Domaine des Enfants 'Le Jouet' Rouge IGP Cotes Catalanes, France 2020

Producer: Domaine des Enfants

Grapes: 10% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 40% Lladoner Pelut

Where: Côtes-Catalanes, Roussillion

Country: France

Taste: Bright and lively red fruit with a smoky backbone from the schist. Quaffable with a nice freshness. Nice BBQ wine that could even be drunk a bit chilled, however this doesn't underestimate its ability to be paired with meat or fish in a more elegant environment as well.

Additional info: 

Age of vines: 30 - 60 years old Vinification: Single variety fermented with indigenous yeast in cement tanks, blended, and left for about 1 year in a neutral tank. 30% of the blend is young Grenache picked early and fermented by carbonic maceration then blended back in with the rest of the wine for ageing.

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The Domaine des Enfants was founded in 2006 as a realization of a childhood dream by Swiss born Marcel Bühler and soon after joined in 2010 by Native Oregonian Carrie Sumner. Their winery is about much more than just making wine. Besides being a philosophy, it is taking a step back into the past; regress as progress. It consists of 25 hectares (62 acres) mainly old vineyards of Carignan, Grenache, Syrah and Lladoner Pelut on different soils (schist, granite, gneiss and limestone) and heights situated in the greater area around the small village of Maury. They manage the vineyards in a sustainable manner and with respect to the environment. The abandonment of herbicides from the beginning in 2006 brought the consequence that all the vineyards with old vines (60 to over 100 years) need to be ploughed by their own horses. Since 2010 Domaine des Enfants is certified organic by Ecocert. In the cellar Carrie and Marcel try to preserve the characteristics of the different terroirs and the finesse and aroma of each variety by intervening as little as possible with the natural processes. The objective is to make wines, which convince through their balance, elegance, complexity, texture and length. Already with their first vintage in 2007 they came close to fulfilling this ambition. All their wines are fermented with natural yeast and vinified without any flavor changing additions (enzymes, chips etc.).