Award-winning wines

Domaine de la Souterranne has won recognition by wine professionals around the world, for example at the 2008 International Wine and Spirits Competition we won Best in Class and several medals.

Oz Clarke will also list Domaine de la Souterranne amongst the best 250 wines in the world in his next edition (2009).

Calais Special Offer

Get together with your friends and family, or buy for a special event. If you buy our wine in quantity (eg 300 bottles/50 cases of 6) and order direct from domaine to pick up from a depot in Calais we will pay for lunch in a top restaurant in the area.  This is far cheaper than buying in the UK – a bottle of our Chardonnay Viognier retails in the UK for £7.99 – ex cellar door it is 4.00 euros or approx £3.20.  The savings of buying in bulk therefore easily covers the fare – and it is a fun day out!

Interesting Story

1. Domaine de la Souterranne is a small family-run vineyard in Minervois region of the Languedoc
2. The owners, Jim and Sarah Pearce, are English and use an award-winning Australian-French wine-making team
3. Our philosophy is to grow the grapes carefully for high quality not high quantity.  We thin the grapes to concentrate the flavours, and hand-pick at harvest.
4. We work with nature as an ally – our domaine is classified a wildlife sanctuary
5. Situated in the mediterranean garrigue, our land is full of the wild scents of the local herbs such as lavender, rosemary and thyme.

Interesting Wines

1. We specialise in wine varieties that work best in our sunny climate and our soils such as Carignan and Chardonnay.  We only use the free-run juice (not the pressings) when making our wines.
2. Old Vine Carignan: our signature wine, and a speciality of the Minervois.  The 2006 vintage was Best in Class and won Silver medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2008.  Our vines were planted 58 years ago.  Oak aged, hand-picked, aromas of vanilla, butterscotch along with ripe fruits, smooth and velvet to the tongue, with a long and fruity finish.
3. Chardonnay Viognier:  This interesting combination blends the floral aromas of the Viognier with the ripe fruits of the Chardonnay.    The result has aromas of honeysuckle blossom mixed with ripe fruits; fresh, smooth elegant flavours accented with apricots and pineapple at the finish
4. Merlot: Our 2006 vintage won Bronze medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2008.  It is garnet-red, with aromas of summer fruits, strawberries and vanilla, a fresh, supple flavour to start, with a fruity spicy finish.

Interesting Terroir

1. Stones: Sited in the garrigue on an ancient riverbed, our calcareous stony soils have the advantage of retaining the heat at night, lengthening the growing season so ensuring fully developed grapes.
2. Soil:   Like many of the best terroirs, our soils have a high PH due to the levels of free calcium.  The stones shade the soil, meaning less evaporation, so there tends to be less disease as humidity is lower, and the soils are free draining so making the vine work hard for its water. The soils are a well balanced mixture of sand, clay and silt, overlying calcium rocks. A difficult but rewarding terroir.

Vineyard Tours

1. If you are in the area and would like a personal tour of our vineyard with the owner, followed by a tasting of our wines, please contact Jim and Sarah (details below) to organise a time.

1. Ex cellar door prices (contact us for the latest price list)
2. At our domaine
3. Order direct in large quantity and pick up from Calais – email us or call us to place your order
4. Retailers
5. The Oxford Wine Company, Standlake, Witney, Oxfordshire 01865 30 11 44
6. The Wine Temple, 43, rue de Verdun, Calais, 62100  FRANCE Tel: 0033 321 82 34 30
7. La cave des Vendanges Tardives, 21 place Voltaire, 59240 Dunkerque FRANCE Tel: 0033 328 21 60 82
8. Les Caves du Limousin, 8 rte de Poitiers- Peyrat de Bellac, 05.55.68.96.20 FRANCE

Contact
Jim and Sarah Pearce
Domaine de la Souterranne,
11120 Ginestas France
+33 (0)4 68 40 36 08
Mobile +33 (0)6 33 66 00 01(Jim)
+33 (0)6 31 18 56 58 (Sarah)
souterranne@hotmail.com