Cantate des Garrigues Rosé 2017

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

It is instantly appealing on the nose showing sweet cherry, Gala apple, citrus and floral aromas. The palate is equally attractive with lovely fruit purity and fine texture, wonderfully complemented by textural mouthfeel and lively acidity. Gorgeously balanced and lingering. 

About the wine:

The Cabrières winemakers are passionate about exploring the facets of the terroir of Cabrières. On the schist soils, bordering the plot grow wild aromatic herbs and shrubs (thyme, fennel, rockrose, lavender, Spanish broom, honeysuckle, juniper tree, mint) and from August until harvest a multitude of aromas diffuse on the grape skin. From this observation was born the selection of vines for Cantate des Garrigues (song of the shrubland) based on old plantings of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. 

Harvested before the dawn, the grapes are gently pressed and fermented at low temperatures. The pale coloured rosé has a purple reflection; the nose is subtle and elegant with aromas of crisp fresh fruit. The complex, ample and fresh flavours are drawn out by maturing the wine on fine lees for six months, half in oak barrels and half in stainless steel vats and then recombined for bottling. Drink now or leave to age in the cellar one or two years.

About L’Estabel

Located in the heart of the Hérault near Béziers, the vineyards of the terroir of Cabrières are scattered in a natural amphitheater on the sunny foothills of the lower Cevennes. From the eighth century, historians testify to the presence of this cluster of vineyards in Languedoc with its 380 hectares spread among vast scrubland and wood. Here the shale soils have developed in a region where the geology is complicated and because of this, they are of different types: more or less stony, more or less clay or limestone, with or without iron, thin or thick and able to retain water or be traversed by the roots of plants and vines.

Because of its uniqueness, the region has a denomination of its own: AOP Languedoc Cabrières. Created in 1937, the winery today has an average harvest of 15,000 hectolitres on about twenty vineyards.

The Royal Legend

His Majesty, the Sun King, heard one morning that a clergyman of the south was making a wine with surprising therapeutic effects, called "the wine of L'Estabel". It was then that he immediately sent for the prior to come to court and present his famous wine with best aroma and a wonderful pink color. It was to serve as a cure, a fortifying for the people of the court and the city and given from the hands of one of the greatest kings of France. The Sun King also asked the prior for his secret, which was revealed to him by making him promise to keep it until he died. The king promised and, during his ministrations, did not hold back from strengthening himself by means of a few quaffs.