The month of December has been spent putting a lot of wines into bottle....both here and at our Mas Cristine project. We now have Quadratur 2008 in bottle - our traditional Collioure blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan, which spends a year in barrel. It's already showing just what a powerful and concentrated year it was (and high volume too - a vigneron's dream vintage!).
We have also bottled a couple of wines for our Consolation project. These are very small quantities of single parcel wines which seem exceptional in a particular year. We have bottled 2008 Catala Blanc - a pure Grenache Gris from a single vineyard high above Collioure, ploughed by horse and harvested and made by hand. Only 700 bottles of this! Also in bottle is the Dog Strangler - my favourite grape variety - Mourvedre - with ferment in barrel and plenty of extraction, then a year in old casks. This is stunning already and I have to say we did amazingly well with a veriety that can be very difficult. The name - by the way - is what the locals used to call Mourvedre (etrangle-chien) thanks to its formidable tannins.We've also bottled up our Banyuls Blanc, which is oft forgotten but really is a treat. Waxy, coconutty, vanilla, peaches and cocoa dusting....a wonderful aperitif. I fact, I am drinking a glass as I write!
So a very Merry Christmas to you all...here at Coume del Mas we shall enjoy a glass of great wine with our families and friends....we hope you will do the same.
