(2021) A Syrah and Grenache blend, this is a delicately-coloured but vibrant pink with a light passion fruit and nectarine aroma, some raspberry too in a summery cocktail. The palate is very dry, a lovely lemon pith line of acidity giving this definite food-friendly appeal for most fish dishes or tapas perhaps, the fruit quite tart and elegant, just enough sweetness for delicious drinking too. £12 to Bee Club members.
(2021) A fine follow-up to the 2018 for this blend of very old vine Grenache Blanc and Gris, appearing under the 'Field of the Bee' label as the fruit comes from Jean-Marc Lafage's vineyard, rather than one owned by Domaine of the Bee. The four months a small proportion of the wine spent in barrel is barely discernable aromatically, as the floral, spice and citrus and melon-rind notes dominate, a hint of exotic mango in there too. The oak adds a touch of warming toast in the background of the expansive palate, the rich texture and intense concentration giving definition and weight to a still fresh and vibrant wine, but one with a bit of grippy, spicy structure. £12.80 for Bee Club members.
(2021)
From a tiny, 80-year-old Carignan vineyard of low yielding bush vines, fermentation took place in both stainless steel tanks and 500-litre barrels , before maturation in barrel, 50% new. Much more depth of colour than the Bee-side, the nose deep and fruity with a nuttiness I often find in Carignan - almost chestnut-like - and he spice and pencil-shaving notes of the barrel. Creamy in texture, there is mouth-filling richness here, effortless concentration of lush, creamy black cherry fruit, a hint of gaminess, but a rasp of tannin and juicy cherry-pit acidity cut through the creamy density of fruit very nicely to balance, finishing on spice. £17.60 to club members.
(2021) Hand-sorted at the winery, the first pick of Carignan is fermented in a stainless steel tank, with the rest of the Carignan and Grenache fermented in large wooden barrels. After pressing, the whole lot spends 18 months in a mix of 500-litre and 225-litre barrels, approximately a quarter of which were new. Dense, deep crimson colour, the nose showing a little violet and Indian ink, vinous density. In the mouth the sweet punch of the fruit is delicious, a combination of red and black fruits, plenty of spices here, clove and black pepper, and the weighty, rounded mouthfeel balanced by creamier tannins than in the Carignan, and very good acidity, giving this both svelteness and freshness into a long, powerful finish. £20 for club members.
(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.
(2021) This single-vineyard bottling of Grenache, Carignan with Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc is only produced in the best years, with 967 bottles made in 2018. 15% is made up of white wine grapes, giving both a more delicate colour and perhaps helping with the relatively low 13.5% alcohol (for this region). The vines here are more than 100 years old, fermented with a combination of destemmed and whole bunches in large oak barrels, then into a new Seguin-Moreau 600-litre barrel, with one barrique of Grenache pressings blended in. There is lightness and airiness on the nose here, definitely some floral lift and lighter, more raspberry-like fruit, but underpinning is a graphite mineral sense of concentration. In the mouth it is supple and delicious, salty and ozoney, with raspberry pip tartness and a fine framework of tannin and acid that suggest a bit of longevity. It is, however, delicious now, and both powerfully concentrated and juicy to the end. £32 for club members.
(2020) From English MW Justin Howard-Sneyd and his family, this blend of Grenache and Syrah is made by Jean-Marc Lafage of Domaine Lafage, with a limited run of individually numbered bottles. It's an unashamed homage to Provence from its pretty, pale salmon pink colour, to its sheer acidity and cool red fruit profile. As in the 2018 there's a whiff of exotic pot-pourri of flowers and spices, dry reducrrant, downy peach and watermelon fruit. That bracing shot of acidity revs up the finish, so whilst delicate and light, it has a bit of tension and grip too. Note that members of Domaine of the Bee's wine club can buy for £12, and bibwine.co.uk will be selling a limited number of 2.25-litre boxes of this wine.
(2019) The traditional appelations of the Languedoc-Roussillon region have lived slightly under the shadow of the dynamic 'Vin de Pays d'Oc' (later changed to IGP d'Oc), classification that relaxed the rules about what varieties could be planted and style of wine made, to put a new breed of wines on the map. This comes from the best villages of the Roussillon, a blend of fairly equal parts Syrah, Carignan and Grenache, from low-yielding vineyards. It's a particularly fragrant example, unoaked to allow the lightly ashy lift and bright cherry and blackcurrant fruit shine through. On the palate it is generous and smooth, a creamy and chocolaty texture and depth with loads of sweet black fruit, easy tannins and gentle acidity, giving it balance and charm. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas.
(2019) Made from old bush vines of 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, plus Syrah and Carignan, this is a substantial and meaty wine, deep in colour and aroma, with plum and tobacco, and yet a glimpse of something floral and violetty too. In the mouth there is terrific black fruit sweetness, an initial surge joined by grippy, firm tannins and tart plum-skin acidity to give this tension. Again that one dimension is soon expanded as a fresher red fruit character joins, though it is structure and a fair heft of alcohol that gives it a powerful finish.
(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.
