Pattes Noires Merlot 2023

Silky, fruit-filled Pattes Noires Merlot takes its name from the black-pawed vixen found in the southern French village of Fontès legend. The story goes the great volcano of Céressou was stoked by the breath of fairies until, wrongly accused of plotting against the village, they were taken prisoner by evil bees and killed. In desperation one fairy turned herself into a vixen and fled down the slopes of Céressou, so her paws were ash-stained black. Today the vixen is the symbol of the Côtes du Céressou, and the legend lives on in the rich, dark Merlot that springs from its volcanic soil. Benefiting from a Mediterranean climate, its mature Merlot vines produce deliciously intense fruit. A great glass anytime on its own or with simple suppers.