It’s a life full of surprises all right. You would not expect to get much of a wine out of 100% Carignan, let alone one made out of a rare white mutation, but this is great - full of character and interest. The secret, as best I can tell, is that the yield from the 80 year old vines has been restricted to 15hl per hectare (about 800kg/acre) as opposed to the usual mad cropping levels for Carignan that can go as high as 200hl per hectare (about 11 tonne/acre). The Domaine is situated in the region of Coteaux du Libron, Languedoc and is run organically with no herbicides or pesticides employed. The fruit is also hand picked and this particular wine is whole bunch cold pressed with wild yeast fermentation in oak (50%) before 3 to 4 months ageing in oak. The remainder being fermented in tank then blended 3 months before bottling. Importer is marcus@cesoirwine.com

It smells a bit like orange seed cake with honeysuckle, apricot and spicy vanilla oak aromas. On the palate full bodied with a slippery glycerol texture, gentle acidity and a little warmth from alcohol - it’s balanced though, not flabby and feels pretty fresh. It has flavours of orange, apricot, cinnamon and licorice root and closes with a long slippery slide of pulpy yellow fruit and spice. Interesting and engaging - I’m quite taken with this.

Rated : 90 Points
Tasted : Feb08
Alcohol : 13%
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2008 - 2012