Château l’Ermite d’Auzan Epicuria, a wine bursting with character and a velvety texture. With a complex nose of tobacco, spice, and dark fruit, and a vibrant palate of crunchy fruit, this wine is perfect for pairing with barbecue, red meat, and matured cheeses. Stored correctly this delicious wine will mature nicely for up to 10 years.

Critic Review

Decanter Magazine: 90Pts (2016 Vintage)

"Those who’d like to see Mourvèdre put through its paces in Costières de Nîmes should look out for Jérôme Castillon’s pure Mourvèdre Epicuria. It's dark in colour, with warm, spicy, prune-like fruit aromas and a deep, searching, lavishly generous and lush palate with ample prune-plum darkness. Some oak sweetness from the 400 litre casks is also evident. This wine marks a clear contrast to the more Italianate style of Bandol further east; this also has more voluptuousness than the often medicinal flavours of Mourvèdre in Châteauneuf permit. There are tannins, but they’ve melted into the textures and flesh of that rich fruit."
Andrew Jefford

Decanter World Wine Awards: 90Pts Silver Medal (2017 Vintage)

"Lovely fresh fruit character aromas. Palate with sweet cassis and cherry liqueur. Nice length, plenty of character, rich and long finish."
Decanter Panel for DWWA 2018

About the Producer

The estate was founded in the 11th Century by the hermits of Sainte Cécile d'Estagel Abbaye and it made wine for pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostella. The estate encompasses 80 hectares of sunny, south-facing vineyards planted on sandstone soils and benefitting from Mediterranean breezes that cool the vines in the summer.

Our supplier has a close relationship with the owner Jérôme Castillon and he has been instrumental in crafting some of our their own label wines in his cellar. For his own wines, Jérôme restricts the use of oak influence as much as possible and new oak is not used. Favouring old oak, he purchases old oak tronconique fermenters when they get renewed at Domaine Boutinot in Cairanne.

The estate's name changed from Château l'Ermitage to Château L'Ermite d'Auzan in 2020.

Vineyard and Winery

100% Mourvèdre grapes grown on rolled Durance pebbles - the Durance river flowed through the valley well before the Rhône. Fermented and aged for 1 year in a 40 hectolitre wooden vat. Château L’Ermite d'Auzan works hard to minimise its impact upon the environment and has been certified by Terra Vitis for its efforts. The 80ha estate has been farming organically for quite some time, and received official organic certification in 2020.