In this week’s Tipping’s Tipples, MIKE TIPPING introduces a winemaker who is using Facebook to push her profile and her wines.

SOCIAL networking websites are not just places to post drunken party pictures or to write rude things about your boss.

For instance, a Facebook friend of mine, Katie Jones, has set up her own group, so that her mates can keep tabs on her move in to the world of winemaking. Katie’s Domaine Jones group has so far provided regular updates about her first year as a vigneron in Paziols, a small village which is not far from the back end of beyond in Languedoc, southern France.

She is no stranger to the area however, having spent 16 years in sales and marketing at the nearby Month Tauch wine co-operative. Katie gave up this job after buying three hectares of vines two years ago, deciding to produce her own wine helped along by some expert guidance from her winemaker partner, Jean-Marc Astruc.

“I fell in love with this vineyard when I visited it for the first time back in 2007. The 80-year-old vines, the black slate soils and the out of this world view overlooking the Maury valley, all under the watchful eye of the Queribus castle – this vineyard was to be Domaine Jones,” Katie recalls.

Now all the work has come to fruition and the first vintage of Domaine Jones has been released for sale in the UK. Katie has four wines in her range: Jones rouge, Jones blanc, a sweet, unfortified muscat and a single varietal carignan. The whites are already available to order online via the Domaine Jones website (domainejones.com), while the reds will be available later in the autumn.

The delightfully different Domaine Jones blanc 2009 is made from Grenache gris, blended with a smidgen of muscat. It is bone dry, with flavours of citrus and tropical fruit, honey, plenty of minerality and a lingering white pepper finish.

Top marks also go to Domaine Jones Muscat 2009, a sweet treat made from muscat petit grain, widely considered the best of the muscat varieties. It is very fragrant with floral, lime aromas and rich flavours of grape, grapefruit, elderflower, tropical fruit and honey. It’s quite light for a ‘sticky’ and would work as well as an aperitif as it would as an accompaniment to dessert.

I have to say that both are fantastic wines, considering this is Katie’s first vintage. I’m looking forward to tasting the reds in the range when they become available, watch this space.


• If you are a Facebook user then I would be really happy if you joined the Tipping’s Tipples group, which has been up and running for a while now. I post links to online articles as well as other ramblings, musings and pictures.


Wine list

• Domaine Jones blanc 2009, £15 from domainejones.com 18/20.

• Domaine Jones Muscat 2009 (50cl), £10 from domainejones.com 18/20.