Domaine La Combe Blanche - Minervois, La Liviniere
and Vins de Pays
 If
one wine producer provided the inspiration for the creation of Leon
Stolarski Fine Wines, then Guy
Vanlancker at Domaine
La Combe Blanche is it. Guy is a Belgian former
schoolteacher, who moved to the south of France in the late 1980's, in
search of a complete change in lifestyle. He bought some old vines and,
at vintage time, took the grapes to the local co-operative. Eventually,
he bought some equipment and began to make a little wine himself. He
now makes all the wine, in his own "cellar" (actually an old stone
building, on three levels, crammed with barrels, vats and other
winemaking equipment). The cellar is situated in the village of La
Liviniere, in the heart of the "appellation" to which the village lends
it's name - Minervois La Liviniere. With some of the best vineyard
sites, amongst the "garrigues" in the hills above the village, the area
in production at La Combe Blanche has increased from a dozen hectares
in 1998, to the present 20 hectares. Yields are kept very low, to
ensure great concentration in the wines. (For the technically minded,
average yields in Languedoc average 50-60 Hectolitres per hectare. At
La Combe Blanche, yields average around 30 h/l ha).
The
grapes and the
winemaking
  On
our various visits to the
cellar, Guy has treated us to extensive tastings
of his wines, both in
bottle and
from the vats and barrels. His red wines of the Minervois
and La Liviniere appellations are made from the traditional southern
grape varieties, including Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault. Each
grape variety is vinified and then aged separately, some in oak barrels
and some in vat, before blending and bottling. The wines are usually
released for sale at two to three years old.
Vins de Pays and the crazy
French wine laws
Other
grape varieties grown on the estate include
Chardonnay, Viognier,
Roussanne, Pinot Noir and Tempranillo, most of which unfortunately do
not qualify for the "Appellation Controlee" and must, therefore, be
labelled as "vins de pays". This is due to the strict (and many say
crazy) French wine laws, which state that only certain grape varieties
can be used to make wines of Appellation Controlee status. But make no
mistake - these wines are of the highest class. The white
varieties are blended together, and two different white vins de pays
are made. Much of the Tempranillo and Pinot Noir is blended together,
but in some vintages, single "varietal" wines are also made. Pinot Noir
is very rare in Languedoc, and Tempranillo is virtually unheard of
there. But the wines are sensational, and more than a match for good
Burgundy and Rioja.
Minervois
vintages
  There
certainly hasn't been a bad vintage in the
Minervois for some
years, now. Even in 2002, where some areas had 26 inches of rain in one
day during vintage time, good wine was made. (Minervois escaped with
just 3 inches). As for 2003, the long, hot and very dry summer ensured
extremely ripe grapes and the earliest harvest in more than 50 years -
not, in itself, a guarantee of great wine but some excellent results
were achieved here. The 2004 and 2005 vintages were much less extreme
and, again, some excellent wines were made.
The
future.............
 We
feel very privileged to be able to feature the
wines of Domaine La
Combe Blanche on our list. They are always
popular amongst the people that have attended our tasting evenings.
And, as our company grows, we look forward to featuring these
wonderful wines for many years to come. But, as the wines of this area
become better known (and, therefore, more in demand) prices are bound
to rise. So snap them up now, whilst they offer such great value for
money. To see our current range of wines from Domaine La Combe
Blanche, click here.
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The
estate was founded in the late 19th century by Louis Pugibet and has
been in the family ever since. Over the last thirty years, the
vineyards have been completely replanted, with - as the current
proprietor Francois Pugibet says - "no attention paid to fixed ideas".
He planted the
first Lledoner Pelut (a rare "cousin" of the Grenache variety) in
spring 1968 and, shortly after, Syrah. Sauvignon and Chardonnay were
planted in the early 1980’s. The vineyards are planted with more than 2
metres between the rows and have been gradually increased from 5000 to
8000 vines per hectare. This sort of planting density is now becoming
more popular in Languedoc (and other viticultural regions), as it
requires the vines to work much harder for their nourishment. Yields
per vine are therefore kept naturally low.
Over 15 hectares have been planted recently, following a high-quality
vineyard plan, and the total area now under vine is 45 hectares. Red
varieties planted on the estate include Cabernet(s) Sauvignon and
Franc, Pinot Noir, Grenache, Syrah and Lledoner Pelut. Whites include
Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Riesling. 
New, ultra-modern cellars were
built during summer 2002. Latterly, Mr. Pugibet and his son Vincent
have introduced yet more innovations - notably, a white and a
rosé
(called "Plume") at just 9% abv! This is achieved by the use of an
"osmoser", which removes a certain proportion of the alcohol from the
wine (the same process that many Bordeaux chateaux use to remove excess
water, in more "dilute" years). And
the resulting wines are a revelation - if anything, the flavours are
heightened by the reduction in the alcohol levels. Try them and see! Of
course, most of the wines in the La Colombette range are produced with
more traditional alcohol levels (though rarely exceeding 13.5% abv).
The wines are of consistently very high quality, with many of the wines
being aged in large (600 litre) oak demi-muids for up to 1 year. In his
book "Languedoc-Roussillon - The Wines and Winemakers", Paul Strang
says
of the wines; 
Quite possibly the best and most
dynamic
village co-operative in the southern Rhône, producing a range
of different Cairanne wines, from low-yielding Grenache, Syrah and
Mourvedre vines.