About this WINE
Chateau Grand Moulin, Corbieres
The vast and sprawling Appellation of Corbières commands, not surprisingly, a huge diversity of styles. One of the most successful is based between the enclaves of Lézignan and Boutenac, their vines dissected by the main road from Carcassonne and Narbonne.
Here the gifted winemaker of Chateau Grand Moulin Corbieres, Jean-Noel Bousquet, exploits the clay sandstone soils, and indulges his passion for Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan. The resulting wines sing the personality of the region, but have an elegance and suppleness of texture which is a far cry from the tougher, more rustic wines of the past.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Jean-Noël Bousquet’s eponymous Terres Rouges are clay-chalk based, perhaps with a tinge of iron to explain the colour. The blend is 60% Syrah, 30% Grenache and 10% Carignan; relatively unusual for Corbières, and has been aged in 30% new and 70 % 1-4 year-old barrels for twelve months. Attractive violet aromas and hints of blueberry on the nose are followed by a richly textured and complex palate, with dark fruits to the fore; the tannins are elegant and give an almost ethereal lift to the wine.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
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