Nearly every red wine we offer from southern France challenges traditional perceptions of what reds from this area are supposed to be like. Most of us have been conditioned to expect ample, even extreme, concentration, relatively low acidity, and a touch of rusticity. And yet, as today’s wine so elegantly demonstrates, there’s so much more to discover.
The sheer vastness and geological diversity of France’s Mediterranean coast defies easy generalization, and when you add an ambitious and exacting vigneron to the mix—in this case, Basile Saint-Germain of Domaine Les Aurelles—you can expect not just power but precision from varieties such as Grenache and Carignane. Today’s wine, called “Solen,” is indeed a “sunny” red—and readily identifiable as a Mediterranean wine—but there is, as every beach-goer knows, a dramatic difference between a luxurious, even tan and a bad burn. Today’s 2012 “Solen” is a complex blend of old-vine Carignan and Grenache that has risen to the very top rank of southern French reds, rivaling superstars such as Château Rayas, Mas Jullien, Granges de Pères, Mas de Daumas Gassac, and Domaine Gauby. Every major French wine publication has lavished praise on the estate—including the prestigious La Revue du Vin de France, which gave Les Aurelles its highest three-star rating—but it’s not yet a household name here in the US, even though it can be found on nearly every serious wine list in France. When you put your nose in the glass it becomes clear why it has such a dedicated following among collectors and sommeliers alike. Today is an opportunity to take advantage of what is still a reasonable price for this elite wine. When the market catches up to it, there’s no telling where it might go.
In fact, there are some parallels to be drawn between Les Aurelles, which is based in the village of Nizas south of Montpellier, and the legendary Mas de Daumas Gassac, which is just a half-hour north in Aniane. The defining feature of this part of the Languedoc is the Hérault River, which flows over a diverse array of soils en route to the Mediterranean—from schist in the foothills of the Cévennes Mountains, to limestone, to the sandy, pebbly terraces near the coast, where Les Aurelles is situated. Like Daumas-Gassac, Les Aurelles has a Bordeaux connection—Daumas-Gassac’s first enologist was the University of Bordeaux eminence Émile Peynaud, while Les Aurelles co-founder Basile Saint-Germain had apprenticed at Château Latour before falling in love with some old-vine sites in the Pézenas sub-zone of the Languedoc. Officially ‘founded’ in 1995, Domaine Les Aurelles is comprised of about nine hectares of vines, which Saint Germain farms biodynamically with meticulous care. In 2001, he completed a striking, minimalist cellar in which to craft his small range of wines, all of which are crafted with fanatical attention to detail and the most minimal sulfur additions possible.
“Solen” is comprised of old-vine Carignane (60%) along with Grenache propagated from cuttings obtained from none other than Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The wine carries the Pézenas Languedoc AOC designation, a region whose eastern border is marked by the Hérault River and whose soils are villafranchian sand and gravel on terraces that look out toward the Mediterranean. Among the many distinguishing features of the Les Aurelles reds are their long élevages (aging periods) in enamel-lined vats rather than wood barrels; “Solen” was bottled after 48 months of rest in vat, and there’s a seamless integration to its texture right out of the bottle.
In the glass, the 2012 “Solen” is a deep, nearly opaque garnet red in the glass, with a beguiling nose of blackberry, wild raspberry, cassis, cherry blossoms, damp violets, lavender, anise, leather, exotic spices, and crushed stones. Both on the nose and palate, a bright wave of red cherry fruit—the Grenache component—weaves in and out of the decidedly darker Carignane notes. Nearly full in body, the wine’s tannins are exceptionally fine-grained and the acidity fresh and perfectly balanced, lending the wine a silky, opulent texture. There’s no expensive oak here—no oak whatsoever—and yet the wine has a luxurious, expensive feel to it. Its purity, energy, and perfumed elegance are so far removed from the general population of southern French reds I might peg it as being from elsewhere if tasting it blind—if it weren’t for its telltale nose of Mediterranean
garrigue (wild flowers and herbs). The wine’s pitch-perfect balance suggests that it will drink well over the next decade, but it is simply stunning now: decant it about 30 minutes before enjoying at 60-65 degrees in large Bordeaux stems. It is practically crying out for a southern French lamb preparation, be it leg, or rack, or stew. You will be blown away. Cheers!
