Tete-a-Tete
This is a wine to spark conversation, encouraging drinkers or thinkers to draw up a chair and share a bottle.
Terret, one of the Languedoc’s oldest and unique varieties, has long been prized for its ability to hold onto its acidity in the heat of a Mediterranean summer. Historically, it has been used as a blending component to provide zest to flatter wines or a base for local brandy and vermouth.
The Terret vineyards are close to the producer’s Picpoul ones overlooking the oyster beds of the Basin de Thau, the saltwater lagoon that stretches from Marseillan in the east to Sète in the west. This location, plus the clay and limestone with quartz pebbles soils, gives a saline edge which adds further interest to its clean mineral profile. These characteristics ensure that the wine acts as the perfect foil to the local cuisine of mussels and oysters harvested from the lagoon.
For vinification, the grapes are crushed with direct pressing followed by cold settling. Inoculation with selected dry yeast and fermentation at a temperature around 16 °C. Ageing is on the lees, finishing with bentonite fining and crossflow filtration.
Pale with yellow tints. Citrus scents with lemon, apple, and subtle pineapple aromas on the nose. Lively with rounded mid-palate of notes of peach and passionfruit that help balance its natural high acidity – which evident in a tight, mineral and zesty finish.
Cellaring potential 2-3 years
Pair it with seafood, sushi, tapas, goats cheese and Asian dishes.
About the Producer
Les Costieres de Pomerols
Gaining AOC status in 2013, six communes are entitled to the name Picpoul de Pinet: Florensac, Pomérols, Pinet, Castelnau de Guers, Montagnac and Meze. It is the only Languedoc appellation dedicated solely to dry white wine production.
Production is dominated by four large cooperative wineries, which make 82% of production, with the rest made by 24 individual producers.
Les Costieres de Pomérols, a Cave Coopérative founded in 1932, is located in the top commune of Pomérols. It merged with the Cave de Castelnau de Guers in 2003 and the Cave de Mèze in 2007. The company employs 25 people and produces an average of 130,000 hectoliters.
Its 350 members control 1,800 ha of vineyards, of which 400 are classified as AOP Picpoul de Pinet. Les Costières de Pomerols are based on the watershed of the Thau lagoon and their vineyards stretch over vast sun-light terraces with clay/limestone soils. As well as Picpoul they grow Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Terret, Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan. Production is 54% white, 28% rosé and 18% red.
