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2017 Languedoc Pic Saint Loup “Tour de Pierres”
Ermitage du Pic Saint LoupPierre Ravaille and his brothers Jean-Marc and Xavier (represented by the cool three-fish logo on the label) are the men behind this storied Languedoc domaine on the slopes of the Pic Saint Loup. Their family has owned this property for more than a thousand years. Tour de Pierres is a bottle that captures all of the soil types represented in their landholdings—a “tour of their stones,” if you will. Thanks to biodynamic viticulture combined with high-altitude vineyards (cool evening temperatures and winds even in summer), the Ravaille brothers’ wine is refreshing and vibrant despite its southerly roots. This bottling represents one of the best values, pound for pound, in our entire book.
—Dixon Brooke
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre |
Appellation: | Languedoc Pic Saint Loup |
Country: | France |
Region: | Languedoc-Roussillon |
Producer: | Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup |
Winemaker: | Xavier, Pierre, and Jean-Marc Ravaille |
Vineyard: | 30 years, 8 ha |
Soil: | Red Clay |
Aging: | Aged in foudres and barriques for 12 months of which only 10-20% are new oak |
Farming: | Biodynamic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
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About The Producer
Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup
About The Region
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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Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch