Some accolades for the wines of the Château Abbaye des Monges
 

• Château des Monges cuvée les Pins Rouge 2010 : Silver medal in the "concours des Grands Vins de France 2011 - Macon"

• Château des Monges Blanc 2009 : Silver medal in the "Concours des Grands Vins de France 2010 - Mâcon".

• Abbaye des Monges cuvée Augustine Rouge 2007 : Gold medal in the "Concours des Grands Vins de France 2010 - Mâcon".

• Château des Monges cuvée les Pins Rouge 2009 : Bronze medal in the independent wine-growers' competition, the "Concours des Vignerons Indépendants", in 2010.

• Château des Monges Rosé 2009 : Bronze medal in the independent wine-growers' competition, the "Concours des Vignerons Indépendants", in 2010.

• Château des Monges Blanc 2008 : Selected among the "5 outstanding discoveries in 2008" by the "Revue des Vins de France" - June 2009.

• Château des Monges Blanc 2008 : Remarked on in, "Vin chéri ! Sélection Aude" in, "Terre de Vins" - June, July, August 2009.

• Château des Monges Rosé 2008 : Silver Medal in the Great Wines competition, the "Concours des Grands Vins" of Languedoc Roussillon in 2009.

• Château des Monges Blanc 2007 : Silver medal in the independent wine-growers' competition, the "Concours des Vignerons Indépendants", in 2008.

• Château des Monges Cuvée les Pins Rouge 2007 : Bronze medal in the independent wine-growers' competition, the "Concours des Vignerons Indépendants", in 2008.

• Château des Monges Rouge 2005 : "Grand Prix d'Excellence" in the national wine awards, the "Vinalies Nationales" in 2008.
Tasting Comments : This wine is given a certain youthfulness by the deep purple lights in its red colour. The nose is intense and complex, with scents from the garrigue evoking thyme and green citrus fruit. It is a very young nose. In the mouth it is delicate and complex, finishing with some fine tannins. A wine which would go superbly with grilled rabbit.

• Château des Monges rouge 2004 and Réserve de l’Abbaye rouge 2004 :One star in the Guide Hachette 2008.
"The domain of 30 hectares was formerly a Cistercian abbey for women, of which only the 13th century chapel remains. Silky tannins form the structure of this Château des Monges rouge 2004, darkly coloured, with intense aromas of ripe, toasty red fruits. Harmony in the mouth has already been attained. "An elegant wine", noted one taster. The Réserve de l'Abbaye rouge 2004 also received a star and would keep better, given its body and its character which is still marked by the ageing process." Guide Hachette des Vins 2008 - Collection Hachette Pratique.

• Abbaye des Monges Rouge 2000 : marked 87 by Parker in the "Guide Parker des Vins de France", 6th edition, 2007.
Comments :The Château des Monges 2000 [...] surprises you by its aromas which evoke a young Gevrey-Chambertin. This wine's nose, which is moderately full-flavoured, gives off scents of roasted black cherry and spices. It is strong on its depth of fruits (dark fruits) and with excellent precision and length, but its faintly hard tannins do it a disservice. It is excellent value for money and may be drunk until and during 2008.

• Réserve de l'abbaye Rouge 2003 : One star in the Guide Hachette 2008.
Comments :The Abbaye des Monges, on the western slopes of La Clape, was one of the rare Cistercian monasteries for women in the Languedoc. Today there remains the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Olieux, Our Lady of the Olive Trees, in the heart of the vineyards. This wine does justice to the site: the colour of garnets, the aromas of the garrigue, of blackcurrant and earth, and a mouth which is silky and spicy. It is full of charm today and may also be kept.

• Château des Monges cuvée Les Pins Rouge 2004 : Gold medal in the independent wine-growers' competition, the "Concours des Vignerons Indépendants" in 2005.

• Abbaye des Monges cuvée Augustine Rouge 2004 : remarked on by "Terre de Vins" - September, October and November 2007.
Comments : In this new vintage, Augustine 2004, the terroir of La Clape sends us a delightful picture postcard. A calcareous clay soil provided with pebbles, a matrix offering grenache, syrah, carignan and mourvèdre, aged in vats, producing an elegant complexity where the scents of spice-boxes envelop floral aromas. With honey flavours, a really velvety body and finely grained tannins, the palate is dense but not heavy. What about a lamb stew? Good idea!

Guide Parker des Vins de France

The Abbaye des Monges Rouge 2000 was marked 87 by Parker : "The Château des Monges 2000 [...] surprises you by its aromas which evoke a young Gevrey-Chambertin. This wine's nose, which is moderately full-flavoured, gives off scents of roasted black cherry and spices. its is strong on its depth of fruits (dark fruits) and with excellent precision and length, but its faintly hard tannins do it a disservice. It is excellent value for money and may be drunk until and during 2008." Guide Parker des Vins de France, 6th edition, 2007.
Unfortunately, there is no more of this year! The same goes for 2001, 2002 and 2003. You need to taste the 2004 to find the qualities appreciated by Parker, enhanced by even more harmony and elegance.

Terre de Vins - September, October, November 2007

A new vintage from the Monges was remarked on by the magazine, "Terre de Vins". "In this new vintage Augustine 2004, the terroir of La Clape sends us a delightful picture postcard. A calcareous clay soil provided with pebbles, a matrix offering grenache, syrah, carignan and mourvèdre, aged in vats, producing an elegant complexity where the scents of spice-boxes envelop floral aromas. With honey flavours, a really velvety body and finely grained tannins, the palate is dense but not heavy. What about a mutton stew? Good idea !" "Terre de Vins", September, October, November 2007 - n°36 - Editions Périodiques du Midi.

