Aromas of Morello cherries, cherry candy, ripe strawberry, tomato leaf/tobacco, and plum. The fruit is backed up by an array of savory components--earth, white pepper, herb stems--in the mouth alongside Birch beer and cola notes. It is medium weight with soft tannins; acidity provides most of the structure.

WINE INFORMATION

Jeff Carrel was born in a suburb of Paris in 1969. He entered college to prepare for a career in chemistry, but left to study enology at Montpelier, France’s premier wine university. He works both as a winemaker with his own portfolio and as a consultant of some renown, providing assistance in Priorat, the Languedoc, Burgundy, Beaujolais, and Bordeaux.

Grapes for this wine come from the foothills of the Pyrenees on hillside slopes (en coteaux) at 721-833 feet above sea level. The vineyards face south-southeast and are cooled by sea and ocean winds. Soils are clay and limestone. The fruit is harvested manually at night, keeping it cool and preserving freshness. It goes through a cold pre-fermentation maceration under a blanket of CO2 (again, to preserve freshness). Fermentation with indigenous takes place at low temperature in concrete with gentle punch-downs to gain color and flavor extraction. No sulfites are added during fermentation.

Chicken/Turkey, Duck, Just for Cocktailing, Mushrooms