£44.00
Cyril Fhal's Clos du Rouge Gorge comes from the village of Latour-de-France whose schist and gneiss terroirs are some of the best in Roussillon. He chooses to work outside the Roussillon-Villages appellation, as he believes that rules such as prescribing a minimum 30% syrah and/or mourvèdre make for wines that are contrary to the tradition, soil and climate of Roussillon.
Very low yields from 70 to 100yo vines, meticulous grape selection in the vineyard, gentle extraction (more like infusion), sensitive handling of oak (ten months in recent 500ltr and older barriques), and minimal sulphur, combine to produce this extraordinary wine. Tasted at the beginning of April on a cold grey day, this wine had a gamey hint of reduction on the nose that soon floated off, dark cherry fruit with thyme/oregano, menthol and hint of nutmeg, some CO2, and radical finesse and freshness for a wine from Roussillon (or anywhere from the south of France). Unfined and unfiltered. For drinking now to 2030