Aromas are complex, well integrated, and hard to tease apart. There are spiced plums, garrigue, bark, and cocoa powder. The palate has extremely soft and supple tannins as well as integrated acidity. This is a good example of what age imparts to a wine. The fruit is subtle but present—dark plums, a hint of cherry, cocoa again, and a touch of black pepper, all very pleasant.  Medium in body and length. Note: this wine throws quite a bit of sediment, not unexpected given the winemaking and its age; decant or pour very carefully.

WINE INFORMATION

Grapes for this wine are partially destemmed and vinified by variety in concrete vats and stainless steel tanks using natural yeasts with frequent remontage. No sugar or acid is added at any time. Malolactic, like the original fermentation, is spontaneous, and the entire process can last from four to six weeks. The wines rest on the fine lees until racked by variety into demimuids and foudres for at least a year. After blending, the wine spends four to six months in steel tanks and is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with very little sulfur.

This historic estate was originally owned by Jean-Pierre Julien. In the early 1970s, there was a massive exodus of wine producers from the Languedoc, largely because the quality of the vineyards and wine were too low of growers and winemakers to make a decent living. Julien renamed his property Cal Demoura, meaning “one must remain” in the local Occitan language. He did what most of remaining colleagues did: joined a local cooperative. His son Olivier, however, refused to follow this path and started his own domaine, Mas Julien. Jean-Pierre saw what was possible and resigned from the co-op and re-established his own estate in 1993. He sold off all but the best five hectares (ha) and began making significant wines that were part of the early qualitative revolution in the region. He began working side-by-side with a young couple who had studied enology in Dijon in 2003, and sold them the property the following year. Isabelle and Vincent Goumard continued and extended the organic and biodynamic practices Jean-Pierre had instituted. The densely planted estate now includes 11 ha of mostly red vines averaging 40 years old today, with significant parcels of Grenache, Cinsault, and Carignan much older.

Charcuterie, Chicken/Turkey, Duck, Grilled preparations, Hearty stew, Lamb, Mushrooms, Pizza, Pork, Red Meat, Roasted Root Vegetables, Slow-smoked Barbeque/BBQ Sauce, Wild Game