Eric and Leia purchased their vineyard land in the 1990s, although Eric is originally from the region. His first wine in bottle was the 2001. The 18 hectares of vines are split up into 33 different parcelles, on the communes of Belesta and Maury, high on the hillside slopes above Maury and

Belesta, with a stunning view from the cellars across the Agly valley, and down towards Perpignan in the distance. The higher, cooler climate slopes at 400 to 500 metres above sea level gives wines of a class and minerality almost reminiscent of the northern Rhône.

The Compagnie des Papillons is a blend of grenache and carignan from old vines, on gness soils. Peppery spicy fruit, with ripe supple tannins and good length. Attractive mineral flavours, which develop over several hours. The Saint Bart Vieilles Vignes is a blend on one third each syrah on schist, with their best parcelles of grenache on granite an schist, and carignan on gneiss, from a vineyard parcelle named Saint Barthélémy, which gives the cuvée its name. The carignan in this blend is outstanding (the 2003 tasted in cask has delicious ripe, black cherry fruit, with fresh youthful acidity to balance.) This is the most "Mediterranean" of the three cuvées, more "sauvage" as Eric puts it, ideal for Mediterranean food, with powerful ripe spicy gamey fruit. The top cuvée is the Numéro Uno, a selection of the best parcelles of Syrah (80% of the blend), on granite and gneiss, with the best cask of the Carignan from Saint Barthélémy. The 2002 is outstanding wine; long, powerful and finely structured, with fine mineral fruit, almost "Hermitage" in style.

Whilst the trend in Maury, in the valley of the Fenouillèdes, is to move towards the production of table wines, there are still many domaines producing wonderful Vins Doux Naturel. Amongst these, the De Volontat family has the oldest cave in Maury, and has been marketing wines under their own label since the late 1880s. The trade name Maurydoré has been in use since 1935, pre-dating the appellation, which was created in 1936.

The varieties here are 75% grenache noir, and 20% grenache gris and blanc, together with a little Maccabeu, Malvoisie and muscat. Yields are 25 hectolitres per hectare.

The Cuvée Agnes is a "vintage" style, aged in cask for just 18 months before bottling. (It has thrown a sediment, and should be decanted). The old single vintage wines are aged in demi muids, 600 litre barrels, and are more "rancio" in style. The old vintages are excellent with foie gras or with chocolate, or just to sip at the end of a meal. They have wonderful finesse, and can be compared to the finest Tawny ports available. Limited quantities of older vintages, back to 1925, are available, please enquire for details.

The Coustellier have been producing wines on vineyards around the Bassin de Thau for many generations, and much of their production, from 45 hectares of vineyards, is sold in bulk. Emmanuel Coustellier is now starting to bottle more wine at the domaine, and to experiment with more varietals, to produce clean, honest, easy drinking wines at very competitive prices.

He is very pleased with his latest experiment, 3 hectares of Marsellan, a Grenache Cabernet cross, which he has picked for the first time in 2003, and he has also produced outstanding Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc in the 2003 vintage. The 2003 Chardonnay is soft, floral and ripe, with good balancing acidity, and offers excellent value.

His Picpoul de Pinet is crisp, fresh and refreshingly clean, a delicious wine on a hot summer’s day to drink with oysters, and an equally agreeable quaffing wine even in the cold of winter, with any fish or shellfish. The 2002 was chosen by The Times as one of the top 100 wines in 2004.The Chardonnay has a hint of oak ageing, and is soft, floral and balanced. The Rosé de Syrah is grapey, dry and seductively soft, whilst the Merlot is smooth and ripe and approachable.

