2019 Domaine La Terrasse d'Elise PMG

WINEMAKER: Xavier Braujou
REGION: Languedoc, FR
VARIETAL: Nielluccio
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

"PMG stands for Pour ma Gueule which means something like, "for my palate" - Niellucio hails from Corsica and before that (300 years or so) as Sangiovese from Tuscany. I loved this, I was not able to get much as I think he loves it and as the name suggests, he kind of makes it for himself! It's deep in pitch, has lovely strawberry and crushed cherry flavours, very bright and with serious complexity too, this wine spends 2 years in older barrels and is released as a year older than the other red wines. Quite something." - Andrew Guard

One of the great discoveries for me so far are the wines of Xavier Braujou's La Terrasse d’Elise. Here we have an estate producing wines from a special terroir in the heart of the Terrasses du Larzac, his vines between those of Mas de Daumas Gassac and Granges des Peres, what a holy trinity. The land here is glacial scree on top of limestone and it imbues the wines with a freshness and clarity that is exceptional, these are Languedoc wines of uncanny finesse and elegance.

Xavier’s vision is simple “if the vineyard is clear and beautiful, the wines will be too”. He is following organic and biodynamic principals. The grapes are picked entirely by hand. In the cellar Xavier is as little interventionist as possible. The ageing is in old barrels or in stainless steel tanks. Ultimately here are wines that display an incredible suppleness and a beautiful richness on the palate.