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2016 Vin de France Vieux Ronsard

Domaine Ludovic Engelvin
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It may not be the most sophisticated opening for wine tasting notes, but mine for this bottle say, “very cool.” Ludvic Engelvin, a winemaker whose curiosity yields wonderful things, produced only two barrels of this unfiltered old vine Grenache. After aging for eight years, it’s now in a spot where the fruit recalls savory plums and baked cherries. It almost feels like a cheat: getting to drink a wine with the desirable qualities of long cellaring, but in its immediate, current release. Very cool! 

Allyson Noman

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Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2016
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Grenache
Appellation: Vin de France
Country: France
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Producer: Ludovic Engelvin
Winemaker: Ludovic Engelvin
Soil: Sand
Farming: Organic (practicing)
Alcohol: 13%

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About The Region

Languedoc-Roussillon

map of Languedoc-Roussillon

Ask wine drinkers around the world, and the word “Languedoc” is sure to elicit mixed reactions. On the one hand, the region is still strongly tied to its past as a producer of cheap, insipid bulk wine in the eyes of many consumers. On the other hand, it is the source of countless great values providing affordable everyday pleasure, with an increasing number of higher-end wines capable of rivaling the best from other parts of France.

While there’s no denying the Languedoc’s checkered history, the last two decades have seen a noticeable shift to fine wine, with an emphasis on terroir. Ambitious growers have sought out vineyard sites with poor, well draining soils in hilly zones, curbed back on irrigation and the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and looked to balance traditional production methods with technological advancements to craft wines with elegance, balance, and a clear sense of place. Today, the overall quality and variety of wines being made in the Languedoc is as high as ever.

Shaped like a crescent hugging the Mediterranean coast, the region boasts an enormous variety of soil types and microclimates depending on elevation, exposition, and relative distance from the coastline and the cooler foothills farther inland. While the warm Mediterranean climate is conducive to the production of reds, there are world-class whites and rosés to be found as well, along with stunning dessert wines revered by connoisseurs for centuries.

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Inspiring Thirst

I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.

Inspiring Thirst, page 171

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