Producer Profile

Domaine de Chamans,
Languedoc, France

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Domaine de Chamans

Minervois

The Philosophy

‘You don’t just drink the wine, you drink the place.’

Chamans is a family-owned vineyard run by John and Philippa Hegarty, alongside winemaker, Jessica Chardron. Their goal is to grow grapes biodynamically and treat the vineyard as a whole, to achieve balance through a relationship of the soil, native vegetation, olive trees, lavender and bees for biodiversity. To produce wines of elegance and to be true to the land.

Chamans 15ha of vines are sited in the south-facing foothills of the Montagne Noire in the Minervois, Languedoc surrounded by garrigue and woodland. Isolated from other vineyards, they pursue their own non-interventionist farming philosophy, based on organic and biodynamic principles. Biodynamically farmed and EcoCert certified (since 2010).

Location: Minervois, Languedoc, France

Working with us since 2023

Viticultural Standards: Biodynamic & organic

Website:  https://hegartychamans.com/en/

Interesting fact:  The name ‘Chamans’ translates to Shaman, which is believed to be one who knows and has contact with the wisdom of Nature and the elements. This sentiment is reflected in their labels which are designed to illustrate these abstract forces in Nature.

Chaman’s Wines

Domaine de Chamans is sited 30 minutes outside of Carcassonne in the Languedoc, Southern France, it is run by Sir John and Philippa Hegarty who are Co-proprietors and their winemaker is Jessica Chardron. It is Organic certified and Biodynamically farmed, the vines are planted on the foothills of the Black Mountain.

The philosophy of both Philippa and John is to produce wines that are elegant yet complex – a true expression of this unique piece of land. The vines are pruned following the Marco Simonit Method to encourage health and resist disease. The vines are planted on land that is composed of limestone and clay with several parcels of schist. The advantage of clay is it retains moisture, essential when you experience the heat of the Languedoc, this forces the vines to root deeply which results in rich and fruity aromas. The highest point of the vineyard is 3200m above sea level, this elevation means the vineyard benefits from a cooling influence which retains acidity in the grapes.

Adhering to the biodynamic methods, Chaman’s compost uses organic manure and biodynamic preparations which, when spread on the soil, encourage a rich microbial life that nurtures the vines. The importance of the land being nurtured for generations to come was what inspired them to be biodynamic.

The predominant wind, le Cers, helps to dry out any humidity on the grapes and allows a reduction of the number of preventive treatments, a benefit of being in the Minervois region. To maintain a sustainable vineyard and winery, Chamans consciously adapt practices within both the vineyard and winery to minimise their environmental impact such as the collection of rainwater. This is part of the process for biodynamic practices as this pure water increases the efficiency of the biodynamic preparations when dynamised. Practising Biodynamics sees the enhancement of the “spirit of the farm” means seeing it as working in unison with nature, for example, planting legumes as cover crops in between the vines to bring more nitrogen into the soil, improve soil structure and encourage microbial activity as a natural way to fertilise the land.

Jessica

The red grape varieties range from 10-75 years old with plantings of  Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. For the white, there are 30yr old Marsanne, Roussanne and younger plantings of Grenache blanc, Clairette and Roussanne. The grapes are blended into expressive and moreish wines that each have their own individual story which is embodied with an inviting label. Such as the ‘Open Now’, a blend of Syrah and Mourvédre. Spicy, smokey and with bright red fruits, a wine designed to be drunk young and fresh; simply put in the name.

Having caught the attention of the likes of JancisRobinson.com who described Chaman’s Grenache-based wine “Le Matelas” as:

“Absolutely wonderful! Peppery, fragrant, fresh -rain-wet gravel. Firm, honest and really exciting fruit. Chewy tannins but not in a tiring way. Liquorice root, caraway, Saskatoon, chocolate mint. So fragrant and lifted from start to finish. Long and seriously exciting! There is so much energy in this wine that I can feel the hair on my arms lifting. This is pretty special!”

The Chamans’ range is exciting and innovative, we are very proud to have them in the Wanderlust Wine portfolio.

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