Clos du Temple 2018

A new rosé has been launched. If you were colour blind – the hue being a pinch of pink – you would simply taste the glass for what it is. An outstanding wine! The blend is grenache, cinsault, syrah, viognier, and mourvedre. Seven plots of the 8-hectare Clos du Temple in the Cabrieres (not to be confused with Corbieres) AOC of Languedoc.  Very old cinsault, black grenache, and syrah, the main varieties of the appellation. The soil is a combination of schist and limestone. The Romans had sunk vines here in the first or second century. More than a thousand years later – around 1224 – Chateau de Cabrieres gifted the Clos du Temple to the Order of the Templars who, in turn, gave their name to the vineyard. Harvesting by hand is done at sunrise, the grapes still tinglingly fresh from the night before. The plots are vinified separately following a selection of the best free-run juices. Fermented at a low temperature, no sulphur is used in the clarification. The wine is then matured in new oak for 6 months on fine lees. On the palate, there is barely a hint of wood. On the contrary, the impression is all fruit. White peach, white flowers, star anise, and a velvety texture. Dazzling. Surrender and enjoy.