Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
From the Médoc to the Languedoc... not such a great leap after all for Eric and Christine Fabre in 2001, in their search for a high-quality terroir in the South of France. Both from winemaking families, their intuition lead them to the terroir of La Clape... and straight to Château d’Anglès. Eric Fabre’s wealth of experience, including eight years as technical director at Château Lafite Rothschild, enabled him to overcome the considerable challenges awaiting them. The vineyard was high priority in order to balance the assembly of traditional grape varieties such as Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache or Carignan for the reds and Bourboulenc, Roussanne and Marsanne for the whites.
All wine stories are also about people and sometimes even about... families!
The generations of the Fabre family follow on in the best tradition of French winemaking. With a family heritage including a highly demanding level of expertise, great passion and an unwavering search for excellence, it is now Vianney’s turn as the youngest of the Fabre siblings to follow in the family tradition.
His experience brings together all aspects of wine-making, from his diploma in wine-growing and winemaking in Bordeaux, followed by a top business school in Paris. After 5 years traveling to the four corners of the world for Bollinger Champagne, he decided to join the family business in 2010, and play his own part in developing the Château d’Anglès wines, taking up the mantle of another generation of winemaking in the Fabre family and keeping alive their secret for perfect harmony. A wine-lover and enthusiast, Vianney is now managing the estate using organic growing methods.
Each section of the 45 hectares on the estate is closely followed under the eye of Eric Fabre and Vianney FABRE, with a real respect for the environment. Round, fresh, charming, precise, complex, structured, delicate – are all qualities of the Château d’Anglès Great Wines that reflect the values held by Eric & Vianney Fabre.
Château d’Anglès is a unique combination of natural elements. From hand-picking, after careful selection, hand sorting, through patient nursing in French oak barrels, to the final assembly, this exceptional terroir reveals its best thanks to the talent and experience of Eric & Vianney Fabre. Mature and Fresh, Generous and Precise, Powerful and Structured... the Perfect Harmony of the Château d’Anglès wines is applauded by the international press, as well as experts and wine lovers around the world.
Essentially a mountain on France’s Mediterranean coast, La Clape's vineyards vary in elevation by as much as nearly 1,000 feet. This tiny region also boasts some of France’s highest total hours of sunshine and produces aromatic whites from the Bourboulenc variety as well as full-bodied red blends from the usual Rhône suspects.
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.