Domaine de Rancy, extolling the virtues of their extraordinary long aged Rancio Sec and Rivesaltes VDN made (principally) from the white grape maccabeu. Based in the village of Latour de France in the Vallée de l’Agly, Jean-Hubert Verdaguer and his wife Brigitte were the first in the village to sell all their production in bottle back in 1989. Jean-Hubert’s father Marcel founded the domaine in 1970, he used to take red grapes to the co-op while concentrating on making Rivesaltes (maccabeu) that he sold to private customers 'en vrac'. Their 50yo+ vines occupy prime hillside sites in the villages of Latour-de-France, Estagel and Montner, planted in a mix of schist and limestone soils. They have always looked after their land and vines sustainably, and with important holdings of maccabeu (12ha) they were a natural port of call for Cyril who buys his grapes here, picked early at a time of his choosing to make his Hors Champ dry white La Femme Soleil.
Late harvested grapes were fermented in cuve, before the fermentation process was arrested by the addition of home-made marc. It was then given 24 years élevage in old demi-muids, not topped up at any stage before bottling in 2017. A deep amber, tobaccoey colour, it offers a herbal, medicinal nose, with prunes, saffron and typical saline edge. The palate is rich but silky and seamless (there’s no heat whatsoever), with fig and prunes, orange peel, totally integrated sugars, umami and salinity leavened by an acidic cut and a super long finish. It would be extremely difficult to find a better Vin Doux Naturel and even the finest Tawny Ports would suffer by comparison. For drinking now to 2035.
Producer Domaine de Rancy of Jean-Hubert Verdaguer
Origin Latour-de-France, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Grapes 95% Maccabeu, 5% Grenache Blanc/Gris
Vintage 1992
Alcohol 18% ABV
Style Dessert wine
Bottle size 500ml
Notes Biodynamic, Natural, Organic
UNITED KINGDOM
All orders are shipped with DPD. Estimated delivery is 1–3 working days from the time of processing.
· Orders placed Mon–Fri before 12pm are processed the same day.
· On delivery day, you’ll receive a text message with a 1-hour delivery window.
England, Wales & Scotland (delivery Mon–Sat):
· £7.99 for orders under £80
· £5.99 for orders over £80
· FREE for orders over £120
Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands & Islands* (delivery Mon–Fri):
· £9.99 for orders under £150
· FREE for orders over £150
*Applies to postcodes: AB31–AB38, AB40–AB56, IV1–IV63, HS, KW1–KW17, PA20–PA38, PA41–PA49, PA60–PA78, PH4–PH44, PH49–PH50, BT, ZE, IM (Isle of Man), Channel Islands.
EUROPE
We currently ship to: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.
· All European orders ship via UPS Express Delivery
· Estimated delivery: 3–8 working days
· Flat fee: £18.99 per order (any size/weight)
· Free shipping is not available for these destinations
⚠️ Note for international customers: We do not charge UK VAT. However, you may need to pay local customs and handling fees (typically ~20%) depending on your country’s regulations.
Spain & France: At the moment, we cannot ship directly due to excessive customs charges. If you’re based there, please contact us via email or webchat and we’ll be happy to explore options with you.
We are unable to ship to Sweden or Finland due to internal regulations.
USA, CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA
We regularly ship to these destinations, but due to fluctuating courier rates, we cannot offer fixed prices.
Please contact us for a personalised shipping quote.
If your country isn’t listed above, get in touch, we’ll be happy to check feasibility and provide a quote if possible.
Packaging
We only use sustainable, recycled and recyclable packaging designed to protect your bottles.
Whenever possible, we reuse sturdy packaging, reducing environmental impact and keeping unnecessary costs down, so the wines remain the focus.
Large deliveries
In some cases, large deliveries will be sent out with a wine courier and delivery time might vary. Please get in touch for more info.
