The Story:

If you’re only going to visit one domaine in the Côtes de Thongue and you want a good experience as a tourist, go to Moulin de Lene; they’ve thought of everything. Not only is the cellar door open all the time, but they’ve devised walking routes for around the vineyard and if you call up the day before, you can buy a picnic to take with you, and eat (and drink!) at appropriate spots..

As a domaine, Moulin de Lene can trace wine making on its site back to at least 700, and its heritage goes back further than that. There was an aquaduct between this property and Béziers built by the Romans, of which there are still traces on site, but wine-wise it was a sleeping giant until it was stirred up into the modern era, with the acquisition of the estate by the Frayssinet family in 1997 and it’s now one of the biggest estates in the Côtes de Thongue. Constantly innovative, for example, they installed a meteorogical station on one of the hills in 2019 to help them make decisions on when to treat the vines. They are also pushing ahead with experimental grape varieties,that are naturally resistant to disease.

With a wide variety of terroirs within its area, they cultivate a helter-skelter number of grapes, making no fewer than seventeen different wines each year, using all sorts of vinification techniques, including Apicius (price band D), an orange wine, as well as blends you simply won’t find anywhere else. Each year, they make two ‘Cuvée Ephémeres’, which are limited editions that only exist for that particular vintage. In 2022, on display were two fantastic examples, Cosmo, (price band D) a rosé from mourvedre, vermentino and colombard, vinified on the lees, full and round, and Ne Quid Nimis, (price band D) a 100% syrah from a particular plot, with stunning depth. The top of their stable, only made in certain vintages is César (price band D+), which is a stunning, complete red with depth, body and flavour, but it has a price tag to match. (At 15.5%, it’s a bit of a blockbuster too.)

Lower down the tree, look out for Justine, an unoaked chardonnay blend (price band C) and La Reve de Marie, a Marselan led blend (price band C). Their entry level wine (price band B) Zanzibar comes under screw cap and is easy going, both for the red and the white.

This is a delight to visit, and has enough staff to have an open cellar door through the week. They recently acquired a next door estate, Clos de Trinité, which has biological certification and goes under AOC Languedoc. If I had a criticism, it’s not that the wines aren’t good, it’s just that their neighbours can do great wines too but the prices tend to be 10% lower.