# Domaine Cassagne et Vitailles 'Clas Mani' (2019)

- **Producer:** Domaine Cassagne & Vitailles
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Syrah, Carignan, Grenache
- **Region:** Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.5%
- **Average price:** €54
- **Vegan:** No
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** plum, cherry, raspberry, rose, violet, black pepper, white pepper, vanilla, toast, cloves, smoke, leather, tobacco, forest floor

## About this wine

Domaine Cassagne & Vitailles was founded by childhood friends Matthieu Rollin and Nicolas Seffusatti, who met as students in Montpellier. After spending nearly a decade running a successful wine import business in China, they returned to their native Languedoc in 2015 to fulfill their dream of crafting pure, uncompromising, and highly precise terroir-expressive wines. The 'Clas Mani' cuvée is sourced from high-altitude slopes in Montpeyroux within the Terrasses du Larzac appellation. Here, the vines grow on unique sandstone soils and experience dramatic diurnal temperature shifts, which preserve structural freshness and impart a distinctly elegant, almost Burgundian character to this southern French red.

## Interesting facts

- Aged in barrels from Tonnellerie Chassin, the legendary Burgundy cooper that supplies DRC and Coche-Dury.
- The winery is built from massive Fontvieille stone blocks, utilizing gravity-flow systems for natural thermal control.
- Grown on 100% sandstone soils, forcing the vines to dig deep due to severe hydric stress.

## Food pairing

The wine's powerful fruit concentration, high acidity, and structured tannins require robust, protein-rich dishes. The high-altitude freshness cuts through the richness of slow-cooked meats and game, while the fine-grained tannins pair beautifully with the fat in rib of beef or lamb. Herbal notes in the wine harmonize with wild herbs like rosemary and thyme.

## Wine making process

The winemaking process is defined by meticulous parcel selection and low-intervention gravity-flow methods. Grapes are 100% hand-harvested late in the season to ensure optimal phenolic ripeness. Yields are kept extremely low to maximize concentration. Each micro-plot is harvested, manually sorted, and vinified separately in small stainless steel vats to preserve the distinct identity of each parcel. The wine is then aged for 18 to 24 months in French oak barrels sourced from the prestigious Burgundy cooper Tonnellerie Chassin, utilizing a combination of 80% standard fûts and 20% demi-muids. The gravity-flow winery is constructed from massive Fontvieille stone blocks, providing natural thermal insulation.