13/08/2020
Alors, pour la première fois en quelques années nous avons décidé d'envoyer certains de nos vins à une dégustation professionnelle. Cette fois c'était pour Jancis Robinson et son équipe. Nous sommes très contents de savoir que notre boulot est apprécié. Voyez ci-dessous l'article, desolé c'est en anglais. Bonne chance pour les francophones!
Finally we decided to send 4 of our wines off for a tasting by Jancis Robinson and her team. Happy to see that our efforts are appreciated by wine professionals as well as our customers of course. See the reviews below.
From JancisRobinson.com:
On the other hand, when I see '100% Cinsault', I get a little (warily) excited. Cinsault, in my book, is one of the least understood, least appreciated red varieties. It's unceremoniously blended, picked way too early in order to make boring rosés, and occasionally pounded within an inch of its life to make a 'proper' red wine. Here and there, the rare poetic soul gets Cinsault, understands that it is more Pinot Noir than Syrah, that it needs to be treated as gently as Riesling, that you have to coax fluttery petal-thin and petal-smooth flavours without expecting deep colour, knock-out aromatics or alpha-male tannins. Cinsault, left to be what it is, turns delicate, fragrant, alluding – in watercolour brushstrokes – to charcuterie and earth and sweat and seeds, but always blooming with shy charm on the spectrum of strawberry sweetness and fruit. I was thrilled to see some Languedoc producers realising, at last, the true gift of this grape. Look out for Jeff Carrel's Vin de Cinsault below, and in tomorrow's article a couple of lovely fresh examples from Domaine Montrose (certified carbon neutral as well!) and Domaine St-Martin d'Agel. But the best Cinsault, without doubt, was natural-wine producer Simon Coulshaw's Domaine des Trinités, L'Étranger. Totally addictive.
Dom des Trinités, L'Étranger 2019 Vin de France
Natural wine from Simon Coulshaw: no cultured yeast, enzymes, chemical tannins or fining product. 90% old-vine Cinsault, 10% Syrah.
I was instructed to chill this a bit before tasting. It was in the fridge for about 25 minutes and then left out for 10 minutes before tasting. Fresh red-berried nose. Hurrah! Here is another Languedoc producer who 'gets' Cinsault. Perky, bright, raspberries and with that lovely telltale Cinsault salty-sweet tang that always reminds me of the best prosciutto or jamon. A bit of white pepper and ground cumin tangled into feather-light sinews of tannin. This is absolutely YUM. Tapas/aperitivo wine, without a doubt. I could drink this all summer long. GV (TC) 17/20
13%
Dom des Trinités, L’Imaginaire Roussanne 2019 Vin de France
Made by Simon Coulshaw of the minimal-intervention school. Biodynamic farming although not certified. 100% Roussanne planted on their highest vineyards – a steep north-facing slope in the foothills of the Cévennes mountains. Isolated vineyards surrounded by herbaceous shrub and woodland on schist and basalt boulders. Hand-picked at 20–25 hl/ha, Five days' on skins then 48 hours of cold settling before racking. Spontaneous fermentation, no enzymes, no fining, minimal sulphur and sulphites. Carbon dioxide nap used to avoid oxidation.
Smells of mimosa and cold pebbles. So tight it's as if the fruit has been hot-waxed onto the palate. Wild, wild fruit and flowers, all hedgerow and fields. Iodine and salt, dust and dry bricks, saffron and yuzu. So much texture it's like licking chalk-dusted rose petals. Fascinating wine, that changes as you sit with it, like sunset dropped into a kaleidoscope, like light on water. Masses of undertow, savoury and sweet. 17/20
Dom des Trinités, Le Pech Mege 2019 Languedoc, Pézenas
Simon Coulshaw makes natural wines: no cultured yeast, enzymes, chemical tannins or fining product and farming with respect to the environment, although the domaine isn't certified organic. 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Carignan.
Dark cherries and a sharp flash of cobbler's glue on the nose. Rich layers of mulberries and prune, coffee syrup, clove and burnt sugar, mushrooms and leaf mulch. You could not accuse this of simplicity, although it has more depth than length. A little brooding, a little heat, and slow to build. The tannins seem to be more spice than texture, vibrating more than gripping. If there is grip, it's in the orange pith and peel-oil on the finish. Intriguing wine... You could really climb into this. (TC) 16.5/20
14%
Dom des Trinités, Le Portail 2017 Vin de France
Simon Coulshaw's natural wine from Faugères. 65% Syrah, 15% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan.
Touch of VA, touch of barn/saddle leather, a little barbecue smoky. Dense and lots of that sweet-char crispiness that comes on the edges of marinaded ribs and chicken thighs cooked over coals. Some dried herbs. Some roasted mushrooms with the bitterness of very black olives. Turning tertiary relatively early. Not at all tough, but there is a sense of coffee and leather through the tannins, which are more rustic than in his other two reds. (TC) 16/20
14%
