Appellation: VDF Cuvée: Matassa Rouge Colour: Red Grapes: Carignan 70, Grenache Gris and Mourvèdre About: Definitely the finest wine here, the most classical, a simple statement of what carefully farmed, carefully made wine from very old vines, in particular the beautiful oft maligned Carignan can become here. Vines Location: up above Calce Size: 1 ha … Continue reading Matassa Rouge
Appellation: VDF Cuvée: Ace of Spades Colour: Red Grapes: Mourvèdre and Carignan 50 50 About: first made 2019. The place is called Myrs, which name is already used by Danjou-Banjessy. The soil here is fabulous and as black as the Ace of Spades. Vines Location: the other side of the river from the estate in … Continue reading Matassa Ace of Spades
Appellation: Côtes du Rhône. Cuvée: Rosé. Colour: Rosé. Grapes: Grenache 50%, Cinsault 40%, Carignan 10%. About: not just another Rosé, this is Laurent Charvin’s expression of Cinsualt insofar as it comprises 40% of the blend and provides all the juiciness in this delicious easy drinking Rosé that can serve both as apero or lunchtime wine. … Continue reading Charvin Côtes du Rhône Rosé
Everything we know about Jean-Philippe Padié’s wines for now has been posted here! Jean-Philippe Padié makes some of most natural, pure, delicate and complex wines in the Roussillon from his biodynamically farmed vines sited on a mosaic of soils in Calce. Each Cuvée is a fabulous adventure.
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Le Pacha. Colour: Red. Grapes: Carignan. About: this Cuvée and Gibraltar were born in 2014 out of the old Ciel Liquide Cuvée that is no more since 2012. It’s a great decision born of Jean-Philippe’s long, careful work in the vines to grow beautiful fruit. The Cuvée name is inspired … Continue reading Jean-Philippe Padié Le Pacha VDF
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Petit Taureau. Colour: Red. Grapes: Carignan Noir, Syrah and Mourvèdre, exact blend depends on the year, see below. About: named after a song by Claude Nougaro from 1967 filled with references to wine, women and song, “Je suis un petit taureau…”. An extraordinary wine that captures the terroir, the Mediterranean, … Continue reading Jean-Philippe Padié Petit Taureau VDF
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Calice. Colour: Red. Grapes: Carignan, Mourvèdre, Grenache Noir, exact blend depends on the year, see below. About: pale in colour, fresh, light, soft, with a gentle and salty astringency, digestible, this wine is made for easy drinking yet has a very satisfactory depth of fruit, made in Jean-Philippe’s unique fashion … Continue reading Jean-Philippe Padié Calice VDF
Appellation: Côtes du Rhône. Cuvée: Rouge. Colour: Red. Grapes: Grenache 80%, Syrah 15%, Carignan 5%. About: as far from generic Côtes du Rhône as you could imagine, this is made from old Grenache Noir lying just outside the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation. The vines are looked after with the same attention as the Châteauneuf and the wine … Continue reading Charvin Côtes du Rhône
Appellation: Vi de Taula. Cuvée: Les Paradetes. Colour: Red. Grapes: based on Grenache Noir and Carignan depending on the vintage, sometimes some Sumoll. About: the most intense and finessed of Joan Ramon’s reds, changing every year with the vintage conditions, a mirror of the year. A badger appears on the label. Vines Location: just north … Continue reading Escoda Les Paradetes
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Contre-Attaque. Colour: Red. Grapes: Mourvèdre 80%, Carignan 20%. About: FX Dauré’s first red, typical of his style all about freshness and lightness – although he generously admits to slightly over-dosing the sulfites, that’s to say adding more than he wished and intended, as a result of mis-reading the analysis. Such … Continue reading VDF Contre-Attaque
Appellation: Costières de Nîmes. Cuvée: Les Fagnes Blanc. Colour: White. Grapes: Carignan Blanc 100%. About: That rare beast, a pure Carignan Blanc that shows off the potential beauty of under-rated, under-appreciated, un-cared for, oft maligned native grape varieties. As we’re fond of pointing out, it’s not a problem with the grape intrinsically, it’s more a … Continue reading Clos des Boutes Costières de Nîmes Les Fagnes Blanc
Appellation: Costières de Nîmes. Cuvée: Pluriel. Colour: Red. Grapes: Carignan 50%, Syrah 50%. About: Ridiculously well-priced wine that’s both glou-glou and quite seriously structured. It’s a great use of old vine Carignan. The Syrah adds fruit without adding weight or taking away from the cool freshness of the wine. The name refers to the pairing … Continue reading Clos Des Boutes Costières de Nîmes Le Pluriel
Appellation: Costières de Nîmes Cuvée: Les Fagnes Colour: Red Grapes: Carignan 70%, Syrah 30%. About: A revelation of the splendors of Carignan in the Southern Rhône, this is Sylvain’s more serious version of his preferred grape, aged in oak, until 2015 barrique, from 2016 in foudre and released when ready for drinking rather than rushed … Continue reading Clos des Boutes Costières de Nîmes Les Fagnes rouge
The story Sylvain Boutée was born close to the border with Belgium in northern France where there are no vines at all. But his parents sold wine and his grand-parents had been dairy farmers. So from an early age, he had a vision around farming and wine. He studied oenology and viticulture, and finished his … Continue reading Clos des Boutes
