Nicole Fernandez was a Spanish plumber’s daughter who decided she needed to make a grand vin rouge in Languedoc, and that she needed to grow grapes on white limestone gravel in order to do it.

 John Bojanowski comes from Kentucky (USA), worked and travelled through 50 countries before he heard Nicole’s story, fell in love, and learned to drive a 82 centimetre-wide crawler tractor (one foot inside, one foot out).

 In 1999, John and Nicole bought a hectare of 1911 Carignan and some pink and white Grenache vines of unknown date, and they started growing grapes and making wine. Carignan was purchased because it was for sale and because it was… red. The surprise that the wine made from this grape of rustic reputation was très élégant gave Clos du Gravillas its raison d’ȇtre: making sincere, elegant wines from unloved or unknown grapes and thus retelling the “story of Languedoc.”

 John and Nicole now organically grow eight hectares of 15 grape varieties, from Carignan to Terret Gris


Le Clos du Gravillas

34360 Saint Jean de Minervois

Tél. : +33 (0)4 67 38 17 52