DOMAINE OF THE BEE CARIGNAN

Winery notes:

Description
Pure Carignan from the 80+ year old La Roque vineyard at Domaine of the Bee. Low yielding, concentrated and vibrant.

Eyes
A vibrant bright purple red.

Nose
Soft vanilla oak, fragrant black cherries & brambles with a subtle note of cloves.

Mouth
More red-fruited this year than black – lovely bright cherries and sweet vanilla and coconut, with the barest hint of spicy cloves. There’s an underlying slatey power, and a deliciously mouthwatering finish.

Body
full

Winemaking Notes
From a one hectare vineyard of 80+ year-old Carignan vines. Bush vines are hand-tended, and shoot removal and a little green harvesting ensure a very well balanced crop of fully ripe grapes. Hand harvested into small baskets and destemming without crushing to allow some intra-cellular fermentation to release colour prior to the full alcoholic fermentation. Slow temperature controlled fermentation in stainless steel and a couple of 500L barrels before gentle pressing, and maturation in 2 x 500L barrels one 2 years old, and one 4 years old. No eggs or dairy used.

Growing Conditions
2020 was a year marked by an extremely wet spring with intermittent rain throughout the early summer creating uncharacteristic problems with damp humid conditions. Nevertheless, by the time summer finally arrived, with a lot of moisture in the soil, the vines grew like crazy (and so did the weeds!), and produced a good-sized crop of extremely tasty grapes.

Food Pairing
Carignan is especially good with charcuterie and wild boar sausage, but it also pairs well with grilled lamb, and most barbequed meats.

Shipping & Return Information

Bottle depicted in photo may not be exactly what you receive.