Justin and Amanda Howard-Sneyd in their 80+ year-old La Roque Carignan vineyard.
What has the Roussillon, in deepest Catalan France, got to do with English bubbly, you may be wondering? Well, it's the same couple behind Domaine of the Bee, kickstarted in 2004 with the purchase of some old vine plots near Maury (which is Occitan but never mind), and Hart of Gold, an upmarket English sparkling launched with the 2010 vintage.
Much has happened in twenty years, including a gradual broadening of the range of different labels available - which however may well become temporarily diminished (read on) - and the operation slowly turning from dream hobby to long-term business. 2024 was the third year in a row of serious drought in the Roussillon, drastically reducing the amount of grapes produced. Justin and Amanda also had to make a very tough decision to pull up one of their core blocks, La Coume de Roy, partly due to these drought conditions and partly because of a well-established vine virus, resulting in uneconomic yields and some of the very old vines beginning to die.
The cheerier news is that rainfall has been surprisingly consistent over winter and early spring, and plans are in place to replant this splendid old site in perhaps two or three years' time. In the meantime, they'll buy more grapes from growers they know well (they already do for the non-Domaine of the Bee wines); and the very latest news is they have just bought a new vineyard called Le Falgayra. This plot is a little less than one hectare lying on gentle hillsides between Maury and St-Paul de Fenouillet, where "mostly Grenache noir with some Carignan, and maybe 10% white and pink grapes" are planted, probably at least 50-60 years old on average.
Here are my notes and impressions of the new Bee and Hart of Gold releases plus a few older vintages, 'tasted' at an enjoyable social event at their London home in May.
Hart of Gold 2019 (12% abv) - Justin explains: "The first vintage of Hart of Gold was the 2010 followed by 2013, and most years since then but no 2018." So, the new release is this 50% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier sourced from their usual Herefordshire grower; produced at Ridgeview winery in West Sussex and "disgorged in February 2025 after nearly 5 years on the lees." Enticing toasty nose, subtle elegant palate with good balance of mature fruit and flavours while keeping underlying freshness; lovely 'vintage-Champagne-style' fizz. Retail £36, member £28.80.
Field of the Bee Côtes Catalanes 2024 (13% abv) - Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc and "a little bit" of Roussanne "from several parcels of old vines belonging to Jean-Marc Lafage (owner of Chateau St. Roch, where the Bee reds are produced, and other properties in the region), some of them over 100 years old." Cool-fermented and, for the most part, stored in tank although 20% of the wine aged in barrel for four months. Very light oak influence adding attractive yeast-lees notes and texture, but it's a very aromatic and zingy dry white with tasty refreshing and balanced finish. Good. £18/£14.40
Bee Pink Côtes du Roussillon 2024 (12% abv) - Grenache noir, Grenache gris, Syrah. Pale colour, aromatic, light and crisp with elegant red fruit finish; nice enough dry rosé although not super-exciting for the price. £16/£12.80
Taronja de Gris Orange Wine 2024 (13% abv) - Joint project with Jean-Marc Lafage made from Grenache Gris (mostly de-stemmed grapes fermented in open-top 500L barrels with maceration on skins for two weeks after fermentation), Muscat and Viognier (fermentation in four open-top barrels, maceration on skins and stalks for a week); then aged in barrels for five months. Deep slightly opaque colour, very aromatic with marmalade, ginger and citrus peel notes, well-textured mouthfeel with light bitter grip, some nutty flavours then good fresh length; very appealing orange style. £25/£20
The Bee-Side Grenache Côtes Catalanes 2024 (13.5% abv) - 70% of the Grenache fruit comes from Lafage, fermented with some whole bunches and some carbonic maceration (like Beaujolais), "blended with a barrel or two of our oak-aged 'pale red' from the Domaine of the Bee vines." Aromatic juicy Grenache fruit with sweet cherry and liquorice flavours, lightly peppery and soft finish; nice Mediterranean quaffing red. £21/£16.80
