(2024) Made to show 'the lighter side' of Grenache. Whole bunches are feremented, with 70% of the fruit coming from winemaking friend of the domaine, Jean-Marc Lafage, who also carries out some carbonic maceration. Vibrant, purple-tinged crimson, aromas are really cherry-bright and foral, a little bit of estery Beaujolias style too, and very attractive. The palate is soft, brightly but densely fruity, loads of supple, fleshy red berries and a hint of pomegranate, then a nicely bittersweet finish showing good acidity and moderate tannin for a free-flowing finish. Wine Club members buy for £16.00.
(2021) 100% Grenache made in oak vats, around 50% was fermented with 'whole bunches', and the rest destemmed. After pressing the wine was aged 18 months in 500-litre barrels, with a very small proportion of new oak. It has an attractively pale but bright colour, the nose a little earthy and showing the wood component, the fruit a little shy at first but bursts into bloom in the mouth, with juiciness and richness, good concentration, some spicy notes and savoury cherry fruit. A stripe of tannin and acidity gives a mouth-watering tartness in the finish. £14.40 to club members.
(2019) Made from the classic old bush vines of the Roussillon, this is 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan and 15% Mourvèdre, with around one third of the blend aged in barrel for six months. With a hefty 15% alcohol declared, there is a touch of Porty quality on the nose, all black cherry, plum and a touch of violet, a smidgeon of chocolate and some Sandalwood spice and tobacco filling in. In the mouth it is a big wine with a little bit of alcohol heat on the back palate, but there's no denying the appeal of the copious black fruit, fudge-like smooth tannins and peppy cherry acidity to balance as the spice fills in the finish once more. A chunk of steak with this is the way to go.
(2018) Substantially more Carignan in this 2010 (71%), again from 65-year-old vines, along with 25% Syrah and 4% Grenache Noir. Yields of 13 hl/la and 71% of the blend spending 20 months in 500-litre barrels, old and new. It's a full percentage point lower in alcohol, and pours a medium plum colour, woth a broad, light rim. Fine graphite and dried blood character to red fruits on the nose, becoming very nicely sweet-fruited on the palate, ripe summer berries and a firm tannic underpinning. There's a dry, liquoricy touch of extract, but then freshness too with elegant acidity. Long and enjoyable now, but I probably would not cellar too much longer. Tanners has the wine as an 'oddment' at time of writing but there are other by the case stockists.
(2017) A blend composed mostly of Grenache and Syrah, this bottle was pretty closed and a touch reduced when first opened, but after a couple of hours in a decanter it transformed rather wonderfully into a rich, ripe but serious wine of the south, meaty and lightly herbal edges to dark, plum and ripe black berry fruit. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, with spices and a grip of tannin, but the fruit is dark and juicy, and it is the savoury fruit that drives to the finish. Stockists given for current vintages.
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