Domaine de Bablut

I remember two very clear things from the visit to Domaine de Bablut with a group of UK wine bloggers.

The first is that the Domaine sits between two completely different soil types.

To the West there is slate and to the East there is limestone. As cabernet franc doesn't like drought it is planted on the East of the property. Cabernet sauvignon however doesn't mind dry conditions so is planted in the West. This then lends itself to the naming of the wines with the cabernet franc wines being the ones named Petra Alba where the Alba refers to the white of the limestone soil. The Rocca Nigra wines are so named because they come from the Nigra or darker soils.


All the reds we tasted were of a high quality with a fair degree of noticeable tannins. I'll pick out the Rocca Nigra 2006 as it stood out from the rest for me with it's ribena like blackcurrant fruit intense nose, great fruit on the palate and a lingering finish


The second thing I recall was the quality of the dessert wines.

All are made from chenin grapes that had some level of botrytis and we tasted the Grandpierre 2005 and the Noble 2005, 2002 and 1997. They all had that wonderful orange peel and marmalade richness but without being overly sweet and cloying. The Noble 2002 was for me the standout wine with aromas of caramel, mandarin and tangerine,  great balance with a fair degree of acidity still after 10 years in order to counteract the sweetness.

Clearly the Domaine has made the different soil conditions work to its benefit with the range and quality of wines it produces.