Youthful, opaque deep purple.  Scents of rich cooked black plums, with spice, dried fruit and candied peel. Velvet texture, so impressive. Sharp black fruit spiked by suggestions of menthol, tar and liquorice. Excellent weight, and with well-judged tannins, this is a classic Roussillon blend; and one which will last well too. Now-2015

Product Code: DEP109

Serge Depeyre, from a Rhône wine-making family, and Brigitte Bile, from Cases de Pène, met at wine-making college in Avignon. Together they returned to her birthplace, and worked at Mas Amiel, while starting the purchase of their own vineyards in 1997, and producing their first wine in 2002. Serge’s day job is working as Régisseur, effectively estate manager and overseer in charge of Clos des Fées (one of the most highly rated and hugely expensive Roussillon estates) at Vingrau, and their own little domaine has grown to 12 hectares, largely looked after by Brigitte. Hearing them, one senses how hard it is to be a grower among these arid, wind-blasted hills: they need a pick-axe in order to plant a vine; they plough using a mule; and yields are ludicrously low. We return to a wine which we shipped in the 2002 vintage, their Côtes de Roussillon Villages, 50% Syrah, 25% old vine Carignan from Vingrau and 25% Grenache. Wholly unoaked, this is concentrated and velvety.