Friday read: Embracing Costières de Nîmes

By Heather Dougherty

Published: 08 November, 2024

Costières de Nîmes is the last hurrah of the Rhône valley, between the Camargue and the vineyards of Provence in one direction, and the start of the long sweep of the Languedoc in the other. The vineyards sit southeast of Nîmes, a city whose Roman roots are near the surface.

This most southerly of the southern Rhône appellations, wine regulations mean that Costières de Nîmes sits outside the Côtes du Rhône hierarchy, along with AOPs like Ventoux and Grignan-les-Adhémar. And while the AOP comes under the Rhône Valley vineyards designation, producers who make IGP wines have the right to use IGP Pays d’Oc. While its official identity can be somewhat murky, the terroir here is resolutely Rhône.

Terraces of deep gravel “galets roulés” that would not look out of place in Châteauneuf-du-Pape form the backbone of the appellation (pictured), giving views down to the delta lands of the Camargue, where the emblematic white Camargue horses dot the landscape. You may not see the sea from the vineyards, but its influence (moderating the summer heat with cooling onshore winds) can be felt just 40Km or so away, prompting regional expert Matt Walls to dub Costières de Nîmes “Rhône sur mer”.

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The resulting wines have a freshness that belies their southerly origin – the cold, northerly Mistral is also a strong cooling influence.

The appellation has a lot going for it. The southern Rhône is a red wine dominant area, but here all three colours are made and, critically, the buoyant rosé category accounted for 42% of production in 2023. Buyers in search of good value, fashionably pale rosé, should find plenty to choose from here. There are also fine examples of more ambitious rosé styles.

Whites too have a key role to play here. The wider region’s emblematic variety, Grenache Blanc is ever-present, alongside Roussanne and sometimes Clairette, which can heighten that all important freshness. Overall whites account for 11% of wines made – but this is higher at many of the region’s 73 independent producers. The well-known Domaine Gassier, for example, reports that whites account for around 35% of its output.

Reds are usually the familiar trio of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with Carignan, Cinsault and others popping up. Unusually for the southern Rhône, Syrah tends to be the dominant player here. In this relatively cooler climate it can bring freshness, vibrancy and structure to Costières de Nîme’s red wines.

There is a strong sustainability thread running through the area too. All but 15% of the vineyard land is farmed with some kind of environmental certification. Nearly 20% of vines are certified organic, and 12% certified biodynamic, compared with just 1% overall in the Rhône valley. Producers such as Château Mourgues du Grès ensure that they protect or plant trees in and around their vineyards to promote biodiversity.

All these elements combine to make the wines of Costières de Nîmes an attractive proposition for UK importers and trade buyers. And value is always a key part of the picture, partly because the appellation doesn’t benefit from the comfort blanket of the words Côtes du Rhône on the label, so it doesn’t have the profile or instant recognition of its near neighbours.

Consumers here might be most familiar with good value bottlings of the appellation’s wines on UK supermarket shelves, often from the 50% of production made by the area’s 11 co-operatives. However, the numerous independent producers between them offer a breadth of different approaches, making wines that can show real personality and character, and at a very attractive price.

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