Domaine Lafage

As you know, I never need much prompting to shout out our wonderful old favourites DOMAINE LAFAGE. However, with amazing reviews like the one written in Jancisrobinson.com, it just makes life that little bit easier!

Cuvée Nicolas is produced by Domaine Lafage, a family-run estate based near Perpignan in the Roussillon, close to the foothills of the Pyrenees. The cuvée is named after Jean-Marc and Eliane Lafage’s son.  It’s is built entirely from old-vine Grenache sourced from two key areas: the red-schist slopes of the Aspres and the black-schist vineyards around Maury.

Many of these vines exceed sixty years of age, naturally yielding small quantities of concentrated fruit. As always, harvesting is carried out by hand, with each parcel vinified separately to preserve site expression.

Centenaire is crafted from some of the oldest vines on the estate: the blend uses very old-vine whites — predominately Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris, supplemented by Roussanne. The vines used are typically 90–100 years old.

Situated near the Mediterranean coast, the vineyards for Centenaire are on stony gravel-based soils (Quaternary maritime terrace soils). They also benefit from the region’s Mediterranean climate — lots of sunshine, sea breezes, and cooling influences from proximity to the sea.