This wine sports an inky hue with dark fruit and orchid perfume flowing easily out of the glass. The ripeness of the fruit is layered and soft as velvet.  Allspice and iron ore push into the mid-palate that soon opens into a bouquet of fresh flowers. Olive tapenade and a seaside breeze add a layer of tension to this otherwise lush and decadent wine.

About half Grenache, with the rest equal amounts of Carignan and Syrah, and a dash of Mourvedre.  Only about a third of the wine is aged in oak, with the rest in tank.

For a food pairing, this is a perfect wine for bone marrow on crostini.  This also works very well with a pork chop and a classic Madeira sauce. For cheese, seek out a Pyrenees Brebis, an aged sheep’s milk cheese from the region.

Gregory Hecht and Francois Bannier met to study winemaking in Dijon in the mid-’90s. Then, they went out on their own, working in various wineries and restaurants. They joined back up in 2002 and started a negociant winemaking business. Their wines have been earning critically acclaimed ever since.