When I was first getting into wine, the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France tended to be painted with a pretty broad brush. You still hear the term “wine lake” thrown around here and there, and the mainstream image of Languedoc reds is of chunky, inky, inexpensive quaffers from “workhorse” grapes like Carignan and Cinsault. It’s a ‘Mediterranean’ region and, yes, home to many mass-scale wine projects, but the Languedoc is also dotted with hillside treasure troves, particularly in the foothills of the Cévennes Mountains west and north of Montepellier.
Appellations like Pic St. Loup (Domaine de l’Hortus), Faugéres (Léon Barral), Terrasses du Larzac (Mas Jullién) and the Hérault (Daumas Gassac) are among the places we look for some of France’s greatest red wine over-performers, and the Saint-Chinian AOC, source of this wine from the impeccable Domaine Rimbert, is right there in the mix as well. This 2015 blend, called “Les Travers de Marceau,” is an evocation of both mountains and sea, with energy and minerality derived from a relatively cool climate and schistous soils. There’s a finer, more detailed line being drawn here than in the general run of broad-brush reds (think Burgundy-meets-old-school Châteauneuf-du-Pape).
In comparison to places like Bordeaux and Burgundy, the Languedoc is still a place where land is cheap and where an ambitious young producer can find choice old vines to work with, in a legitimate terroir, and still deliver an affordable wine. Provence native Jean-Marie Rimbert first started working in the Languedoc some 25 years ago, starting out at the spectacular 17th-century Château de Flaugergues before acquiring his first parcels of old-vine Carignan in the northern reaches of Saint-Chinian and launching his eponymous domaine. He has since assembled a diverse array of old-vine sites totaling 20 hectares, most of which are rooted in schist soils around the village of Berlou, the highest-elevation area in the Saint-Chinian AOC. Rimbert is farming organically, with certification forthcoming.
Put whatever outdated images of bulky, ‘hot’ Languedoc wine out of your mind when tasting Rimbert’s “Les Travers de Marceau”—or just taste it and the wine will do it for you. This bright, aromatic cuvée combines schist-grown Mourvèdre, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault from old-vine plots, a majority of which exceed 60 years of age. The different varieties are fermented individually, on indigenous yeasts, then blended afterward and aged in used oak barrels for 12 months. The wine was bottled by gravity and subjected to a light filtration.
In the glass, the 2015’s dark ruby core moves to garnet and pink reflections on the rim. Incredibly lively and teeming with energy, the aromatics include ripe, fresh fruit aromas of wild raspberries, red plum, cassis, leather, wild flowers, dried orange peel, licorice, crushed black rocks and a touch of exotic spice. The palate is full bodied and layered, with dense, ripe, wild fruit flavors similar to the nose, but quickly moves into beautiful, crushed rock minerality with an endless, fresh and aromatic finish. The magic of this wine is how it manages to be both dense and structured but also lifted, even light on its feet. So often, Languedoc reds are syrupy; this one is sinewy, savory, with hints of leather and dried herbs lending it a characteristic ‘garrigue’ quality that places it firmly in southern France. Its balance of acid, perfectly ripe fruit, and tannin suggest to me that it has a good 5-10 years of graceful evolution ahead of it—not too shabby for a wine at this price point. Decant it about 30 minutes before serving in Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees. And while Provence is well to the east, I’m reaching in that direction for the food pairing: this is a savory, soulful red that will sing with rustic proteins, and at this price it is well-worth snapping up by the case. It is an outstanding value. Cheers!
