DOMAINE DU CLOS DES FEES 'La Petite Siberie' Red 2016

Grape

Grenache Noir (96%), Mourvèdre (2%), Syrah (2%)

Tasting notes

A single 1.16 hectare plot is devoted to one of the property's finest cuvées, the sublime, almost legendary "Petite Sibérie". The old Grenache Noir vines grow in somewhat extreme conditions on a clay-limestone base, covered with schist with an exceptionally high iron content. The plot is exposed to an icy wind for more than 200 days of the year, hence its name, "Little Siberia". The wine is topped up regularly with a blend of Mourvèdre and Syrah, and then bottled without filtration. A superb, dense, complex wines that needs at least 15 years to reveal its potential.

Expert Ratings

Robert Parker 94/100

Tasting notes: "While I have a slight preference for the more-structured le Clos des Fées bottling, there's no doubting the unctuous appeal of the 2015 Côtes du Roussillon Villages la Petite Sibérie. Named for its cool site planted to old bush-vine Grenache, Little Siberia is a rich, almost chocolaty wine, filled with black cherries and dusty cocoa. Bizeul tops the wine with a blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre, but much of the structure must come from the new French oak barrels used for aging, despite how little cedar is detectable on the nose or palate. Long and velvety on the finish, wines like this show what parts of Roussillon are capable of when pampered by impeccable vineyard and cellar work." Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate

About the Winery

After owning a wine bar in Paris and working a few years as a wine journalist, Hervé Bizeul, a former “France’s Best Young Sommelier”, founded the Clos des Fées in 1998 with his wife. His idea was to produce a good wine for friends. The first vintage, created in his garage with very little investments, was a huge success immediately. Today, his wines are sold worldwide.

The vines span across a number of differing terroirs across the Roussillon, as much as 15 km apart from each other. The varying exposures and myriad of subsoils from granite to limestone make for a thoroughly unique and consistent quality. Old vines (up to 100 years old in some sectors), hand picking, … a viticultural philosophy that is respectful to nature and explains the high quality of the wines. Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris make up the majority of the plantings. The wines are aged in oak barriques for at least a year and are bottled without filtration.