Domaine les Creisses is owned by Philippe Chesnelong, a cousin of the Mitjaviles of Bordeaux. There are 23 hectares in production, but only a selection from about 9 hectares is vinified and bottled on the domaine, the rest being sold in bulk. The first vintage to be bottled at the domaine was in 1990, when they selected the best parcelles of land to produce small yields of fine quality wines. Vinification is classic, with malo-lactic in barrel, and the barrels from Bordeaux for ageing. There is about 50% new oak each year. Grapes are de-stemmed, and undergo a three to four week cuvaison. Their top cuvée, Les Brunes, has been produced since 1994, when it was from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. This cuvée is now a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, from the 1997 vintage onwards, and with the addition of a little Mourvèdre from the 2000 vintage. The 1999 is two thirds Cabernet, one third Syrah, and has firm elegant flavours, with rich peppery fruit, and an attractive hint of new oak. The Les Creisses is from Carignan and Grenache, and is fruity and seductively drinkable.

Gil Morrot works for the INRA (Institut National des Recherches Agricoles), and also has a small vineyard in Montpeyroux. The vines were rented out en fermage, but in 2000 Gil decided to produce his own wine for the first time, from a blend of roughly 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah, with a touch of Cinsault. As he had no cellar or winemaking equipment at this stage, the wine was vinified by his friend Marc Benin of Domaine de Ravanès. Aged for fourteen months in two and three year old barriques, the wine has big ripe peppery fruit, with a classic elegance. Only a very small quantity of this wine was produced, but with the construction of his own cellars in progress at present, there will be larger quantities of this outstanding wine in a few years time.

After legal studies, and twenty years in business, Pascal Fulla finally realised a long-standing dream, and became a vigneron. Mas de l’Ecriture is in the commune of Jonquières, within the Coteaux du Languedoc appellation, in the Terrasses du Larzac region, on a stony, sandy clay soil over Jurassic limestone base. Pascal produces red wines from the classic regional varieties, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan. Out of a total 17.4 hectares of the domaine, only six and a half hectares are in production at present, planted with Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan, between 18 and 42 years old. A further six and a half hectares were re-planted in 1999 and 2000, after a complete soil analysis to determine rootstock and scion.

Yields are very low, around 24 hectolitres per hectare in 1999 and 2000, and a mere 18 hectolitres per hectare for the 2001 and 2002 vintages. The vines are worked as biologically as possible, with natural products, de-leafing, green fertilizers, and the development of an organic ecosystem to favourise the vine’s resistance to parasites and diseases. The domaine is equipped with a complete weather station, which transmits the data by computer to the agricultural advisory company with which the domaine works. Each parcelle is separately vinified and aged, each receiving the individual attention which it needs. For example, Grenache might be in French oak, Cinsault in Russian, and Carignan in French, depending on the characteristics and the vintage. The grapes are de-stemmed, and undergo a long cuvaison, followed by a gentle pressing in a vertical hydraulic press. Wines are aged in new or 1 and 2 year old barriques, with different sizes (600 litre, 450 litre, 300 and 225 litre, chosen to complement each varietal in each vintage)

The Déclinaison Occitane was a cuvée only produced in 1999 and 2000. Pascal feels that he has now fully "declined" his final style, and no longer needs this cuvée. The 2000 is ripe, peppery, elegant and generous, attractive, and already expressive. From Grenache, Cinsault and a little Carignan.

The Les Pensées 2000 has rich, elegant powerful licorice fruit, peppery, concentrated and very intense. The 2001 has peppery ripe soft spicy fruit, long, intense, and already attractive, with a baked but elegant intensity. From a blend of Syrah, Cinsault and Grenache Noir.

The Mas de l’Ecriture Le Mas 2000 is perfection; spicy, rich, complex and broad, long, and very classy. Big chewy fruit is perfectly matched by ripe tannins and firm structure. The 2001 has rich smooth peppery ripe tannins, with good weight and volume, and rich, silky voluptuous fruit, Elegant and very intense and complete. From a blend of around 55% Syrah, 25% Grenache, and 20% Mourvèdre.

Denys Armand produced grapes for the co-operative until a few years ago, when he and his wife decided to produce their own wines from their domaine to the north west of Nîmes. This is one of their first offerings. Yields are low, and the wine meticulously made. Le Bois du Roi is from Syrah, with just a little Grenache, and is rich, peppery, spicy and chocolatey, drinking very well now.