Saint Jean de Bébian Priory - Tartuguier 2022
The Prieuré Saint Jean de Bébian is located in Pézenas, in the Languedoc region . The estate has had several influential owners. In the 1970s, Alain Roux modernized the vineyard by introducing noble grape varieties while retaining local ones. In the 1990s, Chantal Lecouty and Jean-Claude Lebrun, former directors of the Revue du Vin de France, continued this quest for excellence. Since then, the estate has been in the hands of Russian industrialist Alexander Pumpyansky , who invested in modern equipment to vinify each plot separately. Under the direction of Benoît Pontenier since 2016, the estate has adopted a biodynamic approach , with the help of Jura winemaker Jean-François Ganevat. The estate now covers 32 hectares divided into 43 plots, offering a diversity of unique terroirs, including limestone, basalt and clay-siliceous soils.
Tartuguier is a blend of Mourvèdre (70%) and Grenache Noir (30%) . The vines are grown on a terroir of grey clay dotted with quartz, basalt and flint. Fermentation occurs partly (minimum 50%) in whole bunches in old tuns . The wine is aged for 12 months in old 32 hectolitre tuns .
Grape varieties: 70% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache Noir