Cotes du Roussillon Rouge 'Les Terrasses', Regis Boucabeille, France 2023
Cotes du Roussillon Rouge 'Les Terrasses', Regis Boucabeille, France 2023
This is one of the best bargains from the Roussillon we have tasted in a long while. Mostly Mourvedre this year with supporting roles played by Syrah, Grenache and old vine Carignan. Ample, but not hefty, and surprisingly lithe, it shows juicy black cherry and red-fleshed plums accentuated by garrigue herbs, dried bark and paprika. Impressively silky tannins for a wine at this price, suggesting some real expertise in the cellar. It finishes with a kind of smoky sweetness, if that makes any sense, as you might find with chargrilled red peppers or baked cinnamon. It would be great with a barbecue or middle eastern food. 14% alc. Drink now-2027.
Organic (certified), sustainable
Vegan
“Domaine Boucabeille is run by Jean Boucabeille, who has planted 23 ha (57 acres) of native forest around his 12-ha vineyard, built ponds and installed over 100 beehives. He doesn’t plough, to avoid damaging the microbial life in the soil, and doesn’t use machinery in the vineyard, in order to avoid soil compaction. The estate has been certified organic since 2008. Boucabeille also planted 650 cork oaks in 2016, with a view to producing their own corks, and in 2018 they installed a water-treatment plant so that wastewater from the winery can be used to irrigate the cork oaks and wash machinery. Winemaking is low intervention, with spontaneous fermentations. Boucabeille also plays the accordion. This might be considered irrelevant but for the fact that musical intelligence often goes hand in hand with a different way of thinking about and connecting things, of finding rhythms and resonance. Einstein was an accomplished violinist who used to solve some of his most difficult problems by playing the violin in the wee hours of the night. Boucabeille’s wines are four-dimensional and have heartbeat as well as incredible length, breathing the garrigue of their terroir through every sip.” - Tamlyn Currin for JancisRobinson.com