Vieux Carignan
2018 experienced a great deal of rainfall in the spring, which was followed by a hot, dry summer, a classic storm on the 15 August, and then, fortunately, a fine, dry autumn. Our massal selection Carignan resisted disease well during this wet spring, then went on to ripen serenely until it was ready to be harvested. It gave us a wine of a very deep red purple, with confident and typical aromas of elderflower, ripe fruit and spices. The palate is dense with well-integrated tannins and the superb freshness that is characteristic of this grape, offering us notes of plum, fig, spices and garrigue. A wine which is truly emblematic of the Languedoc.
Technical sheet
Appellation
IGP Côtes du Brian
Vintage
2018
Varieties
100% Carignan. This wine comes from a solitary group of Carignan vines planted in 1890. For 125 years, these vine stocks (the few casualties from over the last 120 years have been replanted on the same trunks) have yielded grapes perfectly adapted to their surroundings. Neither drought nor disease has managed to affect the quality of the grapes which possess a genuine local character.
Production
30 HL / Ha
Alcohol
14.5% alc./vol
Terroir
Clay-limestone
Vinification
The grapes are hand-picked and placed into small trays (caissettes). They are then destemmed, but left uncrushed, before being going into vat. Alcoholic fermentation lasts for 15 days at a temperature between 25°- 30°C. A major aerated pumping-over operation is carried out half-way through the alcoholic fermentation. The rest of the pumping-over is light, lasting only 5 minutes each day. The wine spends 27 days in vat and is then racked off and settled several times before being going back into vat for the start of malolactic fermentation.
Ageing
Aged in concrete tanks
Recognition and awards
- Top 100 UK 2019 Top 100
- Top 100 Sud de France 2021 Top 100
- Top 100 Sud de France 2021 Top 100
- Jancis Robinson 2019 16/20
- Top 100 Sud de France Commended
- Sud de France Top 100 2019 Read article
Geographical location
Find out more about the area
