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. Â 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. Â 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.