This wine offers deep aromas of red cherry, persimmon, exotic passionfruit and a whiff of florality. Flavors are concentrated, fruit is there but understated, and acidity is moderate and well integrated. Red fruits meet garden notes; think cherries and raspberries meet roses. This wine gains complexity with time and air.
WINE INFORMATION
Mas de Valériole is located just south of the City of Arles, where Gaugin, Picasso, and Van Gogh had studios to paint in the area’s wonderful southern light. It is part of the Camargue, a rugged 360-square mile stretch that is a sharp contrast to the beach towns of the Côte d’Azur. The wild Camargue produces salt from the marshes off the Mediterranean and multicolored nutty wild rice; it also produces wine. Mas de Valériole is a 45-hectare estate founded in the early 15th century; it was purchased by the Michel family in the late 1950s. Around the turn of the 20th century brothers Jean-Paul and Patrick Michel made several changes to improve their wines, starting with a conversion to organic viticulture. The vineyards make up 32 ha of the estate’s holdings, with a variety of soil types. A steady breeze blows in from the sea, mitigating the Provençal heat and keeping alcohol levels modest.
“Vé” is a local Provençal expression meaning “Look at that!,” and indeed this wine is worth a good look. The grapes are unusual. Caladoc and Marselan are crosses developed over 60 years ago by Paul Truel. Caladoc, a cross of Grenache and Côt (Malbec) is mid to late ripening and very disease resistant, escaping couloure, botrytis bunch rot, and powdery mildew. Marselan is a Cabernet Sauvignon-Grenache cross, resistant to the foregoing problems and mites as well.
Grapes for this wine are harvested at night to ensure that the fruit coming into the winery is cool. They are pressed immediately and fermented in stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation is blocked by chilling the wine, which then rests 3-6 months on the lees before blending and bottling. Sulfur is only added at bottling, in very small quantities.
Brunch Foods, Chicken/Turkey, East Asian (Chinese/Japanese/Korean), Fish-full flavored (salmon/tuna), Ham, Hors d'oeuvres, Just for Cocktailing, Mexican, Perfect Aperitif , Pizza, Shellfish, Tapas, Wild Game
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