La Combe Saint-Paul is a familiar name for many SVS customers who know the outstanding value for money that can be found behind the ammonite fossils on the labels.

Paul (pictured above amongst his Roussanne vines) and Line Maury are the couple behind the domaine and as well as bottling their own wines, they also supply some of the Languedoc’s most prominent negociants who know the quality and value available here.

The couple live with their two children and Gavroche the horse in a property aptly named Garrigue a mile or so from the village of Salles-d’Aude between Narbonne and Béziers. The house is surrounded by vineyards he inherited from his grandparents, olive trees and classic Languedoc scrub; wild thyme and rosemary abound. The Mediterranean is just 10km or so to the south and cooling ocean breezes help keep the freshness in the wines.

In 2008 Paul came across the opportunity to buy vines on La Clape and create his own domaine. His vineyard near the sea is surrounded by pine and oak trees and the soil is characterised by grés rouge (red sandstone) hence the name given to his unoaked red La Clape.

La Clape (a "heap of pebbles" in the old Occitan language of the south) was a mountain surrounded by the sea (east of Narbonne) when the Romans first spotted its potential and planted it with vines. Sediments from the river Aude attached it to the mainland in the 14th Century. Maximum ripeness is ensured by 300 days of sunshine per year, making it is one of the sunniest spots in France but it is also amongst the windiest with a particularly violent Tramontane from the plateau to the north. It's a special spot to make wine.

Paul and Line always energetic and engaging company - not least on the impacts of climate change. Paul has seen harvest dates become earlier and earlier over recent years and is already planting grape varieties such as Tempranillo and Nero d’Avola to future proof the vineyards. We tasted a barrel sample of the Nero d’Avola at the winery recently and it points to a very exciting future for the domaine.