- Description
- The Bee-Side is our second label wine, made from 100% Grenache. – most of the grapes come from our Bac de Genievres and Coume de Roy vineyards, and The Bee-side also includes some fruit from some of Jean-Marc Lafage’s vines. The result is a wine with a harmonious blend of delicate yet expressive red fruits with hints of fennel and rosemary.
- Eyes
- A beaming cherry red.
- Nose
- Bright cherry and raspberry 'fruit compote' notes with a touch of local herbs. A hint of oak from a one-year-old barrel.
- Mouth
- On the palate The Bee-Side is bursting with expressive red fruit, but there is also a distinct mineral freshness, rounded and smooth tannins and notes of fennel that balance the wine perfectly. The finish is long.
- Body
- Medium
- Winemaking Notes
- Our grapes were hand harvested, and then hand-sorted at the winery to ensure we only chose the healthiest and ripest grapes. Our Grenache was emptied into upturned demi-muids (500L barrels) with the ends taken out. One barrel of 'whole bunch' and the other destemmed. Both barrels were gently macerated in the cool of a refrigerated container, before being warmed up, inoculated with yeast, and gently punched down 2-3 times a day. After pressing in a small basket press, the wine was drained into two 500 L barrels, one 1-year-old and one 4-year-old, and aged for 14 months. We blended these two barrels with an equal quantity of Jean-Marc's fine old vine Grenache to produce this year's Bee-side.
- Growing Conditions
- A warm summer with sufficient rain to keep the vines healthy.. One of those rare years that delivered both exceptional quality and above-average quantity. The wines have been fruit-forward from the moment the grapes were picked at full ripeness.
- Food Pairing
- Just delicious with saussices catalan or robust pasta dishes. Or anything really.
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Reviews
TAMLYN CURRIN
Jancisrobinson.com - Professional
July 6, 2019
Very cool label, looking like an old vinyl LP…. I would hesitate to call this the lighter side of Grenache. But this is Roussillon … It certainly smells beautiful. Plum skins and chocolate and bruised raspberries. Warming up the back of the throat with plenty of tannins but delicious, pure, soaring Grenache fruit. So fresh that it fans out in the mouth like a dark-red rose filled with evening dew. The back label also suggest rosemary, and I have to agree – it’s there, scented, lifting the finish. I wouldn’t call it light – even relatively – but it’s damn good.
17/20 points