2012 Domaine of the Bee
- Retail
- £30.00
- Member
- £24.00
- Varieties
- Grenache
- Carignan
- Vintage
- 2012
- Country
- France
- Region
- Roussillon
- Alcohol
- 15%
- Bottle size
- 750 mL
- Drinking Window
- 2014 - 2022
- Description
The first vintage made with the help of the award-winning Parker-rated winemaker Jean-Marc Lafage at Chateau St Roch. Only a tiny volume was made - 2,089 bottles in total, and 196 Magnums.
- Eyes
A lovely vibrant red colour.
- Nose
Our 2012 displays intense, herbal, red fruit on the nose, with hints of fennel, cherry and plum.
- Mouth
Another big wine (!) this still weighs in at close to 15%, but you'd never know without looking at the label - the flavour is fresh and vibrant, and the power is only evident on the finish, which is intense, and long-lasting
- Body
full
- Winemaking Notes
2012 was the first year that our vineyards had been tended by Jean-Marc Lafage, and his team at Chateau St Roch.
All are grapes were hand harvested, and then hand-sorted at the winery to ensure we only chose the healthiest and ripest grapes. Our Carignan is fermented in a stainless steel tank, and all of the Grenache was emptied into upturned demi-muids (500L barrels) with the ends taken out, and then 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, all of the wine was drained into a mixture of 500L and 225L barrels, approximately a quarter of which are new, and left to mature for 14 months.- Growing Conditions
This was year in which practically everything that could have conspired to reduce our yields happened in the same year. OK, so we didn't have a frost (which is very rare in these parts), but we had a poor flowering (Carignan as well as Grenache), and then we had some significant hail which damaged our growing bunches, and allowed the oidium to set in. Finally, having worked hard to ripen a small crop of healthy grapes, the wild boar decided to chomp their way through a good part of several vineyards just days before our harvest..
- Food Pairing
Great with grilled red meat, hearty stews, barbequed food, and hard cheeses.
Comments
Similar to 2008+, chocolate, smokey
Absolutely stunning - great wine!
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