Wine Education: Carignan

Wine Tasting at all FOUR locations

Taste La Font de L'Oliver Carignan VV Cotes de Thongue at all four of our locations 
this Saturday, May 31 from 11am-4pm. 
(each store will also have other wines out to taste)

A little more education: We are going to try to feature either a grape, a wine region, or something educational about wine each week at our stores. We will give you some background information and feature a wine(s) that highlights what we are featuring. We will taste that wine on Saturday at all four of our locations. We will post it here in our blog and send it out in our emails - click here to sign up for our emails

I have started a new label "Education" that you can hit to read all the education articles (see the right column under the heading "labels".

GRAPE: Carignan

Carignan:  (Cariñena in Spain) is a black-skinned wine grape variety, most likely native to the Aragon region of northern Spain (specifically the town of Carinena). The variety goes by a number of distinct names, depending on its precise locality. The most famous wines in which Carignan plays a role are those from Rioja, where it is known as Mazuelo.   In France Carignan was the most-planted grape variety from the 1960s-2000. Around three-quarters of France’s Carignan is located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Carignan is only rarely made as a varietal wine, but the best examples can show characteristics of dark and black fruits, pepper, licorice, and spicy and savory accents.

Come taste a fantastic example of Carignan this Saturday:

2010 La Font de L'Oliver Carignan VV Cotes de Thongue...$17.99
The grapes are all manually harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, and then allowed a long cool maceration. The Carignan vines used to make this wine are a minimum of 75 years old, with average yields of 30 hl/ha. Amazingly Bruno’s oldest vines are over 130 years old. This wine is aged exclusively in tank, and spends no time in oak.
Tasting Notes: The La Font de l'Olivier Carignan is a classic example of the grape variety. In the nose exotic sandalwood, white pepper, and garrigue spices mingle with briary fruit aromas. The spice follows through to the mouth, complimented by black raspberry, plum, and coco notes. . Ultimately, silky ripe tannins fill out the very long finish. Though this is a concentrated wine, it does not lack in elegance.