Clos Centeilles is a family winegrowing enterprise devoted to viticulture, created by the willpower of its founder, Patricia Boyer-Domergue, and of her daughter, Cécile. Clos Centeilles is found in the heart of the Minervois La Livinière appellation, the first of the Languedoc crus, recognised since 1999. An authentic walled vineyard of 12 hectares surrounding our family winegrowing holding, 23 grape varieties planted, 13 cuvées, artisanal production and manual work! Grape varieties native to the region but unjustly forgotten, passionately cherished by Patricia Boyer-Domergue and her daughter, Cécile. The winegrowing estate of Clos Centeilles is, by itself alone, a conservatory for heritage (historical, genetic and gustatory) and a creator of the flavours of tomorrow !

ABOUT HISTORY 

Found in Siran, at the foot of the Montagne Noire, at the crossroads of the Hérault and the Aude, Clos Centeilles is in the heart of the “Petit Causse”, the westernmost part of the appellation. This winegrowing holding abounds with history. Clos Centeilles is both a land register reference for the winemaking estate and the name of the first cuvée to come out of this dormant countryside in 1990, the date when Patricia Boyer Domergue purchased it. Before becoming a winemaking estate, CENTEILLES was a popular meeting-place, as is shown by a parcel called “forail” in the land register, a name which is given to the fairground or the traces of a Roman villa that we can see from the air on a rainy day. It’s there that are found the “rural” buildings, surrounded by vines sometimes a century old. Amidst the olive and almond trees, cypresses and vines, the church of Notre-Dame de Centeilles extends the estate and dominates the “clos”, the fields enclosed by dry stone walls. It was restored in the 1960’s and since then, the bells have once again rung out over the countryside. 

VINEYARD

On this winery, we’ve chosen to put our trust in this terroir immune to drought and in its little parcels divided into terraces, facing the South. The recognition in 1999 of the appellation “Minervois la Livinière” was a reward for that choice. To the time of rescue of this abandoned terroir there has succeeded, for several years now, that of the forgotten grape varieties. We are working on the reintroduction of rare grape varieties since 1995 (black, grey and white riveyrenc, oeillade, grey and black picpoul...). Excepting those 4 hectares of vines which are pretty young, the others are 70 to 110 years old. We practise short pruning (“gobelet” or “Cordon de Royat”) but also a pruning which enables us to obtain lyre shape vines (on a double trellis system). Since 4 years, we practice the « soft pruning », a technique aimed at preserving the sap routes of the vine. We maintain the soil with harnessed tools: plough frames with or without a flexible-toothed mouldboard-plough cultivator equipped with points or skimmers. Depending on the rainfall, 3 to 6 tillings on average are sufficient to keep the soil clear. No manure is applied : to produce moderate yields (30-45hl/ha), a rustic plant like the vine has no need, barring mishaps, for annual fertilisation, called upkeep fertilisation. Some vegetable compost can be added to the vine plants. The phyto-sanitary protection is largely facilitated by a range of prophylactic measures which significantly reduce the pressure of diseases ; early de-suckering of trunks and branches, meticulous trellising of the vegetation, and manual and bilateral foliage (80- 00 hours of manual work per hectare). Our approach to viticulture with the techniques described here is similar to the agriculture known as sustainable, but without belonging to any official grouping.

WINES

As soon as we started to vinificate the forgotten grapes of Languedoc, we realized that they bring a remarkable freshness in the white as well as in the red wines which is highly unusual considering the climate of the Languedoc region. All our cuvées have their own personality and wish to find a spontaneous and unembellished expression of the sole reality that seems to us to be important in viticulture ; that of the grape on its terroir. The grapes are exclusively harvested by hand. The fermentation of all our wines takes place with only indigenous yeasts. For the red wines, which represent the major part of our production, the grapes are first destemmed before being sent in tanks by gravity to do long macerations (up to 60 days) which could most precisely be qualified as infusions. Every day we practice “artisanal punching-down” (pigeages) for a soft extraction. After this step, the wines are aged in tank for a minimum of 2 years in order to work on the tannins to polish them and create a solid structure allowing the wines to age. When Patricia arrived in Clos Centeilles in 1990, she trusted this terroir enough to be sure that it could produce wines able to age. This is why we always kept a minimum of 400 bottles of every wine and every vintage (except the Claret obviously and the Carignanissime), allowing our customers to buy old vintages from our estate. Regarding the two white wines, they are mainly composed by forgotten grape varieties that used to be planted in Languedoc a long time ago. Each variety are picked at optimum ripeness and fermented together in the same tank. The white “C” comes from our older parcel of white grapes and contains 3 very very lost grapes (Riveyrenc blanc, Riveyrenc gris, Araignan blanc). The Mosaïque comes from our conservatory parcel and contains 9 different grapes which were, all of them, significant in our region one day during those 400 last years. They both have a very different balance: the “C” is expressing "amplitude" and depth, the Mosaïque is more aerial with aromas expressing themselves wildly. We believe in a strict policy of minimum intervention in order to produce natural wines that reflect the potential of this terroir and its ability to offer a rare insight into the world of aged and age worthy wines from this part.