LVT 2008 wh rosé 2006 r An old Beauvoisin family. Between 1981 and 1997 it was managed by an employed worker. Alain Giran did wine studies at Avignon, and his first bottling was 1997 (when he was 32). Good wine here.

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh Easy drinking style red wines, do a good job, with a large scale production. The 2016 Costières Elegance red was a ***(*) w.o.w. wine. The whites are good, elegant. The estate is now organic.

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh A lively estate formed in 1998, with a wonderful Mourvèdre wine called La bolida. Full power wines, good, live well. The Trassegum 2015 red (Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre) was a ****(*), Rodeo ride wine.

LVT 2009 r 2010 wh rosé Has always been a large scale domaine; recent quality in the vin de pays is good value

LVT 2009 r Large production estate, long established, "efficient" wines

LVT 2016 r A domaine with longstanding French political connections involving the Servan Schreiber and Mendes France families. 85 hectares at Montfrin, with the Domaine des Captives also under René-Jean de Fleurieu’s ownership; he is married to fashion designer Agnès B. There is also olive oil production. The vineyards are organic. The 2016 Costières “à mon seul désir” red was a **** feast of Grenache plum fruit. Local sales are from the Domaine des Captives at Meynes.

LVT 2013 r 2011 rosé 2015 wh A long-time leading domaine at Costières. The whites, made around Roussanne, have always been very good - the 2015 JT Costières white a refined, well-filled **** wine - while the mainly Syrah J T is very accomplished. The talented, energetic Michel Gassier also owns the 30-hectare Domaine de Molines which makes vin de pays d`Oc under the title Terres de Molines.

LVT  2015  r  2015  wh Large estate with over 70 hectares. Dominique Ricome marks his corks with Ricome south of France. The wines are OK but pretty mainstream.

LVT 2006 r wh rosé Solid quality reds

LVT 2016 r 2016 rosé 75 hectare domaine. Clear, unfussy wines with some local stamp

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh Progressive name, one to watch. Cleanly made wines, including the white. The 2013 Costières de Nîmes Sainte Cécile red (45% Syrah, 45% Mourvèdre) was a vigorous ***(*) wine; the 2016 all Mourvèdre Costières de Nîmes Epicuria is a **** wine, and, given 120,000 bottles are made, the 2016 Costières de Nîmes red does well to combine depth and drinkability, ***(*) in 2016

LVT 2011 r 2010 wh Part of the Château Mourgues du Gres family estate – a successful Costières for some years now.

LVT 2008 r One of the better names

LVT 2015 r 2015 wh  Bought in 2001 by a group of investors. There is a strong Bordeaux connection - use of Cru Classé casks for the raising, and links with Bordeaux winemakers. Quality is secure, if a little on the mainstream side, although the 2015 Paradoxe blanc was an accomplished **** wine

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh 2016 rosé  One of the leaders at Costières, whose wines, notably the rosés, are always full of fruit. Officially organic since the 2014 vintage, while vinifications have been free of SO2 use since 2015. The 2016 Costières Galets Rouges red was a striking **** STGT wine, while the 2013 Costières Capitelles red, mainly 1980s Syrah, was a succulent, tasty **** wine in late 2017

LVT 2009 r 2010 rosé Good, bright fruit in these wines, a 5th generation estate

LVT  2014  wh  Attractive and authentic white Costières based on Roussanne; the vineyard is worked organically in principle, but not officially so.

LVT 2014 r 2015 wh Safe quality. 50 hectares of vines and 7 hectares of olives.

LVT 2016 wh  70 hectares. The 2016 Costières de Nîmes white was a mainly Roussanne, graceful **** VALUE wine

LVT 2016 r 2016 rosé  Officially organic since 2011. Christophe Aguilar took over in 1994 after 10 years with a Cave Co-operative. First bottling in 2000. Quality is moving up, with the **** 2015 Les Nouvelles red - zero SO2 added - a striking, "I walk alone" character wine, and the 2016 a pure ***(*) wine. I also like the Nemausa rosé

LVT 2009 r Traditional style, easy fruiting. Started in 2004

LVT 2010 r

LVT 2010 r A private domaine under the umbrella of the mainly Costières de Nîmes Cave de Générac, which itself is part of the Vignobles du Soleil grouping with the Cave de Saint Hilaire d`Ozilhan, which focuses mainly on the Côtes du Rhône. From near Nîmes, a good top red wine.

