Val de l'ours Winemaker Grande Reserve
The vintage
After a winter corresponding to what is becoming normal, some nights below zero with rather mild days. An episode of frost after budburst caused some damage. The months of March and April brought sufficient rain which allowed a good start of the vegetation. The rain left us alone until the end of June leaving us confident on the sanitary level. A nice thunderstorm at the end of June enabled the vines to withstand the hot weather of July and August without any particular stress. In summary, even if the total rainfall was not important, its timing was perfect. During the harvest, the weather conditions were globally favorable: little humidity, seasonal temperatures and a good sunshine which allowed a good maturation of the grapes.
Location
The property is nestled in steep hills, slightly inland from the Mediterranean coast near Narbonne in the south of France.
Winemaking
Both the vinification and ageing processes have been designed to bring out the best in each grape variety. 50% of the grapes were vinified using carbonic maceration to express the distinctive aromatic markers of Carignan. The rest of the grapes are vinified using traditional methods in stainless steel and cement vats. In order to preserve the pure expression of the terroirs obtained during vinification, ageing is carried out without barrels to avoid any additional external aromatic influences. It takes place for 12 months in vats, then 6 months in the bottle.
Tasting
A lovely garnet colour.
The nose recalls the sunny conditions of the harvest, with notes of ripe fruit and leather.
On the palate, the wine shows good density and an appealing structure.
Alcohol content
15
Grapes
Grenache noir
: 39 %
Carignan
: 31 %
Syrah
: 22 %
Mourvèdre
: 8 %