Les Jamelles, Pinot Noir IGP Pays d'Oc, France (750ml)

Critic tasting note: "This is a fruit-driven pinot with red cherries, cranberries and nutmeg. Juicy, ripe and soft with a full body and warm, spicy finish. Drink now." - James Suckling

It was inevitable that Catherine, the daughter of Beaujolais winegrowers, and Laurent, representing the 5th generation of a family of Burgundian negociants, meet at university in 1986 where they were both studying oenology. Their future was destined to be in wine that was for sure! After finishing his studies, Laurent met a cousin who lived the United States and was passing through Burgundy. It just so happened that her future husband was a winemaker in California’s famed Napa Valley. That was all it took to get Laurent interested in discovering New World wines! He spent nearly one year in the United States and came back to France with a new outlook on wine along with a deep-rooted desire to create his own brand of varietal wines. In the early 1990s, there was not much opportunity for growth for young, enthusiastic winemakers in Burgundy, so Laurent and Catherine set off to discover the Languedoc region, which was undergoing great changes at the time. The diversity of its terroirs and grape varieties represented the new Eldorado that would allow them to create the wines they had been dreaming of making - wines that were round, balanced, expressive and typical of their grape varieties! Melvyn Master, a long-time friend of Laurent's father, was a specialist in the US market, where he was based. Catherine and Laurent spoke to him of their project and the three of them decided to work together to create a brand of French varietal wines from scratch! An innovative project at the time, which went against the traditional French approach that had historically been based on the notion of terroir rather than varietal. The new brand was christened "Les Jamelles": a feminine name to evoke the roundness of the wines, in the plural form to reflect the diversity of the varietals, and melodious to recall the wines' Languedoc roots, land of the troubadours. Melvyn took it upon himself to promote the wines in the United States. In order to execute their project successfully, Catherine & Laurent travelled the length and breadth of this immense winegrowing region in search of the finest plots, as well as to meet growers and convince them to partake in their project. With few available means (no vines, no winery, no money...), but immense energy and determination, they managed to enlist a few growers who set aside grapes from their plots for the couple and even allowed them to vinify the grapes at their wineries! Les Jamelles is therefore the result of a series of auspicious encounters, whose wines bear within them this very notion of sharing and exchange. With a range boasting over 30 cuvées that are exported to 45 countries, Les Jamelles has become a reference name in high-quality French varietal wines. And its history continues to be written day after day...