Chapelle
DE NOVILIS
THE FEMININE TOUCH
With a career in the pharmaceutical industry
and a passion for wine since the age of 25.
Their wines are
subtle and eleg
ant, with a
respect for bo
th man and na
ture.
GLOSSARY
Organic agriculture
Organic agriculture is a method of agricultural
production that excludes the use of the majority
of synthetic chemical products used in industrial
and intensive agriculture since the beginning
of the 20th century, genetically-modified orga-
nisms by transgenesis and the conservation of
cultivated products by irradiation.
Nathalie, then living in Paris, combed the
length of breadth of France’s different
terroirs in search of its wines to build up a
private cellar of 1200 bottles. It was when
she fell in love that she discovered the
vineyards she manages to this day. At 50,
feeling a strong need to be her own boss,
Nathalie launched herself with a passion
into the adventure of viticulture, teaming
up with her brother-in-law, Laurent. The
Domaine’s vines were in a bad state and
wine was no longer being produced there.
After uprooting a part of the 22 hectares of
vineyard, they had to replant the plots row
by row, pruning and tying up the vines, re-
working the soil and nourishing it to produce
a high-quality wine. In fact, today, the whole
domaine is under organic agriculture.
This required a major technical, cultural and
human effort. They had to rebuild the wine-
making area and the present-day cellar.
Nathalie even went back to school to obtain
the necessary diplomas to be able to exploit
the estate, “the best year of school in my life,
pure joy”, she tells us. The first 5000 bottles
were produced in 2012. In 2017, it’s now
35,000 bottles and a first shipment of wine
exported to China.
A colossal project requiring an iron fist in a
velvet glove, Nathalie met the challenge and
Chapelle de Novilis is now a reality. To share
her passion with others, she is now turning
to wine tourism.
You can thus become “winegrower for a day”
and from early morning to lunchtime follow
the work of the cellar during the grape
harvest, tasting new wine, watching the
work of fermentation, accompanied by live
explanations on wine-making, followed by
a picnic lunch in the winery.
After-work drinks under the property’s
plane trees will enchant you on a balmy
summer evening. A new idea this year is the
“Happy Hamac”, where you can relax under
41
the trees for timeless moment sampling
local products and the domaine’s wines,
accompanied by a few good books on wine.
“CHAPELLE de NOVILIS”, a unique producer
of ‘haute-couture’ wines from Languedoc”
is how Nathalie describes her domaine and
her favourite wine is a red from her “Néus”
range. The reason why is simple, it was the
first wine she ever created it’s luscious and
easy to drink.
ROUTE DE VILLENOUVETTE - 34370 MARAUSSAN
06 74 74 38 42 - chapelledenovilis.com
Chapelle De Novilis
Winery shop open from Monday to Saturday 16/06 to
13/10. Outside this period, Friday afternoons only
PARFUMS
DE GARRIGUES
Jean-Luc is a hospitable, professional
and generous chef. His country cui-
sine - as he likes to call it - was taught
to him by some of the great chefs like
the Troisgros brothers, Maximin, Ros-
tang and Witzigmann in Germany. ”It
allows me creativity and my own perso-
nal imagination”. It’s in a pretty village
house, done in contemporary style
that you can also discover the flavours
of the region’s culinary treasures, un-
der the shady arbour where your little
ones can play to their heart’s content.
Their know-how has been recognised
in various food guides.
37, rue de l’Ancienne Poste
34370 Maraussan
09 70 35 53 34 - parfumsdegarrigues.fr