The history... The estate's story begins with Nicole. She came to plant Syrah, Cabernet and Mourvedre in the promising terroir of St. Jean de Minervois. Things got even more promising in 1999, when she began rehabilitating six acres of Carignan that was planted in 1911, and a small amount of Grenache Gris. Not surprisingly, wines made from these plantings are now the current stars of the estate's line-up. 

Success... Over the last decade Les Clos du Gravillas has slowly grown. Nicole is now aided in her endeavor by John Bojanowski and their child Sacha. John is from Kentucky, and is a basketball fan. We'll attempt to book the Bojanowski clan for a wine dinner some March.... Their farm now  sprawls across a massive 15 acres, and includes plantings of 13 different grapes. Keeping it human in scale has innumerable advantages for the consumer. Nicole and John work entirely organically. They vigorously prune their vines to keep yields low and flavors concentrated in the resulting wines. These vines get attention, they are tended in a way necessary to maintain health. It is the combination of healthy vines growing from healthy earth in a balanced ecosystem that brings forward the memorably alive and real flavors that make me crave these wines. They taste for real, authentic, a clear picture of true Minervois that needs no touch-ups.