Château La Négly - La Clape L'Ancely rouge 2020

Château La Négly is one of the Languedoc region’s leading wineries. Situated on La Clape, on clay-limestone soil, this large 50-hectare estate also produces a garage wine, Clos des Truffiers, in Saint-Pargoire. It is owned by the Paux-Rosset family. La Négly offers a wide range of wines; the cuvées all share a unique minty freshness, and we recommend them wholeheartedly. L’Ancely, dedicated to Mourvèdre, serves as the bridge between this range and the more ambitious cuvées—produced in limited quantities and sought after by affluent international wine enthusiasts. The estate’s current success spans all three wine types, which is quite rare.

On the southern slope of the Clape massif, summer sea breezes temper the intensity of the sun and the tramontane wind. After settling here in 1996, Jean Paux-Rosset replanted the vineyard, which now covers 100 hectares and which he runs with his sons Bastien and Mario, assisted by Claude Gros, a renowned oenologist from Narbonne.

Aged in large oak casks, the 2020 La Clape L'Ancely shows great promise, with lovely aromas of cherry and red berries enhanced by notes of crushed stone. Full-bodied, smooth, and sumptuous—despite the presence of a bit of dissolved gas—this vintage is expected to be a huge success.

Blackberries, peppery herbs, spring flowers, spicy meats, and hints of saddle leather emerge from the 2020 La Clape L'Ancely, a beautifully balanced, full-bodied red with silky, refined tannins, perfect balance, and a very, very lovely finish. It opens up beautifully with time in the glass and is quite simply an incredibly well-rounded, complex, and nuanced wine that has everything going for it. I’m already enjoying it now, but it will benefit from aging a few years in the bottle and will age gracefully for over a decade.