(2024) A pale, Provençal-style pink made from Grenache Noir, Grenache Gris and Syrah, this bursts with redcurrant and raspberry red fruitiness on the nose, a little Parma violet lift too. The palate is dry, the tartness of summer red berries as well as the light juiciness of fruit. It's light- to medium-bodied, but again there's just a little phenolic grip as well as the citrus acidity to balance and ensure this finishes dry and appetising. Wine Club members pay £12.80.
(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.
(2024) This is 100% Carignan from the 80+ year old La Roque vineyard at Domaine of the Bee. Fermentation is in both stainless steel and 500-litre barrels, with a further year in French oak barrel, plus one in American oak barrels, all 500-litre. Dark, spicy and plummy, there's a smoky suggestion of real depth here. The fruit has a supple, rich but elegantly understated succulence and depth. The oak integrates very nicely indeed, creamy and dark, a swirl of mocha onto suede-like tannins and a juicy bramble acidity. Long and concentrated into the finish. Wine Club members buy for £20.
(2024) From the estate's best barrels of Grenache and Carignan from their own vineyards, the Grenache component being increased to 60% allows them to bottle this as Maury Sec rather than more generic regional appellations. After fermentation in a mixture of steel and large oak barrels, it matures for 16 months in 225- and 500-litre barrels, a quarter of which are new. Deep colour and equally deep scents of plum compote, blueberry and warm Christmas spices. There's that background suggestion of a violet-like lift. In the mouth all about dark, brooding fruits that are ripe and sweet, with a bittersweet cocoa element and a carpet of chocolaty tannin. It's a big and substantial wine this, but crucially there is freshness to the acidity in the long, spicy finish. Wine Club members pay £22.00
(2024) With only 13% alcohol as opposed to the straight Maury Sec's 14.5% (from the same vintage) this top wine of the estate is obviously conceived and made in a different style. From a single vineyard, it is based on Grenache but 15% of the blend is made with Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc - pink and white variants. After foot-treading and fermentation in oak, it spent 15 months in Seguin Moreau's 500-litre 'Icone' barrels. Lighter in colour, and in aroma, there's more brightness to the red fruits and more of a pastille-like quality, but a note of herbal, hessian character comes through from the stems included in fermentation. In the mouth so supple and juicy. I do like the relative restraint of the lower alcohol here personally, and the juiciness to the tannins and acids which is fresher again that the straight Maury Sec. Wine Club members buy for £40.
(2024) Another fine showing for this wine, made from Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc with a smattering of Roussanne, some of the vines over 100 years old. A small percentage is barrel aged for four months, which adds texture and a bit of extra phenolic grip to an otherwise summery and fruit-filled white. Peach and citrus on the nose, a sheen of almond, then a full-textured palate with that core of citrus and hints of very grown-up bitter salad leaves and that lightly grippy finish adding to its gastronomic credentials. Wine Club members pay £14.00
(2023) The new vintage of this old vine Grenache is made in a lighter style. A small part of the blend is a saignée, or 'bleed-off', as sometimes used to make rosé, blended back with wine that was 50% was fermented with whole bunches. It spent 15 months in the barrels. It does indeed pour a paler, still crimson, but more Pinot Noir-like colour. Lots of raspberry and summery fruit on the nose, a touch of white pepper, and just a suggestion of darker fruit and the barrel component beneath. Creamy and fruity on the palate, the tannins have a bit of heft to them, and there is keen, tart raspberry acidity to add more souring edge. Very drinkable but with a bit of strictness about it. £15.60 for club members.
(2022) Disgorged in August 2022, this wine has absolutely no sweetening dosage added. That makes it a very bracing and crisp style, with a lemony freshness of fruit. There is some bready, biscuity complexity to the aroma through that long lees ageing, but then the palate zings and zips to an exhilarating finish.
(2022) Each bottle was hand-dosed with 15.2mls of Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Tokaji, then the dosage adjusted to take the total sugar level to 8g/l. The nose has a custardy, slightly toffeed note which may, or may not, be influenced by the Tokaji dosage. In the mouth there's a perceptible ripeness and mid-palate sweetness to this despite the modest dosage. There's a lovely clarity and precision to the lemony thrust of fruit and acidity, and there's a sense of concentration too. Long and sheer, the pillowing generosity of the mousse and that hint of sweetness in the background is beautifully tensioned against the lemon and salts acidity.
(2022) There's just 4mls of the extraordinarily sweet (@ 581 g/l) Tokaji Essencia 2008 as part of the dosage here, so it's perhaps not too surprising that it doesn't mark the nose or palate too markedly. Is there just an aromatic hint of the intense, raisiny essencia, or is that auto-suggestion? There is certainly some biscuity character over lemony fruit. The palate is intense and dry, with again plenty of lemony thrust, a pithy bite of dryness, not at all aggressive. Fascinating, though the essencia not too evident.
