Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Grenache - 35% Syrah – 15% Carignan
Tautavel produces a wine with exceptional style and a bouquet of ripe fruit (blackcurrants, blackberries), crystallized fruit and spices. The wine offers depth on the palate and a pleasant sweetness ccompanied by ripe tannins with spices lingering on the finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Very pure-tasting and powerful, with unctuous flavors of dark plum, mincemeat, raspberry ganache and black olive. There's lots of dark chocolate and espresso notes on the muscular finish. Drink now through 2015.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Of the five Côtes du Roussillon Villages appellations, Tautavel (recognized since 1997) sits farthest east, on the last granite outcropping before the land slopes to the Mediterranean Sea. The infertile soils here force vine roots to dig deep for water and nutrients, which creates wines with more complexity. Tautavel’s superior quality red wines are blends traditionally based on Carignan, but today tend to include more Grenache and Syrah. The minor variety, Lledor Pelut (a variant of Grenache) is also allowed.
Côtes du Roussillon-Tautavel claims a warm Mediterranean climate but its slight altitude (650 ft) keeps it cooler and drier than the plains.