Laurence de Veyrac is the flagship brand of Domaine de Castelnau, which is located in Castelnau de Guers, just 4km from historic Pézenas on France’s sunkissed Mediterranean coast. The brand name pays homage to the last scion of the Barons de Guers family line, Laurence de Veyrac, the wife of the Marquis de Vins de la Baronnie de Guers and bridesmaid of the Queen of France, Anne of Austria, no less. The Castelnau estate, which belonged to the lord of Guers from the 13th century right up to the 20th extends over plains and undulating garrigue-y hills between the Med and the Massif Central foothills. Since 1997, the estate has been owned and run by Béatrice and Christophe Muret and on their watch quality, rather than quantity, has been the focus. This has yielded an unbeatable-value and diverse range of Languedocien wines – leading with Pinet’s most famous incarnation, the crisp white Picpoul de Pinet (the commune of Guers is part of the Picpoul de PInet AOC) along with some flawlessly executed Rhone varietal wines made from viognier and syrah, among others. With a strong focus on organic farming and environmentally sustainable practices, the Murets have struck an admirable balance between . It’s one of the hardest things in the wine profession to find is very good inexpensive juice, particularly from Europe. But Domaine de Castelnau/Laurence de Veyrac proves that it is possible.
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