Domaine des Clos Perdus - NEW
DOMAINE DES CLOS PERDUS
Facts and wines
Les Clos Perdus means The Lost Vineyards and is the name of this small winery, which consists of 32 scattered plots. They form a fantastic collection of high-quality terroirs planted with a great variety of grapes, which give wines with each their own distinct personality. The fields are located in a mountainous area that is in many places inaccessible by tractor, which is why most field work is done by hand and on foot. This means that each vine gets a lot of attention and it gives the opportunity to nurture the (often quite old vines) to perfection.
Buy their wines here Red wine White wine Rose wine Red wine- Corbières “Cuvée 141” 2016 50% Carignan 35% Grenache 15% Mouvedre
- Perdus Mire la Mer 2015/16 65% Mouvedre 30% Carignan 5% Grenache
- L'Année Rouge 2018 60% Grenache 30% Syrah 10% Carignan.
- L'Extreme Rouge 2014 75% Llendoner Pelut 25% Syrah
- L'Année Blanc 2015/18 65% macabeu 30% Grenache gris 5% Muscat
- Extreme Blanc 2017 70% Grenache gris 25% Grenache blanc 5% Grenache noir
- Côteaux d'Aix Rosé “Cascavel” 2017: Grenache 85%, Syrah 15%
THE LOST VINEYARDS
Les Clos Perdus means The Lost Vineyards and is the name of a small winery located in the town of Peyriac-de-Mer in the Corbières appellation in the southernmost part of Languedoc, on the border with Roussillon.
The name Les Clos Perdus refers to the total of 32 scattered parcels that make up the domain, which stretch from the Agly valley northwest of Perpignan to Bages south of Narbonne. These parcels have been gradually acquired by the domain's owners since the start-up in 2003 and form a fantastic collection of high-quality terroirs planted with a great variety of grapes. The combination of these varied terroirs and grapes is the starting point for some fantastic and highly nuanced white and red wines, each with their own distinct personality – wines that testify to the area's huge potential.
TOP TERROIRS AND OLD VINES – ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1898!
When you add that the fields are often located in a secluded mountainous area, and that the terrain is typically very steep and uneven, thus making the use of tractors impossible, you understand why producers with a modern productivist mindset were not particularly interested in them.
ATYPICAL VINEYARDS
The founders of Les Clos Perdus, in turn, saw in them some unique opportunities, as well as the opportunity to acquire first-class vineyard land within modest budgets. These two men, Hugo Stewart and Paul Old, have, as the names already reveal, an atypical profile in the French wine landscape.
ECOLOGY, BIODYNAMICS AND NATURAL VINIFICATION
In order to bring life back to the old vineyards and get the best out of them, the two gentlemen have chosen to work organically and biodynamically. Therefore, neither pesticides, herbicides, fungicides nor favorable fertilizers are used - just as various natural extracts and plant and algae preparations are used to support the life of the soil and strengthen the plants. Work is also done according to the guidelines of the lunar calendar in order to respect the natural cycle of nature.
Because many fields are not accessible to tractors, the vast majority of work is done by hand and on foot. This means that the people at Les Clos Perdus spend an enormous amount of time in their fields and only move slowly through them, thus paying great attention to each individual vine. This allows the vines and grapes to be nurtured to perfection – and as you know, perfect wines start with perfect grapes!
After around 10 years of loving treatment, you can see the effect of the biodynamics in the wines in the form of more depth, more freshness, more minerality and generally more energy. The fruit is no longer all-dominant in the wines, the terroir has now taken its place.
In order to allow the terroir to express itself, the attitude of Les Clos Perdus is that man and technique must take a back seat. As they put it on the domain: “A wine must reflect a given vintage and a given terroir. A good winegrower is someone who is sensitive enough to realize the qualities of a terroir and skillful enough to let these express themselves through the wine”. This is done by manipulating the raw material and the wine as little as possible.
The grapes are harvested manually and transported with care to the cellar. The pressing and work with the must is gentle, and the wines are allowed to lie with their lees for a long time, so that this can enrich the taste and texture. The wines are usually not clarified and only lightly filtered so that they do not lose any of their character. This means that the red wines in particular require a certain amount of aging before they can be fully enjoyed.
THE THREE MAIN TERROIRS
De Tabte Vinmarker consists of a large collection of plots, each with their own specific characteristics. However, they can be grouped into three units:
Corbières Maritimes by the villages of Peyriac-de-Mer and Bages with a warm and dry climate (although with a bit of welcome moisture from the sea), where the Mourvèdre grape in particular thrives optimally.
Hautes Corbières at Villesèque-des-Corbières and Saint-Jean-de-Barrou. High-quality vineyards with cooler conditions and calcareous soil, where Carignan and Syrah give perfect results.
Vallée de l'Agly in the northernmost part of Roussillon on slate soil, which is excellent for Grenache Noir, Grenache Gris, Syrah, Maccabeu and Muscat.
READ CLOS PERDUS TODAY
On the Les Clos Perdus website you can read this short poem:
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time TS Eliot