Guide Hachette 2007

The Château des Monges Réserve de l'abbaye Rouge 2003 received the accolade of a star in the Guide Hachette 2007!
"The Abbaye des Monges, on the western slopes of La Clape, was one of the rare Cistercian monasteries for women in the Languedoc. Today there remains the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Olieux, Our Lady of the Olive Trees, in the heart of the vineyards. This wine does justice to the site: the colour of garnets, the aromas of the garrigue, of blackcurrant and earth, and a mouth which is silky and spicy. It is full of charm today and may also be kept." Guide Hachette des Vins 2007 - Collection Hachette Pratique.
We received a medal for the vintage, "Les Pins" Red 2004, and not just a little one, since it was the gold medal of the Independent Winegrowers of France! Well … we're really pleased!
 

The Press and the Vineyards of Chefdebien

The winemaking abbeys (Read the article in Pdf).

"Républicain Lorrain" 28th November 2008.

"Nature" weekend at La Clape

La Clape is also the "private club" of thirty or so wine-growing properties, run with passion. Listen, for example, at the domain of the Abbaye des Monges, where a 13th century chapel still stands, to the baron Paul de Chefdebien describe how the Roman centurions of the 10th legion, who were given lands in La Clape, used to plant malmsey, "of which Pliny the Elder said that it brought wisdom to those who drank it", and you already feel that you're an initiate. And when this friendly man, an enthusiast of history and botany, affirms with a smile, with the tasting to confirm it, that, "malmsey survives in the bourboulenc, the leading variety of white wine from La Clape, whose fresh aroma of citrus fruit and mineral is full of life," who is going to contradict him?

Stays : Abbaye des Monges: the cosy charm of a gîte in the garrigue (three bedrooms - price for the weekend, 220 - telephone : +33 4 68 32 26 61.

"Le Monde" 15th January 2004

A new momentum for the Domaine des Monges

Paul and Marie-Claude de Chefdebien have decided to take up the challenge. We went to meet them.

When you pass on the road from Narbonne to Gruissan, all that you see of the Domaine des Monges is a few buildings and some roofs among the trees. Apart from those in the know, no-one would guess that here, nearly 800 years ago, stood a convent of Bernardine nuns, of the Cistercian order. At least, no-one guessed until now, since lately a new board, "Abbaye des Monges'', has announced its presence.

The Abbaye des Monges, owned until recently by Charles Mock (Château de Capitoul), was acquired at the beginning of 1997 by Paul and Marie-Claude de Chefdebien. "In 1204, a middle-class citizen from Narbonne, who had made his fortune in maritime trade, gave what was then called the Domaine des Olieux to the monks of Fontfroide, on condition that they set up a Cistercian monastery for women there", explains Marie-Claude de Chefdebien, an architect from Narbonne.

And so they did. The first list of abbesses drawn up by historians in the Languedoc dates from 1257. But the place was occupied before that. The monastery took the name of the Olieux and its church, that of Notre Dame de Grace. The abbey enjoyed a certain degree of prosperity, prticularly during the 13th century, but in 1614 the abbesses had to take refuge several times in Narbonne.

Today, all that remains from that time is a little church nestling at the foot of La Clape, in harmony with Cistercian tradition. One of its four bays, which was no doubt in too bad a state, was demolished in 1834 and the adjacent transverse arch was walled up. The three remaining bays are vaulted with ogives. The keystones of the vault are decorated with sculpted discs. One represents a hand giving a blessing, the second a paschal lamb. As for the third, it is too damaged for the symbol to be deciphered. This chapel has been in the inventory of Historic Monuments since 1951.

Apart from this church, which was used over the years as a stable, a hayloft and a garage, the Domaine des Monges comprises several buildings, for living as well as working. It also includes 30 hectares of vines and 65 hectares of fields and garrigue. When they acquired this domain, the first concern of Paul and Marie-Claude de Chefdebien was to carry out a number of urgent works of maintenance and in particular an anti-termite treatment on some buildings and the renovation of accommodation for the vineyard manager. As for the vines, two hectares were planted with merlot. Many others needed the grape varieties to be re-planted. "All the vines which are above the road are AOC (wines with a guarantee of origin). Those below are not", explains Paul de Chefdebien, who already owns a domain in the Hérault. "We are naturally going to concentrate on the AOC, but also make wines from single varieties. The two are complementary".

The restoration of the Domaine des Monges will need to take, "at least ten years", its owners estimate. "It is an undertaking which is financially difficult and we cannot make mistakes", considers Paul de Chefdebien. "We need to avoid damaging what can be saved and think carefully about the uses of a building before starting work. To decide on a direction without, all the same, adhering rigidly to a framework". In the long term, the couple intend to live on site. There is also a plan for top-of-the-range gîtes in the existing buildings and maybe in the former shepherd's house, presently fallen down. "Depending on all that, we shall think, finally, about the best possible use for the chapel with, perhaps, a covered way between the wine-cellars and the chapel".

A little nod to history : the name of Chefdebien is in fact making a comeback at the Abbaye des Monges: Jeanne, Marguerite and Gressinde de Chefdebien appear in 1657 in the list of sisters of the monastery of Olieux.

Midi-Libre - 1998