Maison Ventenac had only three wines - a red, a white and a rosé - produced in plentiful quantities when husband and wife team, Stéphanie and Olivier Ramé, took the reins from their father. They put in a motion a careful transition from ‘commercial’ winemaking to vinifying plot by plot, with a purer focus on producing terroir-driven wines and casting off the shackles of restrictive appellation rules (when they want to). The Ramés are all about making the most of what they have and, with 130ha under their auspices, they have a lot to play with.

The vines are exposed to elements of both Atlantic and Mediterranean climates, which provides ample opportunity to experiment with the wide range of grape varieties that flourish as a result. Combined with low-intervention winemaking (sometimes in terracotta amphorae), and the use of indigenous yeasts, the wines are a unique expression of not only the grapes and terroir but the personality of the winemakers. Maison Ventenac is extraordinary in that it produces bold, flavour-driven wines with so much typicity, albeit with a very atypical approach.