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2020 Languedoc Cabrières Rouge
Selected By Kermit Lynch
Lower your nose into a glass of this inky rouge, redolent of dark fruit, black olive, and garrigue, and you know immediately where you are: the south of France. More specifically, you are in Cabrières, one of the great, underrated communes of the Languedoc, situated an hour due west of Montpellier and several hundred meters above sea level. Here, in the high-elevation hills, where the days are warm and the nights are cool, Jean-Claude Zabalia crafts this red that displays a sneaky amount of minerality and finesse despite its rustic quaffing soul.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 50% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 5% Cinsault |
Appellation: | Languedoc |
Country: | France |
Region: | Languedoc-Roussillon |
Producer: | Selected by Kermit Lynch |
Winemaker: | Jean-Claude Zabalia |
Vineyard: | 30 years average, 3 ha |
Soil: | 70% Schist, 30% Clay-Limestone |
Aging: | Aged in 70% stainless steel tank, 30% wood (foudre, demi-muid, barrel) |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 14.5% |
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About The Producer
Selected by Kermit Lynch
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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Vintage Chart Mentality

Vintage Chart Mentality
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