Côtes Catalanes Jeunes Vignes

30-year Grenache from a parcel called Mont-Redon on gneiss subsoil. Manual harvest in small baskets, pressing followed by a three-month vinification in wooden vats, then 8 months of aging in stainless steel.

Clos du Rouge Gorge

Cyril Fhal came to the Roussillon from the Loire Valley and found small parcels of north-facing hillside vineyards on gneiss, near the village of Latour-de-France, about 20 miles north-west of Perpignan, with the soil, exposure, and altitude of the vines giving freshness and minerality to the wines. The vines have been tended in biodynamic farming from the beginning, with light plowing by hand, horse, or rototiller. Natural composts and biodynamic treatments have revitalized the soil, and plants and flowers among the vines bring beneficial insects and a diverse fauna - the mountainside vineyards have a magical quality and seem to blend in with the surrounding sparse vegetation.

The wines of Clos du Rouge Gorge are elegant, balanced, and full of character, among the finest from the new generation of winemakers in the Languedoc-Roussillon. They are products of living soils, uniquely beautiful with pure silky fruit, moderate levels of alcohol, and firm acidity - delicious examples of the indigenous grapes of the Roussillon.

These are transcendent wines, because Cyril doesn’t count the hours and the sweat spent among his vines, and he is so precise in the cellar that the wines have a pure beauty, with an incredible poetry and energy. They are just among the most elegant and subtle wines you can find. And if you are not a believer in natural wines, they will change your mind.