Le Clos des Fées 2023

Tasting Notes and Serving Tips for Clos des Fées 2023

Tasting

Colour
The colour reveals a dark, deep hue with purple and garnet highlights, reflecting a beautiful concentration of matter.

Nose
The nose opens with a complex, intense aromatic profile, releasing scents of ripe black fruits. With aeration, it reveals typical notes of garrigue along with delicate touches of sweet spice.

Palate
Full-bodied and persistent, the palate seduces with its concentrated matter and remarkable balance. It rests on an elegantly structured tannic framework, extending the pleasure into a long finish.

Food and Wine Pairing

This red wine pairs wonderfully with flavourful meats, such as herb-roasted leg of lamb, a fine cut of aged beef, or dishes with a reduced sauce. It will also pair beautifully with game or aged pressed-curd cheeses.

Serving and Cellaring

To fully appreciate this 2023 vintage, it is recommended to decant it for around thirty minutes before serving and to enjoy it at a temperature between 16 and 18°C. With its fine structure, this wine has excellent ageing potential and will develop favourably in the cellar for many years to come.

Other Characteristics

This wine comes from particularly low yields, around 14 hectolitres per hectare this year, ensuring optimal concentration of aromas.

A Structured and Elegant Red Wine from Côtes du Roussillon Villages

The Estate

Officially founded in 1998, Domaine du Clos des Fées is located in Vingrau, at the heart of Roussillon. Today, the estate is led by Claudine and Hervé Bizeul, a former sommelier, who cultivate around thirty hectares of vines with extreme attention to quality. Refusing to buy in grapes and favouring very low yields, the estate quickly established itself as an unmissable reference. It stands out for its meticulous reading of its extreme terroirs, producing wines that are distinctive, structured and perfectly suited to fine dining.

The Vineyard

Spread across several sectors of the Agly valley, this Côtes du Roussillon Villages terroir is made up of clay-limestone soils and schist. The vines, some of which are between 40 and 80 years old, grow in a windy, sunny environment that favours optimal ripening. The vineyard is managed according to the principles of sustainable farming, with harvesting carried out entirely by hand to preserve the integrity of the berries.

The Vintage

2023 was marked by particularly sunny weather in the region. These favourable conditions produced grapes combining perfect ripeness with lovely freshness, promising concentrated, well-balanced juices.

Winemaking and Ageing

The berries, harvested at full ripeness, undergo long macerations and gentle extractions, with regular punching down in temperature-controlled tanks. The wine is then carefully aged in oak barrels, allowing its tannic structure to refine and its aromatic palette to grow more complex before bottling.

Grape Varieties

This wine is a blend of Syrah (50%), Grenache Noir (30%) and Carignan (20%).