Domaine des Carabiniers, Appellation Controlée Tavel , Tavel 2011 (Rosé)
Tasting Notes : Magnificent color. True rosé of France – vibrant pink. Like the translucence of a red raspberry skin. Elegantly fruity. Delicate notes of blush pink freesia. Long finish. If you extracted all the sugar from a raspberry jolly rancher and were left with just the aromatic flavors and essence… 13% alc. EcoCert – NOP – BioSuisse.
Production Notes : Harvest is brought in at night to avoid high temperatures/oxidation. Grapes are: 50% Grenache – 20% Cinsault – 15% Clairette – 15% Syrah. Controlled temperature fermentation which allows the natural yeasts to fully manifest themselves. The fine lees are stirred – after racking – which allows for extraction of the glycerol needed to ‘envelop’ this wine’s fruit-filled aromas. Unlike most rosés, you can keep this wine for 4-5 years.
Pair With : Chocolate. : ) ! Drink as aperitif all year round. Goes well also with Mediterranean dishes, cooked fish, white meats, mild exotic such as Indian (not too spicy).
“After all, great wines can only be produced by working with nature, not struggling against it.”
Domaine des Carabiniers gets its name, and its emblem of a horse with an olive branch in its mouth, from Christian Leperchois’ great-grandparents who first set up their winery in what was then the stables. The vineyards stretch over 40 ha. across the right bank of the Rhône River. Several appellations are included within the property: Tavel, Côtes du Rhône, Lirac and Vin de Pays d’Oc.
Organic vineyard management and grapevine farming is more than a philosophy for Leperchois, it is a way of life. His vineyards have been under organic cultivation, which he likes to call “natural cultivation” since 1997. He cites examples of soil depletion on highly commercialized vineyards where nothing is retained by the grape, save its genetic varietal origins. To make good wines, you must give your grapes the best of all possible worlds – and for Leperchois this is organic cultivation, going in the direction, even, of biodynamism since 2011.
On his 5 ha. parcel in the Appellation Controlée Tavel, the fields of limestone which were once garrigue scrubland, allow for only low yields but this is what gives this classic and original French rosé wine its long finish and aromatic depth.
Pliocene sand and pebbles are what characterize the terroir on his Appellation Lirac Controlée vineyards and what account for the wine’s “smoked” liquorice and tobacco notes. The fifteen ha. on the Côtes du Rhône vineyards have good groundwater sources which brings out the grapes’ fruity aromas and character and also give the wine its length on the palate.
Domaine des Carabiniers – Roquemaure, France carabiniers-organic-wine.com
Chérie Du Vin 