Domaine of the Bee Carignan Côtes Catalanes 2022 (14.5% abv) - Pure Carignan from the old bush vine La Roque block (1 hectare, pic. at the top). "Destemming without crushing to allow some intra-cellular fermentation to release colour prior to the full alcoholic fermentation at controlled temperature in stainless steel and a couple of 500L barrels, then all the remaining wine was matured in one 1 year-old 500L French oak barrel and one 1 year-old 500L American oak barrel. Scented coconut oak layered with underlying ripe wild blueberry and blackberry, subtle concentration and powerful with light tannins, enticing oak-tinged texture and lots of berry fruit on the finish. Well tasty. £25/£20
Single Barrel Carignan No. 36 Côtes Catalanes 2023 (14.5%) - One selected barrel from the oldest Carignan vines (a new 500L demi-muid 'barrel 36' - 650 bottles made). Fermented in a steel tank and several open barrels. Pretty rich and dense, again was showing obvious coconut oak but it's well integrated nevertheless with aromatic berry fruit underneath, concentrated and powerful mouthful yet has lovely textured tannins and even a touch of freshness. Very good. £28/£35
Domaine of the Bee Côtes du Roussillon Villages 2023 (14.5%) - 58% Carignan and 42% Grenache ("our best barrels") from the original three blocks, tipped directly into open-top 500L demi-muid barrels. This vintage was part-fermented with some whole bunches and some with the stems; the grapes were briefly cold-macerated then fermented while punched down 2-3 times a day. All drained into different 500L and 225L barrels, approx. a third of them new, and left to mature for 16 months. Quite oaky and closed up, submerged rich fruit, powerful palate with more obvious tannins at this stage. Could be very good. £28/£22.40 but already sold out due to low volume.
Domaine of the Bee Maury Sec 2021 (15%) - 60-40 Grenache-Carignan, same vineyards. Similar winemaking to the '23 but the first lot of Carignan picked was fermented in stainless tank, and all was aged in 25% new oak. Light smoky oak suffused with enticing maturing savoury fruit, more powerful mouthfeel vs delicious fruit though with subtle toasted tones, once again attractive tannin texture, nice lingering finish. Very good. £28/£22.40
Domaine of the Bee Côtes du Roussillon Villages 2015 (15%) - Similar to above but most of the Carignan was tank-fermented, and total ageing in oak for 14 months only. Lovely maturing nose with any oak now nicely integrated, lush dark and savoury flavours with peppery tones, well balanced with tannins still present but well textured again. Delicious now although would probably evolve further... £35/£28
Worker Bees' Cuvée 2023 Côtes Catalanes (15% alc) - 100% Grenache from their 65-year-old Bac de Genievres plot; similar barrel-ferment winemaking to Les Genoux and aged in one 3-year-old 225L barrel for 15 months. 290 bottles made with the help of nine Wine Club members. More fruit and a bit less oak, light coconut texture with punchy mouthfeel, lush spicy fruit and again has those attractive '23 vintage tannins. £28/£35
Les Genoux Maury Sec 2023 (13.5%) - "The very last barrel from our now-uprooted vineyard," the blurb says fatefully (650 bottles made). 70% Grenache noir, 20% Carignan, 5% Grenache gris, 5% Grenache blanc (a field blend - many of them were over 100 years old); three open-top 500L barrels filled with whole bunches, foot-crushing and hand-plunging during fermentation. After pressing, the wine was drained into one 500L barrel and the rest, plus the press wine, to another older barrel. 15 months' ageing. Pretty oaky on the nose but it's dense and pure-fruited, grippier tannins while still rounded, less powerful than some of the others with a certain kind of elegance (for old-vine Grenache). Guesswork at the moment but it's looking good for a promising future. £40/£50
Previous updates on Domaine of the Bee on this blog are in this thread:
And you can find more in my book on the Roussillon.
No comments:
Post a Comment