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Local Event
Cost: Free
The Cotes du Rhones from Grands Bois are among my favorites. And we’re going to be pulling the corks on three of these rocking Rhones this Saturday. Don’t miss it!
Asheville’s Best Free Wine Tasting – Just stop by – we’ve got plenty of free parking!
Marc Besnardeau is from Paris originally and before he met Mireille Farjon, he was a sommelier at one of the better restaurants in Paris (in the Montmartre section). In marrying her he not only moved, but also made the complete change from the city life to the life of a vigneron. His fine palate as a sommelier, however, put him in good stead for evaluating wine and making his own. He knew, for example, that when he bought wines, to look for those with low yields and concentration and sought out examples that were bottled unfiltered. He now has the opportunity to put these views into practice. The domaine that Marc Besnardeau has taken over is very well situated between St. Cecile and Cairanne. From these vines he produces several cuvées. All of his wines are deeply colored, ripe, robust and while one can think of many flavors to describe them, the word delicious pretty much says it all.
All of the featured tasting wines are 20% off by the bottle on tasting day only.
1. 2016 Domaine Les Grands Bois Cotes du Rhone “Gabrielle” (Rhone Valley, France): We’ll start with Besnardeau’s Cuvée Gabrielle, a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah from old, certified organic vineyeards. Marc ages this one for 9 months in older foudres, and this contributes an incredible texture to this wine. In the glass, it is deeply colored, full-bodied, and loaded with dark, plummy/blueberry fruit, spice, and violet. Truly knockout stuff!
2. 2016 Domaine Les Grands Bois Cairanne “Maximilien” (Rhone Valley, France) – Cairanne is the village just a bit northwest of Gigondas. The Besnardeaus combine 50% Grenache with 35% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah to craft this beefy, big red wine. “I loved the 2016 Cairanne Maximilien and it offers terrific notes of plums, scorched earth, pepper and distinct minerality in a full-bodied, opulent, unctuous package. Made from 50% Grenache, 35% Mourvèdre and 15% Syrah, drink this smoking good red over the coming 6-7 years.” – Jeb Dunnuck – 94 points
3. 2015 Domaine Les Grands Bois Rasteau “Cuvée Marc” (Rhone Valley, France) – This is the estate’s top red wine, and it is a blend of very low-yielding Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. “I loved the 2015 Rasteau Cuvée Marc from winemaker Gilles Ferran, and this blend of 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 25% Mourvèdre offers a full-bodied, rich and concentrated style to go with classic black fruits (currants, hints of cassis), crushed rock-like minerality, toasted spice and earth. Brought up all in demi-muids, it’s a blockbuster style Rasteau that will keep for a decade or more.” – Jeb Dunnuck – 94 points
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