About The Wine:

From the appellation of Minervois La Livinière comes this powerful, elegant and finessed wine. Solid, rich and tight on first taste, with deep red, almost black, color, and full, fruity nose, it yields to bountiful wild berries, fruit, tobacco, and spice as it opens. Long notes of concentrated mineral, fresh fruit and warm licorice with mellow, delicious tannins create an alluring memory on the palette. A blend of 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache, this is a wine to age or drink now..

“La Chandelière” is Domaine La Combe Blanche’s premier wine. It is only produced in the best years and production is limited to about 6000 bottles. “La Chandelière” is virtually impossible to find outside of France (and even in France, locating the wine is a challenge).

The wine is from the appellation of Minervois La Livinière in France’s Languedoc region (you can read more about the Languedoc region in the estate page for Domaine La Combe Blanche). Created in 1997, Minervois La Livinière is comprised of 500 acres spread over 6 villages on the foothills of the Montagne Noir, in an area known as the Petit Causse. Prior to 1997, this area was part of the Minervois AC (mee-nehr-VWAH), a small appellation that produces some of the best red wines in the Languedoc. Minervois La Livinière is the first time that a village appellation has been created in the Languedoc and its existence is a testimony to the winemakers’ commitment to quality, as well as the region’s unique geology and microclimate.

The wine is produced from 35-year-old vines grown at an elevation of 800 feet. Guy Vanlancker, the owner and winemaker of Domaine La Combe Blanche, tends the vines by hand and keeps the yields low. The grapes are vinified and aged separately by varietal. After being crushed, they are left to macerate for 10 to 20 days. Vanlancker believes that this allows for a better extraction of the phenols (the color and flavor compounds from the grape skins). Indigenous yeast then begins the fermentation, with a stirring of the lees (the dead yeast cells, pulp and skin fragments) twice a day to enhance the flavor and complexity of the wine. The Syrah is barrel-aged for 18 months in 50% new and 50% year-old barrel, while the Grenache is aged for a minimum of 15 months in a mixture of stainless steel vats and 3-year-old barrels. (The proportions are adjusted according to the dictates of the vintage.)

In her book “The Wines of the South of France: From Banyuls to Bellet,” Rosemary George MW (one of the UK’s most respected wine writers) recommended the wines from Domaine La Combe Blanche, commenting “There is no doubt that Guy Vanlancker deserves greater recognition, for his wines are stylish and individual.” A perfect example of this is Vanlancker’s hand-crafted and artisanal “La Chandelière.”

About The Winery:

Domaine La Combe Blanche is located in the fairly obscure appellation of Minervois in France’s Languedoc region.

The Languedoc is home to more than a third of France’s vineyard acreage. It stretches west from the Rhone River estuary in the west to the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains near the Spanish border, wrapping around the Mediterranean coast and including the medieval city of Carcassonne. Historically, it has had a reputation for producing plonk wines in bulk. But over the last 20 years a transformation has taken place.

Shunning the factory mentality that has gripped many of the co-operatives that have long dominated the Languedoc, a new generation of dedicated, innovative winemakers have taken advantage of the region’s reasonably-priced vineyards. Emphasizing quality over quantity, these winemakers have dramatically cut yields, instituted best practices in vineyard management, and brought back traditional, artisanal vinification methods. The results have been nothing short of revolutionary.

Look outside the large merchants, co-ops and brokers, and the Languedoc offers hand-crafted wines of real character and individuality. Some of the best I’ve found come from Guy Vanlancker’s estate, Domaine La Combe Blanche.

Domaine La Combe Blanche first caught my attention when I tried its “La Chandelier” cuvée, bought after a wine tasting in small wine shop in Narbonne (a sleepy town on an old Roman road in southern France). Made from a blend of 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache, the wine was rich and elegant, with peppery notes and black cherry. I immediately set out to track down the producer. Unable to find a phone number or website, I sent a letter to Vanlancker telling him how much I had enjoyed the wine and asking if I could arrange a visit to his domaine. He agreed and a month later, I found myself in the ancient wine village of La Livinière meeting with Vanlancker in the old stone building that he uses as his cellar.

A former schoolteacher from Belgium, Vanlancker’s dreamed for years of escaping the cold and damp of Belgium for the warm, Mediterranean climate of the Languedoc where he would make his own wine. In 1981, he fulfilled his dream and moved to the village of La Livinière where he purchased vineyards. In the beginning, he sold all of his grapes to the local cooperative. Overtime, he began to push for higher standards of winemaking, but as the “upstart” from Belgium, he did not make much headway.

In 1998, Vanlancker had the resources to leave the co-op and began to make his own wine. The rest, as they say, is history.

Domaine La Combe Blanche’s vineyards rest between 700 and 800 feet above Livinière, about 18 miles inland from the Mediterranean. The vines are at least 30 years old and grow in a rocky mixture of limestone and clay soils. The climate is arid, and because of the elevation, hot days are offset by cool nights. All combine to set the stage for Vanlancker’s remarkably-good and beautifully-concentrated wine.

Vanlancker keeps yields well below approved limits by pruning and cropping (for the aficionado, his average yield is 25 to 35 hl/ha, significantly less than to the permitted yield of 50 to 60 hl/ha). Grapes are picked by hand and collected in small trays to prevent damage and oxidation. He uses indigenous yeast to start fermentation. Each parcel is vinified and aged separately (some in oak, some in vat) before blending and bottling.

In her book “The Wines of the South of France: From Banyuls to Bellet,” Rosemary George MW (one of the UK’s most respected wine writers) praised Domaine La Combe Blanche, commenting “There is no doubt that Guy Vanlancker deserves greater recognition, for his wines are stylish and individual.”

We are currently offering two wines from Domaine La Combe Blanche: “La Chandelière” 2004, Minervois La Livinière and “Calamiac Terroir” 2005, Minervois. Both are delicious wines that are excellent value for the money.

Technical Analysis:

Varietals: Syrah 75%, Grenache 25%

Alcohol: 15.0%

Vintage: 2009

Wine Type: Red Wine

Appellation: Minervois La Livinière

Aging: Aged 18 months in 50% new barrels and 50% one-year-old oak barrels