Minervois Roc du Piere Domaine de Courbissac 2016

Minervois Roc du Piere Domaine de Courbissac 2016, Natural wine, pure 'Terroir', dark and red fruits, soft, fresh palate, still the firmness of the region comes through. Brunnhilde Claux is now the custodian of this tiny 2.5 hectare wine estate, she loves the style of her 'Terroir', not schist like most of the Minervois region but clay and limestone. The style is softer she says, more freshness, more fruit and softer, rounder palate. These certainly are beautiful and very seductive wines, great balance and you just want to keep on drinking them. The Roc du Piere comes from the Rockiest part of the estate you taste a certain firmness in the wine. It is red wine with shoulders, needs time to open in the glass but what a seductive wine it is, more elegance from the wines of this region, you will not find.

Brunnhilde Claux runs the tiny 2.5 hectare farm of Domaine de Courbissac in Cesseras, the heart of the Minervois. It is a region famous for its schist soils and deep, rich but sometimes rustic wines. Brunnhilde has uncharacteristic 'Terroir', Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan on clay and limestone and Syrah on sandstone soils. This unique 'Terroir', creates elegant Minervois wines. The work in the cellar is minimal save for a rigorous selection of only the plumpest, juiciest berries for the top 'Cuvee'. Fermentation is spontaneous, either whole bunch or partially de-stalked and without any oxygen. The fermentation is all in barrels and the wines are naturally clarified and matured in barrels. These are pure southern French wines at the best and most elegant. Excellent value for money for the quality and purity of the wine and these bottles will age well too.