Made primarily with old-vine Grenache and Carignan grown in rocky, limestone-etched hills north of Montpelier, this offering from a relatively new domaine (founded by a husband and wife team in 2002) is a truly exciting discovery. It’s marked by deep primary fruit flavors that in turn are enhanced by a myriad of secondary ones—spice and leather, stony minerals, and more. Wonderfully long, it can compete successfully with top southern Rhône wines with a similar flavor profile that cost two or three times as much. Incidentally, this is the domaine’s "second" red wine, the "petite" (named for the couple’s two young sons). I can’t wait to try the "grand!"
Domaine du Pas de L’Escalette, Coteaux du Languedoc (France) 2008
By Paul Lukacs