French Red Wines

A new wine recently released. Tasting notes to follow but I expect it to be very good.

Awarded Silver at both Milesime Bio 2019 and IWSC 2019

 

 

 

 

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A new red from Robin Althof from Costes Cirgues and his wife Imogen.

 

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 A very pleasant warming red. At first it's a little tight with earthy aromas. Give it a bit of time to open up and it becomes very moreish in a natural style.

 

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A new wine from a new venture! Robin Althof from Costes Cirgues and his wife Imogen are making small batches of their own excellent wines from different parcels of grapes from friends' vineyards. Obviously they are organically farmed and sulphite free of course. 

100% Grenache aged in oak for 14 months - more info to follow when stock arrives.

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An excellent organic Rhone blend. Again sweet fruit on entry, good mouthfeel with full body, smooth and round with just a hint of oak.

 

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A good quality organic Cotes du Rhone Villages Plan de Dieu.

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Another sulphite free Rhone blend, this time from the Cairanne AOC. Full flavoured and fruity with medium body. Once again smooth with nicely balanced natural aciditiy. Like all Cave de Cairanne's reds it is made in a fruit forward style so is a little sweeter on the palate than our other sulphite free reds.

 

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A good entry level Cotes Du Rhone without added sulphites. Great value.

 

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The Secret de Campane from Cave de Cairanne is a Rhone blend with a drop of Merlot. Designed to be fresh and fruity for everyday drinking. Very tasty and enjoyable on its own or with a whole range of foods, but please be aware this a volume wine for Cave de Cairanne and the free sulphite level is too high for anybody with an allergy. Learn More

Concours Generale Paris 2019 - Gold

The Pas de la Baume range from Cave de Cairanne are great wines for everyday drinking. Well made, well priced and low in sulphites too, so no hangover or muzzy head. This soft and fruity red blend won Gold at the Orange Wine Awards.

I'm impressed by this one as it is great value for money. Big black fruit with some oak and a little pepper. More traditional Rhone style at an affordable price.

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Cave de Cairanne Chateauneuf du Pape . Big and powerful of course with noticeable oak, but Cairanne took great care to preserve the fruit and limit the tannins (by destemming the grapes before crushing). Super wine with a very long finish.

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Gigondas had become known as "the poor man's Chateauneuf du Pape" a decade ago, although I think that is a bit tongue in cheek as the wines can still command a hefty price. The wines can be amazing and although this AC has developed a very strong reputation for high quality, they still tend to be a bit cheaper than equivalents from Chateauneuf.

This wine is superb. Big and powerful as you would expect, with full body. Super smooth with acidity and oak in perfect balance, and a very long lingering finish. Highly recommended. Cave de Cairanne make all their reds in a fruit forward style and minimise the tannins (by de-stemming etc) so the wine is ready to drink young. For this reason we recommend you drink within a couple of days once opened, but it is so delicious you will probably drink it within a couple of hours in reality!

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Guide Hachette 2019 - 1 Star

Cave de Cairanne La Reserve Plan de Dieu (meaning the plan of God) is one of the 17 designated villages which make up the Rhone's Cotes du Rhone Villages. For this appellation the wine can come from one of four villages in the Vaucluse area. Due to the nature of the soils these wines tend to be dense and concentrated with vivid colour. The 2016 won Gold at the Orange Wine Fair 2017 and Silver at Decanter 2017.

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Cave de Cairanne are very proud of this Vacqueyras. As an AOC the reputation of Vacqueyras has grown in recent years as it is catching up to it's more famous neighbours of Gigondas and Chateauneuf du Pape.

This is an excellent wine. Big and powerful yet well balanced. Good fruit with just the right amount of oak, very smooth and medium bodied with a long finish. This knocks the socks off any generic Chateaneuf du Pape. Highly recommended. 

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Appellation Rasteau Controllee. Concentrated red and black fruits with some well integrated oak. Fairly light in body and silky smooth. This is a delicious wine, ideal with some good cheese. 

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A new wine from a new venture! Robin Althof from Costes Cirgues and his wife Imogen are making small batches of their own excellent wines from different parcels of grapes from friends' vineyards. Obviously they are organically farmed and sulphite free of course. 

This first wine is a blend of Syrah and Cinsault - we have just moved onto their 2019.

Jane and I overnighted at the Chateau in September (2 years ago now) where we were treated to a full tasting of all their wines including some older vintages, prior to a wonderful meal out in the courtyard under the stars. All their wines are very good, but for some reason I was drawn back to this one repeatedly and it is the wine I chose to drink for the rest of the evening!

