Domaine des Creisses : Les Creisses 2024

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for Les Creisses 2024 from Domaine des Creisses

Tasting

Colour

The wine reveals a deep red colour with garnet highlights, hinting at a dense, concentrated structure.

Nose

The nose opens with a generous aromatic palette of ripe red and black fruits – cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant and plum – enhanced by spicy notes, garrigue, liquorice and a hint of pepper.

Palate

On the palate, the attack is rich and full, driven by ripe fruit without heaviness. The texture is velvety, supported by silky tannins and a lively freshness, leading to a long finish tinged with liquorice and spice.

Food and Wine Pairings

This wine is ideally suited to roasted or grilled red meats, such as a rack of lamb with herbs or duck breast, as well as Mediterranean slow-cooked dishes such as daube. It also pairs well with refined game preparations and well-matured pressed cooked cheeses.

Serving and Cellaring

Les Creisses 2024 is best enjoyed slightly chilled, at around 15 to 17 °C, to preserve its freshness and balance.

A Dense, Spicy Red from the Hérault, Reflecting Domaine des Creisses

The Estate

Founded in 1904 in Valros, in the Hérault, Domaine des Creisses lies at the heart of the Languedoc. Since 1998, Philippe Chesnelong has run the family estate, supported by his Bordeaux-based cousin Louis Mitjavile for the vinification and ageing. The estate combines varied terroirs – a clay-limestone plateau, Villafranchian gravels and volcanic soils – with sustainable viticulture certified Haute Valeur Environnementale, producing dense, balanced wines regarded as some of the finest references in the Languedoc.

The Vineyard

The grapes for this IGP Pays de l'Hérault cuvée come mainly from the estate's deep, stony clay-limestone plateau, as well as from terraces of Villafranchian gravels, sands and clay-rich pebbles. The vines, some of which are nearly 90 years old, are trained in goblet for the oldest and in cordon de Royat for the others, with short pruning to promote balance and ripeness. The vineyard benefits from partial grass cover, winter cover crops and careful management of soil life, within a framework of reasoned crop protection certified Haute Valeur Environnementale. Yields are deliberately kept low, at around 45 hectolitres per hectare.

Vinification and Ageing

Les Creisses 2024 comes from a fully destemmed, hand-harvested crop, followed by a maceration of around 20 days with gentle extractions to preserve the purity of the fruit and achieve silky tannins. Ageing then continues for 13 to 19 months, mainly in fine-grained French oak barrels and in tanks, without systematic use of new oak, in order to preserve the freshness and precision of the fruit.

Grape Varieties

This blend is based on Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Marselan, Mourvèdre and Carignan.