Chateau de la Negly La Clape La Brise Marine Blanc 2020

Chateau de la Negly farms 50ha of estate vines that are situated in the Languedoc village of Fleury, 20km from Narbonne, in the heart of the La Clape AOP. During the Gallo-Roman era, the hills of La Clape were an island in the Mediterranean until the Aude River reconnected it to the mainland with substantial alluvial deposits. The unique soils of this AOP are a mixture of sandy loam and decomposing sandstone that is silty and rough with rocks and clay. The estate's close proximity to the water makes for a longer growing season with larger diurnal temperature shifts than vineyards further inland. This, coupled with the effects of the Tramontane wind, strong and dry from the North, allows Chateau de la Negly to make extremely rich and powerful wines that maintain great freshness and elegance.

Records show that this property existed as far back as 178AD under the name Nerly. The Chateau was built in the 18th century and was originally named d'Anceley; in 1807 the name changed to Negly. Many families have owned this historic estate over the centuries but it wasn't until the arrival of Jean Paux-Rosset, who purchased Negly in 1992, that the wines produced from these old traditional vineyards began their elevation to premier level status.

Today, wines from Chateau de la Negly are held as benchmarks of the Languedoc's potential, achieved through a series of replanting of vineyards, more organic farming practices and a strict attention to cleanliness and quality control. Every bunch of grapes is handpicked and placed into small 8kg crates. If they are de-stemmed, as they are for all the top wines, the grapes travel slowly along a conveyor table where 12 people remove everything but the perfectly ripe and intact berries. Whites are allowed to chill in a cold room for up to 4 days before pressing. The three flagship wines from this Estate (L'Anceley, Port du Ciel and Clos des Truffiers) are parcel selections of very old Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache that yield tiny harvests of around 10-15 hL/ha.