Producer
Domaine of the Bee is the result of the personal passion of Master of Wine Justin Howard-Sneyd who, following a particularly inspiring visit to Roussillon in 2004, purchased four hectares of vines close to the village of Maury. The vineyards are planted predominantly with Grenache and Carignan and are split over three plots, with vines aged between fifty and one hundred years. The wines speak unashamedly of the hot, dry climate of the south, but with a freshness and vivacity that tempers the heft. Whilst they are named with tongue firmly in cheek, do not let that fool you – these delicious wines are serious examples of the combined potential of old vines and Roussillon’s rugged terroir.
Vineyard
The grapes come from 60-100 year-old bush vines, planted on a mixture of black and brown schist and limestone at the Coume de Roy, Bac de Genievres and St Roch vineyards, as well as a quantity of grapes sourced from the renowned Jean-Marc Lafage. All of the grapes were harvested by hand.
Winery
After hand-sorting at the winery, the grapes were put into upturned 500 litre barrels with the ends taken out, half ‘whole bunch’ and the other half destemmed. The barrels were gently macerated in a refrigerated container, before being warmed up, inoculated with yeast, and gently punched down two or three times a day. After pressing in a small basket press, the wine was drained into 500 litre barrels, two to four-years-old, and aged for fifteen months.
