Domaine Les Conques, "Nonnette" 2021

This area of the Roussillon has long been known for sweet wines - the appellation named after the town from which the sweet, fortified wine comes is called Rivesaltes. Francois Douville has, for just over a decade and change, been making dry, natural wines here -- part of the radical vanguard of this end of northern Catalonia that has found ways to tame the historically-too-intense climate of the seaside, craggy Roussillon, dominated as it is by viciously strong winds, daily heat & blasted as it is by sun and extremely cold nights. The grape varieties he works with are typical of the area - Grenaches 3 ways, Macabeu, Mourvèdre, etc., and his manner of vinifying emphasizes texture in addition to acidity. There is a plumpness in the mid-palate that is distinctly southern though without any sugar left on the wine, there is still a perenially refreshing quality to them. 10 hectares under vine, 10 left to forests draping the foothills of the Canigou massif in arborescent heather & cork oak. 

Producer Profile Will Be Up Later Today

Roussillon, France. A Springy, crunchy, softly-effervescent bottling of Mourvèdre. The wine is fermented in whole clusters in stainless steel. Unfined, unfiltered and bottled under crown cap with no SO2.