MCF Rare Wine
Mas Foulaquier: Pic Saint Loup Is Where The Action Is...
It's been cold here in NYC this week.
And, lately, I've been on a bigger Rhone(ish) kick than I think I've ever been on.
So, over the next week or so, I have a few offers for some really fantastic Rhone/Rhone-adjacent wines that I'm very excited about.
I'm starting today with a producer who, not only falls into the 'Rhone-Adjacent' category for me (meaning a wine made from 'Rhone' varietals and lives in a similar spiritual space in the flavor universe, but isn't from the Rhone), but also (for me) falls into a similar category as, say, Elian da Ros, or Georges Lignier, or all of Aglianico for that matter...one that I guess I'd call the 'How the %#&@ Is This Not More Well Known?!' category...
This producer is Mas Foulaquier, who I've promoted several times in these emails in the past. Today, though, I'm giving them their full due, because...well, every time I taste their wines (most recently with today's 2013 Gran T) I think to myself (and often say often say out loud), 'How the @#$% is this not more well known?!'
This wonderful little estate was born in 1998 when Swiss transplant Pierre Jéquier ditched his career and found his dream location in the Northern corner of the Languedoc's most Northern appellation, Pic Saint Loup. Five years later, his wife, Blandine Chaucet, joined him, bringing with her a few hectares of 50+ year old Grenache and Carignan in a lieu dit called Les Tonilières. Everything's Demeter certified, and it's all native yeasts, minimal sulphur, etc.
In other words, they're doing all the right things at the right scale...and everything they're doing is turning out right.
Example Number One being the Pic Saint Loup l'Orphee 2017 ($29), which is equal parts Syrah and Grenache, vinified in concrete and raised in demi muids. It's a fabulous, mineral and spicy red, showcasing the young, but supple, black fruits that I always associate with it. There's wonderful aromatic complexity on the nose and the exotic, floral/spicy nuance combines with lively freshness to carry it all across the palate with perfect balance. It's young, fresh and delicious now, but like all of Foulaquier's wines, there's plenty more that will emerge with a few years in the cellar.
I've always love the l'Orphee, and I believe it was the first wine I ever carried from Foulaquier, but the one I've come to really love the most is far and away the Pic Saint Loup Gran' Tonnilières (or 'Gran 'T', as we affectionately refer to it). The vintage is 2013 here, so we're talking about a wine that's already got some bottle years under its belt...and that's an amazing thing.
(Plus, it proves what I just said about their wines having nice cellar-ability without you having to wait...)
This is 100% old-vine Carignan from the Tonnilières plot, and it spends 24 months in foudre. Your first iron-y/mineral/leathery whiff of this beauty should illustrate perfectly just why I'm so excited about it. It's got all the wild, rustic charm you love about, say, a maturing Chateauneuf, but with an extra level of spicy, savory edge, thanks to the Carignan.
This is the kind of wine that I'll make excuses just to open. It's really all you can ask for from a 'Rhone-ish' red in the sub-$50 price range, and, while you're savoring that last, hyper-fragrant, perfectly-complex glass, you're probably going to say. "How the #&%$ is this not more well known?!'
No, I'm serious...seriously...
You may order by emailing info@mcf-rarewine.com or calling 212.255.8870.
Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10011
212.255.8870
