Château de Flaugergues, Montpellier

This is a post in the Spotlight on: Languedoc-Roussillon series

Château de Flaugergues is more grand palatial home than working winery.

The first thing to welcome you on site is the courtyard with a restaurant (Folia) and wine shop. What’s really impressive is semi-concealed by the botanical garden – the Château itself.

This was a house built for the Comte de Colbert in the centuries past and was home not only to the current Comtes, Henri Comte de Colbert, but also history and treasures brought back from and for the previous Comtes.

The estate is run in a very hands on way by the Comte de Colbert and his son, who also happens to be the wine maker.

There’s generations of tradition at Château de Flaugergues but this certainly hasn’t stopped them creating an eclectic portfolio of wines.

Case in point, their Cuvée Foliae Blanc 2012 comes in an electric blue bottle and is packed with minerality. The Cuvée Sommelière Blanc 2012 was much more elegant, showing vibrant freshness and quite a bit of (confused) complexity from its blend of five grapes.

The Cuvée Les Comtes Rosé 2012 had excellent structure for a rosé, with plenty of red fruits coming through.

The Cuvée Les Comtes Rouge 2011 showed similar structure but also offered high tannins and quite a herbaceous finish. It will certainly take to ageing a little more. In contrast, the Cuvée Sommelière Rouge 2011 showed much lower tannins while retaining fresh red fruit on the nose and palate.

www.flaugergues.com