Domaine Saint Cels - Wines of Saint Chinian

Domaine Saint Cels is an independent winery committed to a spirit of modernity and environmental respect, actively contributing to the renewal of the Saint Chinian wine-growing terroir.

Invigorate the land

Saint Cels is a hamlet very close to the town of Saint Chinian . It lends its name to Domaine Saint Cels , whose tasting room is located in the small hamlet of Castelbouze, a short distance away. Here, past the small row of old houses lining the road, the landscape opens onto limestone cliffs, typical of the terroir. At their foot, the first vines rise in neat rows up the hillside. In this small world, one senses an intimacy where family history, the power of the terroir, and winemaking tradition intertwine. The place concentrates all the characteristics of a landscape specific to the Saint Chinian appellation : mineral intensity, Mediterranean flora, and terraced topography. Between schist and limestone, on an 80-hectare vineyard cultivated organically , the scene is set.

Dare to be different

While the small hamlet of Castelbouze may seem to have settled into a charmingly rustic existence, it quickly becomes clear that another story is unfolding at La Maison de Joseph, home to the Wine Shop of Domaine Saint Cels . Étienne and Marie Rouanet, the winemakers, have reinvented the place, breathing a luminous modernity into this family heritage. And this isn't just an impression, but a deliberate choice, a motto: " Dare to be different — Risk modernity — Allow yourself complete freedom. " This mindset could be summed up in one word: creativity. Domaine Saint Cels is a place where a desire for renewal reigns, essential for a Saint Chinian appellation whose AOC classification dates back to 1982. For Étienne and Marie Rouanet, the focus is on inventing a new way of making and thinking about wine, in harmony with the spirit of the times. While the terroir remains the guarantor of the structure of Saint Chinian wines, it is in the cellar that the spirit of renewal asserts itself and takes shape. It is in its intimacy and concentration that the wines of Domaine Saint Cels patiently reach their full expression.

Vinify with freedom

Au Domaine Saint-Cels, this spirit and this will have generated a clear and coherent range of wines. It is divided into four families: The Sparks, The Naturals, The Timeless, The Confidential.
The first two families, declined in red wines and white wines, combine the suppleness and freedom offered by vinification in IGP Pays d'Oc. They are primarily looking for the dazzling expression of the fruit, going as far as bottling without sulphites to The Naturals. The grape varieties themselves testify to this voluntary and generous choice: the white wines mobilize Rolle and Colombard, while the red wines make Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon sing in concert.
The two other families fall within the specifications of the Saint Chinian wines which reveal in their full expression the Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre for the reds as well as the Roussane, Grenache blanc or Rolle for the whites. The first range of Saint Chinian – The Timeless – finds its consistency in a triology that brings together a red wine, a rosé wine and a white wine. First and foremost revealing the singularities of the terroir, they respectively evoke its identity: Grand Traverse, Under the Pines, Long Combe. The second range – The Confidential – captures the most accomplished expressions of the terroir, concentrated on a red wine and a white wine, both well named Thousand Stars-White et Thousand Red Stars.