A winding road meandering alongside the slopes of the "Costières" leads you to the CHATEAU MOURGUES DU GRES, in the midst of orchards and garrigue.
This former estate belonged to the Convent of the Ursulines before the French Revolution. In Provence, "Nuns" is "Mourgues" and "Grès" is "Pebbles".
In the courtyard is a sundial with the motto "SINE SOLE NIHIL" (Nothing Without Sun) meaning that the sun ripens the grape to optimal maturity to produce balanced wines.
Agricultural Engineer and Oenologist, I made my debut at Château-Laffite in the Médoc.
In 1990 I decided to come back to the family estate to promote the local varieties of grapes in combination with the diversity of the soil. Their first red vintage wine bottled in1993 was the result of both traditional and innovative methods. This range is named after “Les Grès” a specific terroir of covered by “galet roulés”, or sandstones, coming from a glacial moraine that was deposited along the Rhône river. Consequently, Costières de Nîmes has a substantial layer of “grès” that superimposed on a subsoil of calcareous clay and limestone.
The northern exposure of this terroir provides a cooler environment for the vines and inflects the harsher extremes of the mediterranean summer.
This northern site also lends a substantial vivacity to the wines which is guarded throughout its wine-making process by a rigorous temperature control preserving all of its natural fruit and freshness.
Tasting Notes: Pale gold in appearance with a youthful expression, a complex wine on the palate with floral notes and notes of citrus fruit as well as some white stone fruits, balanced acidity medium plus body with a mineral finish and the finish is long.