Vins Mont-Val

Mont-Val Wines, a breath of fresh air in the Hérault

Welcome between Béziers and Montpellier, to Aspiran. The little corner of paradise for these young winegrowers who have decided to put down their suitcases after many years of travelling.
Epi-curieux.com had a great meeting, and the wines were also surprising. Freshness on the program, gluttony, as we like!

Jean-Yves Domont and Sophie Valançant

Jean-Yves Domont and Sophie Valanssant first cut their teeth across France and abroad before officially starting their own business. For many years, they were trained by natural winegrowers, such as in Burgundy, Auvergne, Cornas, Fleurie, etc. In Fleurie, they were able to benefit from the great advice of Yvon Métras, or even that of Matthieu Barret in Cornas. After having criss-crossed the French vineyards, they went to Australia for a few years to train for three years, then three more years in New Zealand where they will have their own estate.
Following these great adventures on the other side of the globe, Jean-Yves Domont and Sophie Valançant return to France in 2019 to settle in their own estate. They then put their suitcases in Aspiran, in the Hérault. The Domaine les Vins Mont-Val was then born, with an association of the two names; Mont (Domont) - Val (Valançant). The estate then spreads over 6 hectares, all conducted in organic farming.
Part of the vines was taken over from a well-known estate, the Montrieux estate. These plots therefore belonged to Emile Heredia.

The soils of Mont-Val wines

The estate's vines are between 10 and 98 years old.
Mont-Val wines are made from several grape varieties and two types of Villafranchian soils. First there is Grenache Noir, white Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on basaltic soils. Then on clay-limestone soils, there are the Clairette, Syrah and Carignan Noir grape varieties.
Thanks to their previous experiences, Jean-Yves Domont and Sophie Valançant know what they want, and they want to be the least interventionist possible. Vines worked without pesticides, without chemicals, healthy grapes for 100% natural vinification.
Everything is picked up by hand, the bottles are vinified in different ways, either in whole bunches for carbonic maceration, or destemmed according to what they want to transcribe in the juices.
Jean-Yves Domont and Sophie Valançant therefore offer several bottles in Languedoc-Roussillon.
First there is the 2021 Le Tellurien bottle, which is a blend of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. As we mentioned, in this bottle the Syrah and the Grenache are vinified in whole bunches to carry out a carbonic maceration. A successful blend to extract the best of the fruit, lightness and a nice concentration to balance the whole.
There is also Toa 2020, in blend, but with a majority of Carignan, then Cinsault, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. A very nice blend of southern fruits, spices, a silky texture, all with a nice complexity.
Then Les Vins Mont-Val is also a natural sparkling wine, the Magmatic 2021 bottle. 100% white Carignan for this sparkling wine that is both very fresh and delicious, a bottle that will keep you waiting for the warmer days to approach. A real little candy!