Collection: Le Clos des Fées

[A producer who has taken Roussillon wine to another level]

In French, "clos" means a small vineyard surrounded by a wall, and "fée" means a fairy, so the name of the domaine, "Le Clos des Fées," means the vineyard where fairies would live if they existed.

Located in a remote area of the Mediterranean dry region known as the Garrigue, Le Clos des Fées is surrounded by low, dried-up stone walls, creating a landscape that looks like it came straight out of a postcard. Since ancient times, generations of grape growers have used their wisdom and patience to remove large and small stones buried in the fields one by one by hand and horse, and then pile them up.

The grapes are grown in seven different areas, each with its own special terroir. One of them is blessed with exceptional soil, red clay of alluvial origin, with a high content of round pebbles, reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

This acidic soil gives Mourvèdre a richness that cannot be found anywhere else. Vinification is traditional, but the ageing process varies depending on the cuvée: Sorcières is in stainless steel tanks, Vieilles Vignes in oak barrels, and Clos des Fées in oak barrels for both vinification and ageing.

The Domaine is led by Hervé Bizzle, who was crowned French national sommelier champion in 1981 and has since followed his instincts to pursue a wide range of wine-related careers, including restaurant management and gastronomy journalism.

It is a famous anecdote that the flagship cuvée Clos des Fées 2001 received a score of 96 points in Wineart issue 16, beating Domaine Goby's Muntada.