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2017 Corbières Rouge “Réserve La Demoiselle”

Domaine de Fontsainte
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It is hard not to open the 2017 Corbières Demoiselle, smell the garrigue, spices, and notes of dark fruit and olives soar from your glass, and think, “Only from the Languedoc can we drink a wine made from century-old vines with this much class and ageability for the price of two matinée movie tickets.” This grippy rouge comes from Domaine de Fontsainte’s most famous parcel called “La Demoiselle,” which the Laboucarié family has farmed since the early 1970s. In 2004, the Carignan vines in that vineyard—planted in silica, clay, and limestone, and responsible for the majority of this wine—turned one hundred. In recent years, Carignan has experienced a bit of a resurgence in the Languedoc, largely because of the efforts of producers like Domaine de Fontsainte and Domaine d’Aupilhac. Once celebrated, then spurned because of its potential for high yields, it is now being treated with the respect and analysis it deserves by deft vignerons. Taste this 2017 bottling tonight and then in ten or fifteen years, and you’ll see why Carignan might just be the great grape of the region. In terms of food pairings, you can do no better than Chris Lee’s rib steak with garlic potatoes.

Tom Wolf


Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2017
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: 60% Carignan, 30% Grenache Noir, 10% Mourvédre
Appellation: Corbières
Country: France
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Producer: Domaine de Fontsainte
Winemaker: Bruno Laboucarié
Vineyard: Carignan Planted in 1904
Soil: Silica, clay, limestone (gravelly with large galets, or rounded stones)
Aging: 60% of wine ages 8-12 months in French oak barrels, remainder in cement tank
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 14.5%

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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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Vintage Chart

Trust the great winemakers, trust the great vineyards. Your wine merchant might even be trustworthy. In the long run, that vintage strip may be the least important guide to quality on your bottle of wine.—Kermit Lynch