Stunning Wine from An Unknown Region

 

Here’s one brilliant selection for the truly open-minded and adventurous wine lover, if there are any left.

Sommselect.com is offering a super red wine from one of the world’s most under-appreciated wine region, Roussillon in the south of France. The vineyard is close to the Spanish border in a sub-region known as the Côtes Catalanes.

If you are man enough to try something new, here it is:

2017 Domaine de l’Horizon, “L’ESPRIT DE L’HORIZON”

$39 a bottle, free shipping for 4 or more. Limit 12 bottles per order.

By no coincidence, this wine is from Calce, a high elevation special mountainside vineyard area that neighbors the lone superstar, Domaine Gauby.

I visited Gauby several years ago and came away convinced the $100 bottles of wine were actually a deal. And I’m frugal!

And, for those of you who never thought much of the Carignan grape, you will be, as I was, astonished by the depth and complexity of wines made from old Carignan vines grown in this tiny region.

It is 60% Carignan and 40% Syrah which adds flesh and spice to this exciting 2017 red.

This is definitely NOT one of those over-ripe, fruit bombs that are all jam and usually given inflated 90+ scores by bogus Somms.

Best of all, this is a wine of place, one that demonstrates that terroir is a real concept.

And that is what wine is, or should be, all about.

Check it out at http://www.sommselect.com

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Author: robywine, norm roby

My career as a wine journalist/critic began in 1975 when my article about California Petite Sirah was published. My focus remained on California as I edited a monthly wine magazine and then moved on to The Wine Spectator in 1982. Over the following years, my column appeared under the banner of “Stormin’ Norman, and I also wrote articles about wine collectors and wine auctions. Without getting into a year by year bio, let me try to summarize here. During my time with The Spectator which I enjoyed immensely, I taught wine classes at a culinary school and at other venues in San Francisco. Before venturing into wine, teaching was my thing, English Lit and Rhetoric. After The Spectator I was the U.S. Contributor to Decanter Magazine, writing mostly about California, but also expanding into Washington State and Oregon. My Decanter years began in 1992 and after buying a summer home in France in 2000, I traveled throughout France and eventually published articles about St. Emilion, Castillon, Bergerac, Minervois, Roussillon, Luberon, Provence, and Alsace. Also, around 2000, my wife began working for Cousino-Macul in Chile, so we tasted and traveled our way through Chile and, of course, managed to fly over the Andes and explore and taste our way through Argentina. As travel lovers, we have also spent many interesting days visiting the wine regions of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scicily, Greece, and New Zealand. And to come to a close, I was Director of Winesong, a Charity Wine Auction for 20 years, 1992-2000 that benefitted a local hospital. That brought me in contact with wine collectors and to the auction scene. And finally, I co-authored a book, The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine published by Alfred A. Knopf. It went through 4 editions and sold over 500.000 copies.

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