The Story:

So Aymeric and Sarah have always had wine in their bones. Until 2021, this couple were both lawyers in Paris, but the two of them couldn’t shake the fact that they always had an inkling that wine would be their future. That summer, with two small children, they left Paris for this small domaine outside Alignan du Vent, and 2021 was their first vintage. The name, les Robes Noires, refers to the black gowns that lawyers in Paris wear. Sarah and Aymeric don’t wear them any more, but they are situated for posterity on the wall of their tasting room in Alignan.

Three years in, and they are starting to hit their stride, both with the wines they are now producing, and with their plans for the future (though they are still midway through the three year process before their wines can be labelled “organic”). Their previous profession is preserved in the names of the wines, which all incorporate a nod to the French legal system.

Starting with their whites (where Sarah takes the lead), their entry level wine is T.I. (price band B), a lovely viognier with a bit of attack to balance out the apricot. Then, there’s their blanc de noirs, ‘Hammurabi’ (price band C), after the Babylonian king who is credited with creating history’s first legal code: they initially created this as an emergency measure after their first harvest where they were desperate for a white, but the frosts in the spring had decimated the viognier vines that would normally produce it. The experiment was so successful that they’ve kept it on as a regular part of their range: so this is a white wine made from cinsault: it’s got a lovely mouth feel, a hint of acidity and is actually a delicious, low alcohol (11.5%) white wine. In fact, it makes you wonder why we don’t make white wines from ‘red’ grapes more often. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

The star white is ‘Presetation de Serment’ (Price Band D), an unusual blend of grenache gris, grenache blanc and viognier, kept in barrels for just a few weeks, which gives it an edge of complexity

Their main Rosé is “1134”, which is the number of a key article in the French legal code, a classic easy drinker made mainly from cinsault but with a bit of viognier . There is also an Orange wine, ‘Sui Generis’, which is a decent example of the type.

We then head to their reds (where Aymeric takes the lead). We start with T.com, an unusual take on a grenche-cinsault blend, in that it’s got hints of raspberry and, curiously, fennel. Delicious. (Price Band B). Going up the range, two totally different ones: ‘In Limine’ is the type of friendly, fruity cinsault-grenache blend that the Cotes de Thongue does so well (Price Band C), whereas ‘Pro Bono’ is altogether more serious, with grenache, syrah, cinsault and a hint of cabernet sauvignon. I tasted the 2021 back in 2022 and again in 2024 and it’s still unwinding.

After this, things get even more creative. ‘Contradictoire’ is their take on Cote Rotie, with the syrah and viognier fermented together (Price and C) and is very successful. The best of the range, though, is the magnificent ‘Assemblée Pleniere’ (Price Band D), a syrah-grenache-cinsault blend with oak subtly interwoven so that the fruit and the tannin blend beautifully: this is a full bodied wine that has kept its finesse. It tastes good straightaway but Aymeric feels it will get better with several years of ageing.

Finally, there’s a late harvest, sweetie ‘Sine Die’, made from viognier, which is fun, but probably won’t have the makers of Sauternes quaking in their boots.

There is a great future ahead for this domaine. Recognising the direction of climate change, they have just planted nero d’avola and montepulciano, which will come on stream in a few years’ time and hopefully will be able to thrive in the increasingly dry Languedoc. But if the wines are this good after only three vintages, it’s promising. This couple have inherited vineyards in good shape, and they are looking after them attentively. Their own sense of inquisitiveness is coming through in the wines: some are traditional but others are very much reflective of their own style. A domaine to watch.