About this WINE
Southern Rhône Blend
The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.
The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.
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Description
Laurents top wine, a similar blend to the straight Gigondas but 60% of which is aged in barrique, 20% of which is new, if I may complicate the mathematics further. Creamy and rich, this needs time to open up, but is already marked by an attractive blueberry and cherry fruit profile and a fine peacocks tail of tannic potential.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012
The evocative names of the surrounding landmarks, specifically the Plateau Des Garrigues and the Dentelles De Montmirail, provide a scenic geographical backdrop to Laurent Daniels vineyards. Silky elegance, real Mediterranean warmth and finely balanced tannins are the secrets to Laurents success, not forgetting more prosaic factors such as timely picking of the grapes and attention to detail in the winery.
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