there, next to his vines makes him understand every single inch of his terroirs. His knowledge was not acquired in scientific books but by spending hours and hours in the vineyards observing, analysing, and trying to understand his soils, climate and vines.   Why do we like it? All the Terrasse d'Elise vintages are produced by hand harvesting, from old vines with very small but concentrated yields of 20 to 25hl/ha, Xavier’s speciality is to blend terroirs from a same grape variety rather than different grape varieties. Le Pigeonnier is 100% Carignan and while it may seem a touch light, I promised you that those wines can age very well. The wine is a touch rustic but incredibly beautiful at the same time. Showing a deep colour and flesh, the wine has plenty black cherries and elderberries along with cloves, violet and black pepper in the background.  Grape           Carignan Country        France                      Region          Languedoc                              Vintage         2020