Blanville Wines

Chateau Haut-Blanville began in 1997 as a dream from Paris and a patch of stony ground in the hills north of Montpellier. Beatrice and Bernard Nivollet, arriving from a life in the capital, chose not to buy an existing estate. Instead, they spent years selecting individual plots of land parcel by parcel, assembling a mosaic of specific terroirs that could be vinified separately, in the manner of a Burgundian domaine rather than a large southern French estate.

The idea was radical for the Languedoc at the time, a region then better known for bulk production than for vineyard-specific ambition. It has since become one of the defining ideas of Languedoc's transformation into one of France's most exciting wine regions, and Blanville was ahead of that curve. Today the estate is managed by the second generation, daughters Charlotte and Margaux Nivollet, who have continued building on their parents' foundation while pursuing environmental certification: High Environmental Value (HVE) accreditation was achieved in 2019, with full organic certification for all terroirs beginning with the 2024 vintage.

The vineyards sit in the AOP Languedoc Gres de Montpellier and AOP Languedoc Pezenas areas, two of the most distinctive sub-zones of this vast appellation. The name Gres refers to the sandstone and stony soils that characterise the terroir: well-drained, heat-retaining, and producing wines with a concentration and structure that benefits from the Mediterranean climate while retaining the freshness provided by cool sea breezes from the Gulf of Lion.

The estate produces reds, whites, and rosés from Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Roussanne. The range is organised into single-parcel flagship wines and the more approachable entry-level collections. The B de Blanville is the estate's accessible introduction: fresh, Mediterranean in character, and built for everyday drinking. The prestige single-parcel wines, with names like 1955 (a Syrah from a parcel once served by the old railway line), Murmures, and Plénitude, represent Blanville's most serious statement of what Languedoc terroir can produce when farmed and vinified with genuine care.

Briffa Wine Selections is the exclusive importer of Blanville wines in Malta. Explore the full range online, from the entry-level B de Blanville to the single-parcel prestige cuvees.