91 Points
A wine I tasted last year, the single vineyard 2012 Minervois la Liviniere la Touge (60/40 Syrah Grenache) showed even better this go around. Ripe blackberry, pepper, ground herbs and licorice and emerge from this medium to full-bodied, textured and seamless beauty. Drink it anytime over the coming 4-5 years.
Un vin gouté l’an dernier, La Touge a révélé au mieux son évolution. Mûres, poivre, herbe coupée et réglisse, voici ce qu’il resort de vin charnu, harmonieux et dote d’une élégante texture. A
Boire à tout moment dans les 4-‐5 ans.
A wine I tasted last year, the single vineyard 2012 Minervois la Liviniere la Touge (60/40 Syrah Grenache) showed even better this go around. Ripe blackberry, pepper, ground herbs and licorice and emerge from this medium to full-bodied, textured and seamless beauty. Drink it anytime over the coming 4-5 years.
Un vin gouté l’an dernier, La Touge a révélé au mieux son évolution. Mûres, poivre, herbe coupée et réglisse, voici ce qu’il resort de vin charnu, harmonieux et dote d’une élégante texture. A
Boire à tout moment dans les 4-‐5 ans.
It was a simple thought: If we spend all this time, funds and energy to be truly green and Biodynamic, then why be subtle about it? Let’s offer consumers that are liked minded a clearly labeled Biodynamic wine at a price that anyone can afford and lets tell our story on the back label. Hence the Natural Selection Syrah. A lush, plush blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan that does not contain a single chemical.
The label itself took six month to design with the help of John Daponte of BRDG in Brooklyn. After going through many, many ideas, John finally copied a Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” printed tree diagram from 1859 and applied it to the front label. That was it. The dark green color is an unknown pantone. In effect, the ink that we use to print our labels was absorbed by the recycled paper in a way that we did not anticipate. This is the reason why the label above is a sleek gray and the real label is instead forest green (it was meant to be?). I did not really want to have a “green” wine with a green colored label, but since it would have taken more than a month to fix, I decided to go with it . Proving once again that successful marketing are often happy accidents.
The bottle is a St Gobain ECOVA ultra-light bottle weighing in at 0.85 pounds (regular Burgundies are 1.32 pounds!). Quick math will show that if you multiply the weight saved in glass only, you end up with a Mitsubishi Fuso… They are made out of 80% recycled glass. The boxes and dividers (we ship in flat 12 packs only) are also made with recycled cardboard.
But we can be as "green" as we'd like, if the wine is terrible, nothing elsereally matters.
Our Syrah is grown on hard and soft limestone and alluvial soils. It is a blend of 85% Syrah and 15% Grenache. vinification happens in a mix of concrete and conical foudre and it is aged for 12 months in 30% new oak and the rest in two and three years barrels. Like all our wines, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered and is thus suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The nose is ripe black fruits (blackcurrants, elderberries) notes alongside more spicy characteristics (pepper, herbs). The palate is very attractive with firm yet silky tannins. Aromatic, spicy with a generous weight.
The 2010 Vintage
Rain was plentiful at the start of the year with more than 200mm in December and a further 70mm in January. The humid soils took a while to warm and spring growth started a little later than in previous years.
Harvest began on the 8th September with the Syrah the first to be ready.
Patience was the name of the game for both the fermentation and maceration and we had to take care not to rack the wines too early. In the end we had some lovely black-fruited carignan with ripe, concentrated tannins, superb grenache with generosity and texture and some bright, aromatic syrah.
The Soils
Dark brown and red coloured soils.
The grapes for this wine come from vineyards planted on hard and soft limestone and alluvial soils. The texture is balanced and is light at the top, becoming increasingly heavy the deeper you go. The vertical clay migration reduces the carbon levels.
The Varieties
85% syrah, 12% grenache, 3% Carignan
The Wine
Vinification :
Vinified in oak and cement. Extraction from punching of the cap and light pumping over during a four week maceration.
Ageing :
30% in new oak barrel and 70% in old oak for 12 months.
Tasting Note :
Appearance :
Very deep and even red and garnet appearance with hints of deep purple.
Nose :
Open and expressive with great complexity. There are ripe black fruits (blackcurrants, elderberries) alongside more spicy characteristics (pepper, herbs)
Palate :
Very attractive in the mouth with firm yet silky tannins. Aromatic, spicy with a fabulously generous weight. The finish is long and delicate.
WINE ADVOCATE #218 (APR. 2015) JEB DUNNUCK
90 Pts Natural Selection 2012
A wine I tasted last year, the single vineyard 2012 Minervois la Liviniere la Touge (60/40 Syrah Grenache) showed even better this go around. Ripe blackberry, pepper, ground herbs and licorice and emerge from this medium to full-bodied, textured and seamless beauty. Drink it anytime over the coming 4-5 years.