A crisp, refreshing southern French Chardonnay packed with ripe white peach, zesty citrus, and a clean, mineral sea-spray finish.

Domaine Lafage 'Les Sardines' Chardonnay is also currently available by the glass in The Wine Press, Dundee's finest Wine Bar. 

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Pours a bright, pale straw with subtle green tints. On the nose, it opens with pure, inviting aromas of ripe orchard fruit—juicy white peach, conference pear, and crunchy green apple—backed by a touch of blossom, lemon verbena, and a faint hint of blossom honey.

On the palate, it delivers instant refreshment. While southern French whites can sometimes feel heavy, this remains light on its feet and wonderfully energetic. Crisp citrus and fleshy stone fruit are balanced by a gentle, rounded texture from fine lees contact, leading into a dry, palate-cleansing finish marked by crushed stone minerality and a mouthwatering touch of coastal salinity.

Food Pairings:

Uncomplicated, honest, and built for seafood. It is spot on with grilled sardines drizzled in lemon and sea salt, pan-fried sea bass, or garlic and chilli king prawns. It also holds its own brilliantly alongside a good Friday night fish supper from the local chippy, or a simple goat's cheese and beetroot salad.

About the Producer

Domaine Lafage is run by husband-and-wife winemaking team Jean-Marc and Éliane Lafage from their centuries-old stone farmhouse, Mas Miraflors, situated just outside Perpignan in the Roussillon. Both hailing from multi-generational Catalan farming families, the couple cut their winemaking teeth across both hemispheres before returning home to coax the very best out of their native soils.

With 'Les Sardines', the ethos is refreshingly straightforward: produce a bright, unpretentious, everyday coastal wine that captures the easy-going charm of the Mediterranean shore. Rather than smothering the fruit in heavy oak or chasing accolades, Lafage focuses on honest vineyard craft, regenerative farming, and pure drinkability. This cuvée pays homage to the Catalan fishermen, who used to fish by trawling with a net carried by a boat, some 300 metres from the shoreline. The net was then manually hauled up from the beach by the strength of the fishermen. At the end of the day, all the fish were shared, along with ‘the glass of friendship’! Les Sardines Chardonnay was created as a tribute to these moments on the beaches of this stunning coastline and to recapture the "joie de vivre".

Vineyard & Winery

Viticulture & Terroir:

The Chardonnay fruit is cultivated in the maritime belt of the Roussillon plain, nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the foothills of the Pyrenees in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Here, warm Mediterranean sunshine is tempered by persistent coastal winds and the cooling Tramontane breeze from the mountains, which keeps vineyard canopies dry and preserves vital acidity. The vines are rooted in alluvial soils peppered with smooth, rounded river pebbles (galets roulés) and sandy clay. Grapes are picked in the cool hours of early morning to lock in freshness before the southern heat sets in.

Winemaking & Maturation:

Following gentle pneumatic pressing and light cold settling, the juice was fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at a steady 18°C to retain primary aromatics and crisp fruit definition. To soften the palate without sacrificing snap, roughly 7% of the blend underwent malolactic conversion, imparting a subtle creaminess. The wine was aged on its fine lees for five months with periodic gentle stirring before being bottled unoaked using vegan-friendly fining methods.