30/07/2016
Hello Everyone,
Just a quick reminder that our wine sale will be wrapping up in 48 hours. We must have all of orders and/or payments in by August 1st!
For our last winemaker bio for our current wine sale, we will be featuring one of our favorites- Aurélien Petit of Le Petit Domaine in Languedoc!
Aurélien operates a small (petit!) domaine around the town of Montpeyroux in Languedoc that is split into two parcels, which total just over 11 acres (4.5 hectares). His land benefits from the famous "Galets Roulés" which retain the heat of the day and warm the soil at night. He prefers to do all of the work manually in the vines and in the rare case of needing mechanical intervention, he limits the use of machinery to working the soil. Harvesting and sorting the grapes is done by hand. Only indigenous yeasts are used during fermentation and the wines are neither fined nor filtered.
The red grape varieties found here are typical of the south of France, in that he uses Carignan, Syrah, and Grenache. His white wines use Chenin Blanc, which is a rarity in this region, and also Terret-Bourret, a once common grape variety in Languedoc that is hardly grown outside of the region.
Aurélien's goal is to create wines that are fresh, full of fruit, and very drinkable. To him, a good wine is one that we want to drink, and then drink again, and it is this maxim that guides him in his winemaking!
For this sale we are featuring two exceptional red wines from Aurélien. "Myrmidon" 2014 is made from 100% Syrah. The winemaking process for this wine is conducted in three different manners: one third of the grapes undergo a short maceration, one third undergo a long maceration, and one third are subjected to carbonic maceration, in which the fermentation begins to take place inside each berry. The result is then blended together and then aged for 4 months in oak barrels. The resulting wine is a Syrah that has the characteristic peppery notes for which it is known (though it is closer to white pepper than black pepper), but is smoother and lighter than one might expect for this grape. This wine for this price is an exceptional value!
The second wine we are featuring from him is "Rhapsody" 2014. This wine is a blend of 80% Carignan (the second most commonly grown grape in France believe it or not!) and 20% Syrah and is aged in oak barrels for 6 months. This wine presents cherries, raspberries, and even hummus on the nose, and round and smooth finish. This is a great introduction to Carignan for those unfamiliar with this grape!
Both of these wines would pair well with Provençal French cuisine and also with magret de canard (duck).
Our current wine sale is open until August 1st, which once again means that our sale will be finished on Monday!
There is a 6 bottle or $200 minimum when ordering. Mixing and matching wines is ok! To take a look at the other wines that we currently have available, feel free to check out our website, which you may access by clicking below:
http://culinarytoursofparis.com/our-wines
Please let us know if you have any questions and à votre santé!
