2023 Château Haut-Blanville, Merlot Pays d'Oc - Liberty

Established in the late 1990s, Château Haut-Blanville is a family-run estate located in Pézenas outside of Montpellier. Bernard and Beatrice Nivollet moved to the Languedoc from Paris in 1995 to realise their dream of becoming wine producers. Attracted by the region’s richly diverse soils, they settled in the Languedoc Grés de Montpellier appellation. Over the years, they have gradually selected and carefully built up a collection of vines across the region.

Château Haut-Blanville now comprises 40 hectares of vines across the Languedoc Grés de Montpellier appellation and 30 hectares under the Pays d’Oc IGP. The warm, dry climate here is moderated by sea breezes, encouraging the grapes to ripen early and giving good freshness to the final wines. The estate's vines are cultivated according to hybrid sustainable principles, which combine ‘lutte raisonnée’, organic cultivation and biodynamic practices. No chemical fertilisers are used in the vineyards to preserve the quality and diversity of the various soils.

Bernard Nivollet heads up winemaking at the estate and takes great pride in his work. His Merlot goes through whole-bunch fermentation, before being vinified and aged in stainless steel to retain a fresh and bright fruit profile. The resulting wine is very approachable with soft, ripe tannins and a purity of red fruit representing excellent value.

Grapes for the Blanville Merlot were carefully selected from trusted neighbouring growers. The trellised vines, which are 20 years old, reside near the Hérault River where the solis are composed of fine clay, sand and silt. The soils are deep, with good filtration which encourages the roots and helps produce aromatic wines combining freshness and fruit flavours. The Merlot vineyard is planted toward the North hillside where the climate is a bit cooler thanks to the shade from the hill and trees.

The 2023 vintage in the Languedoc was shaped by climatic extremes that made vineyard management demanding yet ultimately rewarding. After a dry winter and cool, hesitant start to the season, vegetative growth was uneven, and overall production was reduced compared with the previous year. Spring and early summer brought storms and pockets of heavy rain that increased disease pressure, particularly from mildew, before an intense late-August heatwave pushed temperatures above 40 °C, accelerating ripening and further reducing berry size. While yields were generally down and small berries meant less juice, healthy fruit and concentrated flavours were recorded in many parcels.

The winemaking process focused on expressing a pure varietal expression of Merlot. The grapes were harvested in the evening at perfect maturity early in the season. They were crushed and underwent a short maceration of 10 days during the first fermentation at a low temperature. Malolactic fermentation took place after the pressing. The wine spent the entirety of its time in stainless steel tanks in order to preserve primary aromas and transparency and show the best expression of a Southern French Merlot. This wine was made under sustainable practices and did not see any oak.

This Merlot is smooth and plush with a range of ripe red fruit and violet petals. The palate is medium to full, bright and clean with a well-integrated acidity. Notes of strawberry and spice on the finish.