Having just returned from an epic (and exhilarating) week of non-stop tastings in Bordeaux, I’m excited to change direction and present today’s delicious and very special bottle. It’s every bit as broad-shouldered and high-impact as the many Classed Growth Bordeaux I was privileged to taste last week, but it’s a complete—and, at this point, welcome—change of direction in terms of place and grape composition. While I was traveling in Europe, SommSelect’s customer service team spent a good part of the last month hunting down a second helping of Olivier Jullien’s 2014 “Autor de Jonquières” for subscribers who fell in love with their first bottle. With such a passionate and immediate response, it was clear the wine had struck a memorable chord with our most discerning collectors.
So, today we’re revisiting the same Languedoc village and the same seductive blend of grapes that caused such a stir last month—but we’re upping the ante with (a) the exceptional 2015 vintage and (b) the top single-vineyard wine from Olivier Jullien’s father’s estate, Mas Cal Demoura. For anyone who thinks that top-tier Syrah- and Grenache-driven reds can only originate from France’s Rhône Valley, Mas Cal Demoura’s “Les Combariolles” is a startling wake-up call. Languedoc reds still fly somewhat beneath the radar here in the US, but this bottle proves why the village of Jonquières —and this specific wine—are regarded as region-defining classics. The dark berry and elegant wildflower aromatics, the shocking depth of minerality, the tooth-staining, powerful, and yet perfectly attenuated ancient-vine fruit—there’s so much to fall in love with here. For those who crave elite-quality Côte-Rôtie, Bandol Rouge, and Châteauneuf du Pape, this wine is a necessary benchmark for your dining room table and cellar.
[**PLEASE NOTE: Today’s wine will ship from California the week of April 22nd. Limit 12 bottles per customer.]
The village of Jonquières is situated about 20 miles northwest of Montpellier, France. It is the geographical and viticultural heart of the Terrasses du Larzac, one of the Languedoc’s most prestigious AOCs. This growing zone is revered for producing wines that imbue the region’s already powerful, savage reds with a distinct sense of elegance, refinement, and balance. Mas Cal Demoura is a small domaine but arguably the most important one in the region. While Jean-Pierre Jullien was once the steward of a vast, 100+ hectare grape-growing “estate” that supplied fruit for the local cooperative, he deliberately stripped down to one-man farmstead scale in the mid-1980s. Mas Cal Demoura was established with Jean-Pierre’s finest five hectares of ancient vines, and he sold off all remaining holdings. The crown jewel of this small property is the vineyard behind today’s wine of the same name, “Les Combariolles.”
Many of the gnarly, old Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Carignan vines in this vineyard are stretching into their seventh decade, and the site’s slightly east-facing orientation and stony, gravelly limestone terroir offers remarkable precision and focus to their ample old vine minerality. Farming at Les Combariolles, like all Cal Demoura’s, is certified organic. Fruit is hand-harvested, 100% de-stemmed and separated by variety before fermentation in concrete and steel tanks. Each variety ages separately in 500- and 600-liter neutral (and a small amount of new) French oak barrels for one year before the final assemblage is performed, typically two Decembers after harvest. The final blend is left to rest and integrate in tank for an additional four to five months before bottling, and one final year in bottle before release.
One need not wait to experience the fireworks with Mas Cal Demoura’s astonishingly complex 2015 “Les Combariolles.” From the moment this wine leaps from the decanter into your glass, there’s a tidal wave of berry/violet/Turkish coffee/grilled meat aromatics. One sip reveals a tightrope balance between dense, tooth-staining black and red fruit, and expertly integrated tannins. Imagine the finest fruit from the Northern and Southern Rhône, but handled by top Bordeaux-trained cellar talent. It’s a serious, exquisitely detailed wine. If enjoying tonight, please decant for one hour and serve in large Bordeaux stems alongside a sizzling platter of pan-seared duck breasts, Jamón Iberico-wrapped white asparagus, and an herbaceous, olive oil-drenched warm potato salad. But don't forget: Mas Cal Demoura has earned a sterling reputation for their wines’ impressive aging capacity. Today’s “Les Combariolles” is the property’s top wine and, especially in 2015, this is a bottle that promises another 8-12 years of evolution and improvement. So, by all means, indulge in the irresistible hedonism offered today, but save a few extra bottles to enjoy over the next few decades. You won’t regret it!
