Photos and text © 2015 Steve Meltzer
If you love discovering niche and boutique wines then le Wine Shop in Pézenas, France is the place to
go. The proprietor Dominic George has a
passion for artisanal wines from small Languedocian domains. For several years
he has operated wine tours of many of these wineries and had dreamed one day of having his own wine shop. Then last September he took the plunge and he opened his place.
We found out about le Wine Shop from an
English friend who, ironically, told us about it because it is his favorite place
to buy British beers and ales. Intrigued, we hit
the road to Pézenas and to give the shop it a look. Tucked away behind the L'Assiette du boucher, adjacent to the main Pézenas round point-- le
Carrefour de la paix-- it’s easily accessible from the D13 and A75 and the
Avenue de Verdun.
A large open space the walls of le Wine Shop are lined with wines from several dozen local domains.
These are the products of small and medium size producers many of whom, as is often the
case in the Languedoc, are a bit off the beaten track or in some cases nearly impossible to find.
That’s one of the things I like about a good wine shop. A wine maven like Dominic does a lot of the hard work of travelling the countryside to find great wines. Now this not to say that I don’t like to visit domains on my own. But I find that one of these visits can turn a bit awkward when none of the wines are to my taste. I end up having to make a very “merci, désolé” retreat.
That’s one of the things I like about a good wine shop. A wine maven like Dominic does a lot of the hard work of travelling the countryside to find great wines. Now this not to say that I don’t like to visit domains on my own. But I find that one of these visits can turn a bit awkward when none of the wines are to my taste. I end up having to make a very “merci, désolé” retreat.
Dominic likes to talk about wine and once started you
quickly get a feel for the breadth and depth of his knowledge. That he likes to
share this enthusiasm is evident. When you enter the shop you immediately see a large
gray rural table surrounded by chairs where Dominic conducts his wine and food tastings
When we arrived at the shop Dominic asked us about our wine
preferences and soon had opened six bottles for us to taste. We ended up buying several
bottles of a wonderful red --“Domaine de Cadablès (2012)” a niche domain near
Gabian. It cost € 8 bottle. After a while our conversation turned to another of
Dominic favorite topics, the astonishing landscapes of the
Languedoc. He spoke about some of the incredible places he had encountered
while travelling to small domains and recommended half a dozen great locations for
photography; all the while as he opened bottles for tasting. The wines at le Wine Shop are all ‘domain’ (cellar) priced
and start at € 5. There are also special sales.
le Wine Shop
offers almost daily wine tastings programs.'s the Wines of the Languedoc--a tasting of eight wines-- The Wines and Food of the Languedoc--6
wines paired with 6 typical regional foods--and a Wine and Cheese Tasting. Dominic told us that he’s also happy to create
custom wine and food tastings for groups of six or more people.
Besides wine, Dominic loves the beer and ales of his native England and has a large selection of them; you are bound to take a few of them home too.
Besides wine, Dominic loves the beer and ales of his native England and has a large selection of them; you are bound to take a few of them home too.
For something entirely different at the end of the week Dominic offers a most special
tasting. Summer Fridays at 17h he has a Wine and Chocolate
Tasting (€25). It is a remarkable blending of six great domain wines
matched with six amazing chocolates from a local master Chocolatier. It sounds like
the perfect way to end a week and to experience Languedoc living at its best.
le Wine Shop is
located at the west end of the Avenue de Verdun (its # 65) adjacent to the restaurant/butcher
shop, L'Assiette du boucher about 500
meters west of the McDonalds.
le Wine Shop
65, Avenue de Verdun
34120 Pézenas
04.99.41.11.71
06.50.61.99.03
www.lewineshop.fr
