29 Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Rouge 2006
Clos du Rouge Gorge, Cyril Fhal

Grape:95% Carignan, 5% Grenache (14% alc.)

Very low yields from 70 to 100 year old vines, meticulous grape selection in the vineyard, gentle extraction (more like infusion), sensitive handling of oak (16 months new to one year old barriques), and minimal sulphur, combine to produce this extraordinary wine. Exuding spicy black fruits with liquorice and a notable mineral freshness, it has an exceptional texture and suppleness with great balance and length. For drinking now to 2015.

Technical Information
Winemaker:	Cyril Fhal (trained with Marc Angeli and Charlie Foucault in the Loire)
Location:	Latour de France (one of the best villages for Roussillon-Villages wines)
Size of domaine:	5 hectares (4½ hectares for red)
Grape:	95% Carignan, 5% Grenache, 50-100 years of age (in old gobelet formation).
Terroir:	Soil derived from gneiss, silt and sand over a layer of greenish coloured clay. North and east facing parcels at 200-250 mtrs altitude.
Viticulture:	Since buying the vines in 2002, main aim to revilatise the soils. Ploughs the soil, uses no chemical pesticides or weedkillers in conversion to bio-dynamic viticulture (Demeter). No heavy tractors used. Hand harvested and table de trie used to check every individual grape.
Vinification:	Destalked 70% and transferred to wooden cuves. Gentle extraction at low temperature. Because the juice is so concentrated (yield of 10-20 hectos per hectare) simply allows the juice to infuse on the skins etc with just one pigeage during 3 weeks in small (5 hecto to 24 hecto) wooden cuves. After this period transferred to 50% new and 50%1 year old barrels where the fermentations continue. Not racked until bottling in January 18 months later. No filtration and hand bottled by gravity.
Press:

 

qty (bottles)

exc vat: £17.87