Red

Organic

This is the most important wine of the estate, a serious red vinified to reflect its capacity to age. The grapes are harvested at a point of slight surmaturit?? which captures the profound scents and flavors of the surrounding hillside garrigue. The cuvaison continues for at least a month; then, the wine is racked into tank for aging. The wine is bottled twenty to twenty-four months after harvest. As the wine ages in bottle, it develops enticing notes of juniper, rosemary and thyme as well as the savory flavors of wild berries and a hint of the "animal" all in all, one of the more compelling values in all of France.

Organic / Biodynamic

The Bandol Rouge is a blend of 93% Mourvèdre and 7% Grenache.
This review is on the previous vintage (2020).
93+ points John Gilman
The 2020 vintage of Bandol rouge from Domaine La Bastide Blanche is pretty ripe at 14.5 percent octane, but still exceptionally well balanced and shows zero signs of heat on the palate. The bouquet is deep, ripe and classy, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of cassis, dark berries, coffee bean, smoked meats, a touch of black tea, a fine base of soil, new leather, a judicious framing of cedary oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb depth of fruit at the core, fine soil transparency and grip, ripe, buried tannins and excellent balance on the long and very promising finish. The tannins here are so seamlessly integrated that it is not hard to drink this wine today, but its true apogee is ten years down the road. Superb juice.

Organic

100% Malbec from 55 year old vines fermented in stainless steel.
In 1971 André Berenger came to Cahors from Provence with his wife Sylvie, who is originally from Champagne, and planted their vineyard near Grézels, on the red clay/iron stone soil known as Grèzes. Their two children, Maurin & Juline not only joined them in the family business, but brought in their respective spouses. Moreover, Maurin, and his wife, Marlène, are graduates of oenology school. Juline and her husband, Henri, both studied at viticulture school.

The family tends the 35 hectare domaine themselves. Pruning, the sustainable farming of the vineyards (Terra Vitis certified) and harvesting are all done by hand; a disappearing practice in Cahors where harvesting is now almost exclusively performed by machine.

The Bérangeraie wines are proof that hand-made artisanal wines of character yet accessibility are still being made in Cahors today.

Organic

A pure and elegant expression of Pinot Noir, En Coteaux by Jeff Carrel is named “coteaux” or hillside after the location of the vineyards, nestled in the slopes of the French Pyrenees Mountains. En Coteaux is 100% Pinot Noir from Pays d’Oc, Vin de Pays IGP region in the southern coast of France. Grown in coastal climate, cooled by sea and ocean winds. The wine is naturally fermented with no sulfites added. 12.5% abv

Organic / Biodynamic

Mas des Capitelles’ workhorse Vieilles Vignes is built on the backs of Mourvèdre (50%) and Carignan (25%) from vines up to 80 years old, with Syrah (25%) completing the blend. After a 30-day maceration with a small proportion of semi-carbonic whole clusters in the fermentation, one-fifth of the cuvée was aged in oak and four-fifths in fiberglass and enamel vats, with bottling taking place after 14 months. An exuberant nose of blueberries, violets, and warm dust evokes the sun-scorched slopes of the appellation in visceral fashion, and the palate sizzles with an almost spiky minerality, framed by rich but firm blue and black fruits. The balance of refinement and wildness here is extraordinary, with neither trait calling too much attention to itself.

Mas des Capitelles began in 1999, when ninth-generation vigneron Jean Laugé began bottling his own wine after a lengthy stint at the local co-operative, where his father's a driving force in the creation of the Faugères appellation in the early 1980's had served as president.

One of Southern France's great values year in year out. A typical Méditerranéen blend : 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 30% Carignan. A soft approachable style that is driven by more earthy elements than a ripe fruitiness. Fermented in stainless steel giving the wine a freshness that is hard to deny.