We have just received the new vintage and it is superb. A bit bigger than the previous one in my opinion. Very deep opaque ruby in colour, big full ripe fruit flavours with good acidity cutting through on the long finish.

This is very good wine and one of our biggest selling sulphite free reds. Highly recommended.

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This Farigoulette is made for every day drinking. Carignan, Aramon & Cinsault all from a single two hectare vineyard.

Hand picked of course and fermented with the grapes own yeast. The grapes are crushed by carbonic maceration under their own weight to extract the juice with only a light amount of tannin. Aged in tank for six months.

It's a perfectly enjoyable easy drinking red, light and fruity. Good sulphite free option at this price point.

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Face au Chateau Rouge is the new extremely limited flagship wine from Roger, with just 600 bottles produced. It comes from a one hectare single vineyard. The grapes are both fermented in wood and aged in barrel for two years.

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A superb single vineyard Syrah aged for 24 months in oak. Delicious! Big black cherry flavours with vanilla and a hint of white pepper. Perfectly balanced wine with good natural acidity. Superb.

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Domaine Myrac Diletante Rouge is a complex Syrah with flavours of dark chocolate followed by mint. Very smooth and balanced. Fully organic and very low in sulphur, this is a genuine artisan wine from this excellent organic family owned winery. This wine is lovely.

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A great organic Pinot Noir from this family owned winery.

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Decanter World Wine Awards 2016 - Platinum "Best Wine in Show (Rhone Style)"

Chateau Costes Cirgues is the top wine from this superb tiny family winery. All their wines are sulphite free and organically certtified. It consists of 80% Syrah, 20% Grenache hand harvested into small trays from another tiny 1.6 hectare vineyard. Gravity fed, concrete fermented then aged in French oak for 15 months prior to blending. Black fruit from the Grenache with some pepper from the Syrah. Big, rich and opulent. This is a superb wine.

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Deep opaque purple in colour. This is a big wine and is best decanted as it really opens up given some time to breathe. Big black fruit flavours, velvet mouth feel and soft tannins. This vintage is excellent once again.

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Deep opaque ruby in colour. Swirl it round in the glass and the nose really opens up. Big damson and plum flavours in the mouth. Very smooth and balanced.

 

 

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Montplaisir from Costes Cirgues is one of our best value sulphite free red wines. It's made in a fresh and fruity style to be enjoyed young. Merlot adds ripe red fruits and the Carignan was fermented under carbonic maceration where the grapes are not pressed but simply crushed by their own weight, which extracts only the free run juice and avoids extracting the tannins. 

Excellent this year, in my opinion David's best vintage yet. Full flavoured with good mouthfeel, super smooth and rounded. Great balance and a long finish.

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Esprit de la Garrigues is a big, powerful wine which benefits from decanting. Handpicked grapes from a 2 hectare vineyard from vines between 15-25 years old. Consisting of 60% Syrah and 40% Grenache, fermented in stainless steel then aged in a combination of stainless steel and oak.

A great wine in it's own right, being sulphite free is a bonus!

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This is Roger's lightest red. This vintage has only just been bottled (in March) so will benefit from a few weeks in bottle to settle. There are strong flavours of red fruits and a hint of peach. More full bodied than the previous vintage with a slightly chewy texture (being unfiltered) which will dissipate as the wine settles.

Bearing in mind it has only just been bottled, then travelled to get here, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And ot course it will improve in the coming weeks and months.

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Chemin des Moutons Organic Domaine D'Anglas is a beautiful big sulphite free syrah grenache blend. It is the flagship wine from Roger and is superb!

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Another soft and smooth sulphite free red for every day drinking

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A big powerful blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan aged in barriques for 24 months.

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A big powerful blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan aged in barriques for 24 months.

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A big powerful blend of Grenache and Syrah aged in barriques for 24 months.

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A one off Cuvee from Philippe. This is a parcel of Syrah that he aged in vat for several years before bottling. It's a big powerful wine.

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Perhaps Philippe's most successful wine. A beautiful, powerful blend aged only in concrete to preserve the natural fruit flavours. Nothing added and nothing taken away.

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This year Philippe has only made the one "Energie" wine. Previously there was Energie Yin and Energie Yang, but no longer. The wine is better than ever, this time being 100% Syrah fermented and aged in concrete tanks to retain all the fruit purity. Obviously the wine has Philippe's trademark natural style. Thoroughly delicious!

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A great introduction to Viret wines. Fruity, earthy, very natural in style. No added acid (or anything else) of course so it harmonises with the body and quickly becomes really "moreish"!

Now sold out

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