This Week's Tasting
New Wines from the South of France, By and for a New Generation
March 12, 2025
Southern France has become a mecca for creative winemakers who cannot afford the land prices of burgundy or the northern Rhone.
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This Week Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Failla Pinot Noir & Chardonnays with Winemaker Ehren Jordan In-store, 5 - 6:30pm
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old vines, stony mountain soils
Southern France has become a mecca for creative winemakers who cannot afford the land prices of burgundy or the northern Rhone. There, they make more nuanced wines to express terroir in a smoother, more modern, subtle style that pair better with today's meals.
These vibrant, impressive wines from four new growers are well worth trying, particularly at their low prices.
White
The French would not call a Rhone a southern wine, but this is so exciting and has such good value that we could not resist putting it into our tasting. Stephane Ogier's Cotes du Rhone is head and shoulders above any other we've tasted anywhere near its price. It is a joyful, vibrant, complex wine whose time, as its name states, has come. Ogier is an emerging star of the northern Rhone, of which you will hear a lot more here.
2022 Stephane Ogier Cotes du Rhone Temps est Venu; Aroma: light, fresh, intense; Mouth: clean, rounded fleshy, good acidity, full, mouth-filling but, vibrant acidity, a swirl of herbs and fruit nice richness, good length Very, Very Good $18.99; Case, $16.49
Le Clos Rouge is the project of a young couple in the Terrasses de Larzac, which, to me, is the most exciting newer growing area in Languedoc. Its higher altitude makes the wines bracing more. The white is mostly Grenache Blanc enlivened by a good dose of Vermentino and given spice by a twist of white carignan. Full in body, it will pair well with any heavier fish or chicken dish.
2022 Le Clos Rouge Blaca Blanc; Aroma: very fresh, intensely fruity, an herbal note, clean; Mouth: clean, racy bright acidity, clean, mineral sweet fruit, long mineral acid finish, bright and rounded, intense; Very Good Plus $29.99; Case, $25.49
Red
The Clos Rouge red is a Rhonish blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan. Although it has the body of a southern Rhone, it is smoother, well composed, and lither, with lifted, more enticing aromas and flavors—no tannic skeleton here, just smooth, resilient fruit.
2021 Le Clos Rouge Alert Rouge; Aroma: heady firm, a savory note, very pretty, lifted; Mouth: clean, smooth composed, rich and concentrated, lighter fine acid, clean, long; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.94
Drink Furry
You'll find out you like it. The following wines include some of Grenache Pelut, a vine with furry leaves that gives spicier, more assertive flavors at lower alcohols than the plain grape.
Paul Meunier comes from the family of famed Burgundy winemaker JJ Confuron, who went to the Mediterranean to create new wines with varied grapes in specific sites working in organic agroecology. This barrel-aged wine is mostly Grenache, both shaved and hairy, with Syrah and Carignan.
2021 Domaine de Paul Meunier Cotes de Roussillon Quartier Libre; Organic Aroma: bright and spicy, intense, clean, savory, ripe fruity, very aromatic, clean, fresh, intense; Mouth: clean, light thick, nicely balanced, with a crisp spice edge, bright juicy, very intense long; Very Good - Excellent $26.95; Case, $22.95
Self-taught Jeff Carrel rose from the Paris slums to become known for his addictively good Les Darons and other value wines. His passion is in the smallest state in very high granitic slopes in Roussillon, where organically and biodynamically, he wants "to preserve what has been lost elsewhere." They are individual and very, very good.
This 'Small Grapes" cuvee is half each Carignan and Grenache. It has excellent flavor concentration from grapes picked just ripe for juice and freshness. It is a pleasure to drink
2021 Domaine d'Ansignan Petites Grappes; Organic, Color: very dark concentrated; Aroma: very heady light and lifted with savory, very bright and lifted; Mouth: sweet, dense primary fruit, fine acid, clean herbal, fine tannins, stick to the mouth crisp tannins, long, Very Good Plus $21.99; Case, $18.69
Mostly Syrah with Grenache and Carignan. Elegant and subtly spiced in the nose, this wine is dense, velvety, and enveloping. It needs decanting now but will age in the cellar
2018 Domaine d'Ansignan Cotes du Roussillon Villages DSM; Aroma: bright, intense full, fat, savory spice, clean; Mouth: very pretty, clean light and lithe firm, fine acid, light, clean pretty: Very Good - Excellent $26.99; Case, $22.95
Southern French Experience Case $259, $21,58 a bottle
Or mix your own, any 12 bottles at their case prices
Len Rothenberg
Order by phone at 617.367.8605, or reserve here: order@federalwine.com
Please pass this on to any friends who are wine enthusiasts!
- Len Rothenberg
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