Domaine Sainte Croix Carignan is a dark looking wine with an abundance of wild berry fruit notes, raspberry, blackberry, fig and hedgerow fruit. It is dense and smooth on the palate with attractive chocolate and coffee notes nicely intermingled with wild herbs and all the delicious fruit flavours. The Carignan grape has long been known for producing bulk wine but cropped with care and handled with meticulous attention to detail, the results can be spectacular.

Domaine Sainte Croix is owned and run by the English husband and wife team of Jon and Elizabeth Bowen. These are truly artisan wines crafted in an unfashionable area of France that has long been dominated by co-operative production. They are based in the village of Fraïssé des Corbières which sits on the border between the Languedoc and the Roussillon, 20 minutes in from the Mediterranean. There is a unique microclimate here where maritime influences meet with warmer, drier inland air. It allows for full, concentrated wines with elegance, to be made. The uniqueness of the area is further enhanced by the age of the vines, with many easily exceeding 100 years of age and looking wonderfully gnarly. The 13-hectare domaine has always been organic but is now certified and the wines display all the hallmarks of elegant artisan wines that have been carefully crafted with minimal sulphur and loads of love.

The classic southern French grape varieties of Syrah, Carignan, Grenache and Mourvedre make up the majority of the domaine’s vineyards. Recent fashion has been to bottle wines as single varieties and to use the grape variety as a recognised brand, but Jon has always preferred the complexity that comes from blending the varieties together. There is always a bit of experimenting and blending each vintage, but it results in the best expression of the vintage and terroir.