2023 The Bee-Side

Retail: £20.00
Member: £16.00
Case: £120.00
Case (Member): £96.00

Varieties: Grenache
Vintage: 2023
Country: France
Region: Roussillon
Alcohol: 13.5%
Bottle size: 750 mL
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2028

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Description: The Bee-Side is our second label wine, made from 100% Grenache. Much of the fruit now comes from Jean-Marc Lafage’s Grenache vines, blended with a barrel or two of our oak-aged 'pale red' from the Domaine of the Bee vines. The result is a bright, juicy, 'smashable' wine ideally served lightly chilled.
Eyes: A bright pinkish red. This year, the colour is appreciably darker than in previous years, as the dry conditions resulted in small grapes with highly coloured skins.
Nose: Gentle, herbal, fragrant red fruit - wild strawberries and griotte cherries.
Mouth: Deliciously drinkable and juicy - a joyous young Grenache with a riot of succulent, crunchy cranberry fruit and a savoury freshness that immediately calls for another glass.
Body: medium
Winemaking Notes: Every year, some barrels turn out lighter than others, and we like to ferment whole bunches of Grenache to accentuate the lighter and fresher side of the grape. Nowadays, 70% of the fruit for this wine is from our winemaking friend Jean-Marc who is also fermenting with 'whole bunches', and experimenting with some carbonic maceration, as they do in Beaujolais. The result is a delicious, gluggable red.
Growing Conditions: After a second dry summer, with a dry winter in between, the lack of water in the region is turning into a crisis, and the vines struggled to flower and ripen a normal sized crop. The heat, and shortage of water resulted in a lower yield of smaller-sized grapes, with plenty of colour and flavour.
Food Pairing: A very easy-going red that can be drunk on its own, but try it with white fish, or tomato dishes.