From: Pays d’Oc (Languedoc), France
Varietal: Cabernet Franc
Taste: A sublimely smooth Cabernet Franc with a deep ruby hue and complex floral, blackcurrant and raspberry fruit aromas. The palate is fresh, but generous with sweet, ripe fruit and fine supple tannins finishing with notes of mocha, licorice, and caramel. After crushing and during fermentation, the ‘cap’ is regularly pushed down to extract the maximum color and tannin. After a malolactic fermentation the wine is aged for six months in barrel.
Pairing: This refreshing Cabernet Franc is a flexible partner for a range of cuisine. Some ideas for pairing include serving this alongside dishes like roasted pork or chicken (with gravy, yum!), burgers made from black bean, beef or lamb, turkey with cranberry sauce, lamb gyros, baguette sandwiches (including banh mi’s of all types), picnic fare, pizza, char siu, lamb/beef/turkey/chicken meatballs, thinly cut steak, and dishes with a Mediterranean flair. Stir-fry will also pair well alongside this charming, chillable wine, check out the recipe below!
Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
By Sue Li
About. Within the Languedoc, at the northernmost part of Corbières, sits the Alaric terroir, home to Domaine Sainte Marie des Crozes.
Alaric is a mountain that stretches between Carcassonne and Lézignan. It was Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, who gave it its name (and allegedly buried his treasure there as well). Its soft and elongated shape draws the Domaine's horizon. Along its entire length, it streaks the landscape of limestone folds in a succession of rocky bands and stony terraces.
At the crossroads of Mediterranean and oceanic influences, the Alaric terroir climate is sunny, dry, and hot. Their vineyard's vines are planted on the mountainside, on clay-limestone slopes surrounded by scrubland, which gives their wines the scents of thyme and hawthorn.
Today, run with fantastic energy by the young Christelle Alias, this 38 hectare estate lies at the foot of the Montagne d’Alaric in the northerly, cooler part of the Corbières. In 1997 the vineyards were completely restructured by Christelle’s father, Bernard and are now cultivated organically (certified organic since 2014, DEMETER certified in 2018).
Christelle joined her father in 2012 after a tour of the viticultural world and has clearly had fun creating her wines: there is a juicy vibrancy – she clearly aims for freshness and elegance over extraction and power.