LVT 2009 r

LVT 2016 r The reds have style, as befits a couple with Burgundian roots. Fanette’s father was Sylvain Fassy, a noted Beaujolais merchant; she has studied in Australia, Burgundy, Rhône. There are 14 hectares. They planted Grenache blanc, Clairette and Roussanne in 2015 – so there will be a white wine from 2019. The 2015 Domaine Galus red is a lovely, STGT **** wine. The fruiting is suave. Organic since 2009, officially organic since 2013.

LVT 2017 r  2018 orange The Alsacien Marc Kreydenweiss bought this Costières domaine in 1999, tempted by a strong interest in the Carignan. His second son Jean, born in 1992, took over in 2016. There are now 18 hectares, of which four hectares are young vines still coming on stream. It is biodynamic, and there is low sulphur use. Jean has shortened the vinifications from two weeks to five days, in pursuit of wines more based on “freshness and tension” than big filling. The 100% Carignan called Ka, 100 year vines, is firm, impressive, and will live a long time, the 2018 a **** wine. Les Grimaudes is the early drinking red, the Perrières red more structured. There is a naked style on the reds, no spare flesh.

LVT 2015 r 2016 rosé  This is a marketing name for the Vignerons Beaucairois. The Costières de Nîmes Les Eparpillées red, 80% Syrah, is partly made with carbonic maceration. 

LVT 2010 r wh A reflection of the struggle of many large scale Co-operatives unable to sell their wines. This was created in 2009 through the fusion of the Caves Co-operatives of Bellegarde, Jonquières Saint Vincent, Manduel and Saint Gilles, all in the West bank Gard: 1,300 hectares and 160 Co-operateurs. A lot of different reds; some are supple and provide easy drinking, such as the Saint Dominique (2010 is w.o.w.).

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh 2016 rosé Great address, a very dependable, good quality source of aperitif whites (note the Clairette de Bellegarde La Terre Natale), rosés and structured, fruity reds. The grandfather of Nathalie Blanc founded the famous Parisian night-time restaurant (at least that is how I have always used it, even in morning time) Le Pied de Cochon, near the Market of Les Halles. The Mas Carlot red is a lively wine, the ***(*) 2016 more weighty than usual. I particularly like the Costières de Nîmes Mas Carlot Les Enfants Terribles red, based on at least half 1980 Mourvèdre: a **** wine in both 2010 and 2015.

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh  Very good, drinkable wines, with an emhpasis on Syrah. The Tradition is more straightforward and drinkable than the oaked Syrah wine, the Excellence; the 2016 Tradition was a ***(*) wine, the Excellence 2015 a **** wine.

LVT  2015  wh  2015  r A 30 hectare domaine which also offers country gîtes lodgings near the Camargue. The Rambier family also own the 60 hectare Domaine Haut Lirou at Pic Saint Loup. Stylish white. The red aims for overt clarity and easy drinking.

LVT  2014  r 2015 wh Michel Gassier has been a leading light in raising standards at Costières de Nîmes, largely through his Château de Nages estate. The Lou Coucardié red and white are named after the regional bull of the Camargue and are both organic wines that come in 10,000 bottles of each: both good even very good, especially the red, which is 45-50% Mourvèdre. The 2015 white was a silken **** wine

LVT 2019 r 2018 wh 2019 rosé A good biodynamic address. Terre des Chardons was created in 1999 when Jérôme Chardon was 28. There was neither a vineyard nor a cellar. His parents were agriculteurs, growing fruit (peaches and apricots notably) and vegetables on the same site; they had been organic since 1989. There are 9 hectares of vineyards, all attached, with siliceous soils that can be more or less stony according to where they are. 4.3 ha of Syrah, 2.1 ha of Grenache and 2.5 ha of Clairette blanche were planted between 1999 and 2001, with the first vinification in 2002. Cinsault was planted in 2017. It has been officially biodynamic since 2002.

The wines are bottled quite early, then released after a longer stay in bottle. The white is Clairette de Bellegarde, one a fresh wine harvested ten days before the more table-related second cuvée. I highlight the Costières Marginal red 2016, 80% Syrah, a really engaging rocker, **** wine, but the 2019 was overdone on ripeness. The occasional Costières de Nîmes Bien  . . . Veillant red, made in 2016 and 2019, is 90-100% Grenache, just 2,000 bottles, and a genuine wine, **** in both vintages. The larger production Costières de Nîmes Bien Luné red runs between ***(*) and ****, with 2017 and 2019 both w.o.w. wines, very drinkable.

LVT 2010 r Grouping of the Cave de Saint Hilaire d`Ozilhan and the Cave de Générac in the right bank, Gard departement. A total of 620 hectares of Rhône and vin de pays is taken in by this, with 930 hectares of Costières de Nîmes from the communes of Générac, Saint Gilles, Nîmes, Aubord, Bernis and Milhaud.