[E] Jon Bowen at Domaine Sainte Croix

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm --- Jon and Elizabeth Bowen make wine at the Domaine Sainte Croix in the Languedoc region in the south of France. They are in the sub-region called Corbieres (or Haut Corbieres), not very far from Spain. Theyre near Narbonne and Perpignan. They started out six years to produce vins de terroir, coming from the UK. They became convinced that there is a great potential in the wines from this region after having worked for other wineries as winemakers for some time.

They make a very interesting white wine, called La Serre, made from grenache blanc and grenache gris. It is a very elegant and mineral wine that expresses the character in the soil. Their main production is red though with the cuvees Le Fournas, their entry level wine, Magneric, Carignan, and Celestra. All wines are made from blends of carignan and grenache grapes. They also have some syrah and mourvedre and a few other grape varieties planted. Yes, they make a wine called Carignan that is a grape variety that is mostly known for uninteresting volume wines, but here at Domaine Sainte Croix it makes dense, character-full wines.

They are also in the process of becoming certified organic. This is one way Jon and Elizabeth Bowen try and express the full character of the soil and the vineyards in the Hautes Corbieres and part of the belief that "fine wine is made in the vineyard". Another aspect is that they use wild yeast. All those things contribute to the stringency and elegance of their wines.

More on Domaine Sainte Croix: http://www.saintecroixvins.com

Music: DovEporTar, Il sigaro a metà, http://www.jamendo.com

By BKWine, http://www.bkwine.com. Interviewer: Per Karlsson, BKWine. © Copyright BKWine, Per Karlsson.

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