The Story:

On one level, this is a classic, old-style Cotes de Thongue vineyard. It’s been in the family of Lambert Pastre for five generations; they produce rosé and red wine using classic Midi grapes (syrah, grenache, cinsault etc.); their wine-making methods are relatively low-tech and traditional and the wines are fruit-led and decent value.

But that’s only half the story, for Domaine St Jean de Thongue are an online powerhouse, and through social media, they have produced a totally new business model for a vineyard. Giulia Sanchez, who makes the wine alongside Lambert, has nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram and another 100,000 on Facebook. They do not bother selling through wine shops but rely on their own website for 80% of their sales and they deliver direct to individuals all over Europe: France, Belgium especially but anywhere.

Giulia has been with Lambert for six years and fully involved in the vines for the last three. They are a good-looking couple and, while I can assure you that Lambert is just as handsome as Giulia is beautiful, you will not know unless you meet him in person as they jointly decided that Giulia should be the face of the brand and it has worked brilliantly. They put serious effort into producing short videos or photos with Giulia at work among the vines or in the cellar, and the number of online followers has gone through the roof. So Giulia is now an online personality and then their best cuvées are named Giulia in her honour. It’s a seamless proposition: from Giulia in the vines, to Giulia on your screen, to Giulia in your glass. And for their increasingly wide and loyal customer base, it’s irresistible.

As sales surge, it’s more a question of where they go next than how to keep going, in what is actually a difficult climate for most small domaines. Lambert says they are looking to grow steadily for the next five years but will hit a limit and always stay a boutique winery: maximum 30,000 bottles a year. And after that, it’ll just be about ramping up quality.

For now, they are producing just four cuvées, two reds and two rosés. By customer demand, they are branching out into whites with a chardonnay next year but for now it’s just four.

So to the wines: SJT rosé is a classic, somewhat simple rosé in the manner of Cote de Thongue; Giulia Cuvée rosé is a more significant prospect. Made from 100% grenache, it’s much rounder in the mouth: satisfying if not too complex.

SJT rouge has genuine interest in being 100% cinsault, which is a rarity and apparently the Swedish market are particularly fond of it. The Swedes know what they are about because this is really charming. But their best red has to be the Cuvée Giulia Rouge, a supple merlot-syrah-grenache blend with ample fruit that is dangerously easy to drink.

Three years ago, they had just one order through their website. Now their website accounts for the vast bulk of their sales. In an era where wine in general, and the Cote de Thongue is part of that, struggles to get bandwidth, St Jean de Thongue have bucked the trend.
Until the 2025 vintage, they have sold under the ‘vin de pays de l’Herault’ label, but they are becoming ‘Cotes de Thongue’ from 2026 onwards. That’s also when their chardonnay will come onstream.