
Esquisse
Esquisse is the alcohol-free label from Domaine des Hauts de Margon, a family wine estate in the Côtes de Thongue, a sun-drenched patch of southern France tucked into the Languedoc hinterland. The name translates roughly as 'sketch' or 'outline' — a fitting choice for wines designed to capture the essential character of grape varieties without the alcohol.
The estate makes conventional wines too, but the Esquisse range was built specifically for the zero-alcohol market. The approach is grounded in genuine winemaking rather than shortcut blending: grapes are harvested at the right moment, fermented through to a full wine in stainless steel tanks, and then dealcoholised using vacuum evaporation. That technique matters. By removing alcohol at low temperatures and for a short time, the winemakers preserve the volatile aromatic compounds that would otherwise be stripped out by harsher methods. The result sits closer to real wine than most.
The range covers three colours. The white pairs Viognier with Sauvignon Blanc — the Sauvignon bringing citrus brightness and a green, grassy edge while the Viognier rounds things out with tropical fruit and a bit of body. The rosé blends Syrah with Cabernet Sauvignon for a darker, berry-forward style, and the red uses Merlot and Grenache Noir for something softer and fruit-led. The grapes are vinified separately before blending, which gives each wine some structural backbone rather than the flat, slightly sweet profile that drags down cheaper dealcoholised options.
At around £12 a bottle, Esquisse sits at the accessible end of the premium AF wine market — not budget, but not precious about itself either. The wines are available through specialist online retailers and Amazon UK, which makes them easy to find without hunting around. There is no direct-to-consumer sales channel for UK buyers, so retailer pricing applies.
For a brand with no dedicated website presence in English, Esquisse has found reasonable traction in the UK market. Its appeal is straightforward: a proper French provenance, recognisable grape varieties, and a process that takes the winemaking seriously.
At a Glance
- Origin
- France
- Price Point
- Mid-range
- Company
- Domaine des Hauts de Margon
- Website
- arjolle.com/en
The Collection
0 drinksNo drinks found from Esquisse
At a Glance
- Origin
- France
- Price Point
- Mid-range
- Company
- Domaine des Hauts de Margon
- Website
- arjolle.com/en
Collection
0 drinks
