Domaine les Aurelles : Aurel 2017

Characteristics and tasting advice for Aurel 2017 from Domaine les Aurelles

Tasting

Color

The color shows a pale yellow hue with golden or green highlights, bright and crystalline.

Nose

Closed on opening, the nose opens up generously with aeration to reveal delicate, complex aromas of candied citrus and yellow fruits—particularly apricot and peach—with a touch of honey and vanilla. Floral notes of white flowers round out the aromatic profile, while a stony minerality and a finely perceived hint of spice appear in the background.

Palate

On the palate, this wine is broad, voluminous, and impressively complex. The supple, fruity attack is accompanied by a pronounced freshness, together with remarkable minerality and creaminess. The palate remains rounded and complex, offering a fine aromatic range combining candied notes with more stony mineral nuances. The finish is extraordinary, stretching almost endlessly, with a complex finale that brings sweet and bitter elements together in perfect balance.

Food and wine pairings

Aurel 2017 pairs exceptionally well with premium shellfish, notably roasted lobster, scallops in risotto, and sea bream with candied lemons. Foie gras finds remarkable harmony with this white wine. Fine poultry, white meats, fish with rich sauces, and strongly flavored cheeses pair elegantly with this outstanding white.

Serving and cellaring

It is recommended to serve this wine in a decanter, where it can gradually unfold over several hours. This wine has a cellaring potential estimated at ten years or more depending on storage conditions. It is advisable not to taste Aurel 2017 during stormy weather conditions, as the wine is particularly sensitive to barometric variations.

An outstanding Languedoc white comparable to the great Hermitages

The estate

Created in 1995 by Basile and Caroline Saint-Germain, the Domaine les Aurelles spans eight to nine hectares of vines planted on hillsides on the Nizas plateau in the Hérault. Since December 2022, the estate has belonged to Matthieu Gufflet, a Bordeaux-based entrepreneur and founder of the Terres de Natures group, which also owns Château Guiraud in Sauternes and Château des Bachelards in Fleurie. Day-to-day management has been overseen since 2024 by Sandrine Garbay. The estate stands out for its pioneering viticulture—banning fertilizers, weedkillers, and pesticides from the outset—and for exceptionally long aging periods that produce remarkable age-worthy wines. Domaine les Aurelles received three stars in the Guide Vert of La Revue du Vin de France in 2017.

The vineyard

The vines of Aurel Blanc are planted on the Nizas plateau, in the Coteaux du Languedoc, on ancient Quaternary terraces covered with thick layers of rounded pebbles. These Villafranchian terraces feature deep sandy-gravel soils reaching down ten to fifteen meters, enriched by the presence of basalt scree from ancient volcanic flows. Basalt, extremely rich in minerals, gives the wines an unequaled minerality and a distinctive salinity. Located thirty kilometers from the Mediterranean, the estate benefits from a Mediterranean climate tempered by the proximity of the Massif Central, preserving natural freshness. The roussanne comes from one hectare of vines originating from a massal selection from Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Vinification and aging

The grapes arrive at the winery healthy, destemmed, and at full ripeness, pre-selected through rigorous sorting both in the vineyard and at harvest. Vinification is carried out with gentle extractions in hot-enameled tanks. The estate uses exogenous yeasts from Reims—fermentation yeasts rather than aromatic yeasts—allowing for complete conversion of sugars to craft wines that are as easy to digest as possible. The aging of Aurel 2017 extends over an exceptionally long period, exclusively in enameled tanks or 350-liter barrels, never in new oak, in order to preserve the grape’s native purity and the terroir’s full expression. A period of bottle aging precedes release.

Grape variety

100% roussanne