Frederic Mabileau

Domaine Frederic Mabileau

Frederic Mabileau operates a 27 ha domaine with the majority of the vines concentrated in St Nicolas de Bourgueil. Frederic is of a winemaking family, his father, Jean-Paul, having been proprietor at Domaine du Bourg. Some of these old family vineyards have recently been brought back into the Mabileau family, as Frederic, with wife Nathalie, is determined to expand and improve his domaine. He manages his vineyard with a great consideration for the soil, the environment, and the quality of the fruit that results. The vines, predominantly Cabernet Franc, are largely Guyot trained, see leaf thinning as required, are interplanted with grass to encourage the vine roots deeper into the soil, and are hand-harvested.

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Combier Crozes-Hermitage “Cuvee Laurent”

Domaine Combier

Grape Varieties
100% Syrah

Food Matching Note
Outstanding with rich red meat dishes, game or even hard cheese at the end of a meal.

Tasting Note
Almost opaque with a purple hue, this is classic syrah from the Northern Rhone. Rich and spicy on the nose with an underlying savoury quality, the palate is rich and spicy too, with ripe approachable tannins. The finish is long, smooth and velvety.

Vinification Note
The Cuvee Laurent is a new addition to the range from Laurent Combier and exhibits all the class and finesse that we have come to expect from this extremely talented winemaker and charming man. The syrah is all hand harvested from Laurents own immaculate vineyards and is vinified in his new cellar, equipped as one would expect with the most modern equipment.

Laurent however believes - as do many of the great winemakers - that fine wines are grown, not made, and he takes as hands off as possible approach to the winemaking, using for example wild yeasts for fermentation. The wine sees a brief period in oak before being bottled and released.

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