Croix des Cabustines 2006

Tasting note
Colour - Deep blackish ruby.

Aroma - Ripe blackberry and smoky liquorice with a minerally-earthy edge.

Taste - Rounded lush black fruits with peppery, smoky notes over a structure of ripe tannins.

	Type:Still Red Wine		Country:France		Appellation:Oc VdP
	Grape Type:Syrah		Drink Before:End of 2009		Body:Medium Bodied
	Alcohol:12.5%		Bottle Size:75cl		Bottle Code:60593

Description
Roussillon is the most southerly wine region of all France, running right up to the border with Spain. Its landscape is very mountainous and rugged with such arid soils that little grows bar vines. The population there are very much Catalan, not French, and feel they have more in common with their neighbours across the border in Spain, than they have with those to the north.

La Croix des Cabustines is made purely from Syrah, the same grape used in the northern Rhône to produce the pricy reds of Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. It's also grown in the southern Rhône, but to a lesser extent as Grenache is more dominant, and in the Languedoc-Roussillon too.

The grapes for this rich red were taken from Côtes-du-Roussillon and Côtes-du-Roussillon-Villages terroir, with its combination of soils: galets roulés (big pudding stones like they have in Châteauneuf-du-Pape which absorb heat during the day and emit to the grapes at night to create super-ripe fruit), schistous around Agly and limestone-dominated on the plains.

All the grapes were handpicked from mature vines, around 20 years old, at miniscule yields of around 35 hectolitres per hectare (lower than many Cru Classé Bordeaux, which harvest closer to 45hl/ha). Lower yields result in impressive concentration in the wine. Winemaker for this red is Hervé Sabadeil, who is a Syrah expert and highly-rated by American wine critic Robert Parker.