France · Gard

SARL Domaine de Berguerolles

A third-generation organic estate in Saint-Ambroix, beside the Cèze, making dry barrel-aged whites alongside Serine, orange wine and pét-nat.

The producer

Domaine de Berguerolles works 36 hectares on a Cèze river hillside in northern Languedoc. Mathieu Manifacier, the family’s third-generation winemaker, farms more than 20 grape varieties across red clay, silt, quartz and granite pebbles. The river bend moderates Cévennes hazards, supporting both the citrus-led Sauvignon Blanc and Manseng fruit of Le Clos Blanc and the Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon of Le Clos Rouge.

The cellar shifts shape with the bottle. Le Clos Blanc is gently pressed, cold-settled, fermented in oak and acacia, then kept nine months on fine lees for dry texture, citrus, apricot and a light vanilla note. Back to the Serine uses whole-bunch fermentation and stainless steel for wild strawberry, black tea, fennel and herbal lift, while La Vie en Orange gains fuller texture and slight tannic grip from eight days on skins.

Known for

Organic Cévennes wines spanning lees-aged Sauvignon Blanc blends, Serine reds, hybrid varieties, skin-contact whites and spontaneous-fermentation pét-nat.

Notable facts

The story

Rebuilding Clos de Berguerolles

Robert Saint-Étienne acquired Clos de Berguerolles in 1967, when the vineyard had to be rebuilt from virtually nothing. He replanted and reconstructed the estate at Saint-Ambroix, on the hillside beside the Cèze river. In 1974, seven years after the purchase, the domaine began bottling its own wine. The family still runs the property through its third generation: Mathieu Manifacier now works Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Grenache alongside Serine, Souvignier Gris, Floréal, Italia Bouquet and other less familiar grapes planted across the estate.

From the atlas

SARL Domaine de Berguerolles

At A Glance

Domaine de Berguerolles is a third-generation family estate in Saint-Ambroix, in northern Languedoc and within the Cévennes National Park. Its 36 hectares are organically farmed and planted with 22 grape varieties, so the bottles move from barrel-aged white wine to Serine, skin-contact wine and pét-nat rather than following one narrow style.

The Producer

Mathieu Manifacier is the third-generation winemaker at Berguerolles, where the family makes IGP Cévennes and Vin de France wines beside the Cèze river. Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Grenache sit alongside Serine, Souvignier Gris, Floréal and Italia Bouquet; that planting range allows Le Clos Blanc to remain a structured dry white while other labels explore orange wine, rosé and sparkling wine.

Place

Saint-Ambroix lies in the northern Languedoc, at the edge of the Cévennes. Berguerolles’ hillside runs beside a bend in the Cèze, whose meander creates a local microclimate that protects the vines from Cévennes climatic hazards. For grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc and Petit Manseng, the site supports the freshness and citrus lift found in Le Clos Blanc; for the red and natural-wine range, it leaves room for aromatic varieties to ripen without forcing every bottle into the same shape.

Soil And Site

The vineyard has red clay over silt, with quartz and granite pebbles in the ground. Those soils are spread across a hillside rather than a single uniform parcel, which suits the domaine’s mixed plantings: white grapes can be directed toward dry, lees-aged wines, while varieties such as Syrah, Serine and Cinsault feed red and rosé bottlings. The result is a range built from several grape and soil combinations, not a single estate recipe.

Story

Robert Saint-Étienne acquired Clos de Berguerolles in 1967 and rebuilt the vineyard. Estate bottling followed in 1974, establishing a family label where the fruit had previously not been bottled under the domaine’s own name. The third generation has kept that estate framework while widening the cellar’s vocabulary: classic regional grapes remain in Le Clos Rouge, while Serine, hybrid varieties, zero-added-sulfur bottlings and pét-nat introduce different fruit, texture and fermentation profiles.

Vineyards And Cellar

Organic viticulture and more than 20 grape varieties provide the raw material; cellar decisions then separate the wines. For Le Clos Blanc, grapes are harvested at night, gently pressed and cold-settled for 72 hours before fermentation in French oak and acacia barrels. Nine months on fine lees add body and a creamier texture to a wine whose Sauvignon Blanc component still carries citrus and white fruit.

Back to the Serine takes a different route. The Serine grapes are hand-picked, fermented whole-bunch with indigenous yeast and held for nine months in stainless steel. Without barrel ageing, the red’s blackcurrant-bud, wild-strawberry, fennel and black-tea character stays in the foreground, with herbal lift and a lighter oak imprint. La Vie en Orange uses Sémillon and Viognier with eight days of skin maceration, drawing gentle tannic grip from the grape skins.

Wines

The range has an established core in Le Clos Blanc and Le Clos Rouge. Le Clos Blanc changes with the vintage: documented versions include Sauvignon Blanc with Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, a pure Sauvignon Blanc release, and a Sauvignon Blanc–Petit Manseng blend. Barrel fermentation and lees ageing give the white dry weight, citrus fruit and a measured oak note. Le Clos Rouge combines 80% Syrah, 15% Grenache and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, bringing dark fruit, spice, tannin and fuller red-wine body.

Beyond those wines, Back to the Serine focuses on the ancestral pre-clonal relative of Syrah. White Rabbit uses a changing set of varieties in available records, including Souvignier Gris, Floréal and Gros Manseng; its citrus, floral notes, stone fruit and saline edge place it nearer the domaine’s exploratory whites. Pink My Ride is a direct-press Cinsault and Cabernet Sauvignon rosé. Pét-nat appears in white and rosé versions, while La Vie en Orange supplies skin-contact texture and dry grip.

In The Glass

Le Clos Blanc opens with peach, white fruit, apricot and passion fruit, then moves into citrus on the palate. The oak and acacia barrels can bring vanilla and a rounded mid-palate, while the Sauvignon Blanc keeps the acidity active through a long, dry finish. Its body comes from fine-lees ageing rather than sweetness.

Back to the Serine is more herbal and red-fruited: wild strawberry and blackcurrant bud meet fennel, thyme, liquorice and black tea. Whole-bunch fermentation contributes perfume and savoury detail, while stainless-steel ageing keeps the texture lively and the tannin more about grip than barrel weight. La Vie en Orange trades that red-fruit profile for stone-fruit-like fruit, fuller texture and a slight skin-derived tannic bite.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the current vintage of Le Clos Blanc, checking the label for its exact grape blend. It is the bottle where the Cèze-side site, the estate’s established white-wine work and its deliberate cellar method meet: Sauvignon Blanc supplies citrus and freshness, Manseng varieties may add apricot and breadth, and nine months on lees in oak and acacia barrels add dry texture and a gentle vanilla note. It is a useful first taste because the wine changes its blend by year while retaining a clear, dry, structured shape.

Anecdote

Robert Saint-Étienne acquired Clos de Berguerolles in 1967, when the vineyard had to be rebuilt from virtually nothing. He replanted and reconstructed the estate at Saint-Ambroix, on the hillside beside the Cèze. Seven years later, in 1974, the domaine began bottling its own wine. The family now continues the property through a third generation: Mathieu Manifacier works the same estate with Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Grenache, but also with Serine, Souvignier Gris, Floréal, Italia Bouquet and other less familiar varieties.

Final Word

Berguerolles is worth seeking out for the contrast between its rooted estate wines and its more adventurous bottles. A dry, lees-aged Le Clos Blanc shows the cellar at work with familiar grapes; Serine, orange wine and pét-nat show what the broad Cévennes planting can do when fermentation and grape choice change.

Sources

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