Winemaker Notes
Founded in 1996 in the small village of Marseillette, east of Carcassonne, Abbotts & Delaunay began as the vision of Nerida Abbott. In 2005, Laurent Delaunay acquired the estate, bringing with him five generations of Burgundian négociant heritage. A long-time advocate for the Languedoc’s potential, Laurent has led several notable projects across the region. The vineyards benefit from a unique landscape stretching from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, with diverse soils—sandstone, marl, limestone, and schist—that contribute to the wines’ distinctive character and strong sense of place.
Today, winemaking is led by Laurent’s daughter, Jeanne Delaunay, whose experience includes Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Thibault Liger-Belair, and Coldstream Hills in Australia. Under her direction, the winery focuses on estate-grown fruit while partnering with growers throughout the region, always emphasizing terroir. Guided by a Burgundian philosophy, Jeanne prioritizes balance, elegance, and purity, ensuring that winemaking enhances rather than masks the natural expression of the land.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Although it is a region predominantly recognized for fortified, vins doux naturels (a type of sweet wine), Roussillon is also ideal for the production of dry red, white and rose wines. To encompass all the dry wines from the surrounding region that are not the vins doux naturels of Banyuls, Maury and Rivesaltes, the appellation of Côtes du Roussillon was created in 1977. It covers the eastern half of the Pyrénées-Orientales (the eastern side of the Pyrenees Mountains) and lower lands of Roussillon. Côtes du Roussillon includes complex soils of schist, limestone, gneiss and granite and climatic conditions that support many grape varieties.
Côtes du Roussillon red wines are blends made from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and smaller amounts of Carignan, Cinsault and the lesser known, Lledoner Pelut. Rosé wines come from the same varieties, as well as may include Grenache Gris and Macabeo. White wines from Côtes du Roussillon are Grenache Blanc and Macabeo with small amounts of Marsanne, Roussanne and Rolle (aka Vermentino).