2006 Château de la Negly "La Côte" Côteaux du Languedoc-La Clape

This is the entry level cuvee produced from a 9 hectare, 25 year old portion of Negly's 40 hectare vineyard; 4,000 vines per hectare planted on siliceous clay and limestone soils; lutte raisonnee, green harvesting; net yields of 30 hl/ha with harvest taking place between mid september-end of october. The fruit was 100% hand harvested, and table sorted 3 times; after a 7 day cold soak @ 8-10 celsius, the grapes were fermented in cement tanks with a 30 day maceration; microbullage during the ageing process; Carignan alone is fermented using the carbonic maceration method; aged on its post malo lees for the first nine months in a combo of cement tanks and French oak barrels. The final blend is 40% Carignan, 40% Grenache and 20% Syrah. According to Robert Parker's Wine Avocate: "La Negly’s entry-level red 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape La Cote, consisting of equal parts Grenache and Carignan plus 20% Syrah, and rendered in tank and oaken ovals, smells of salted plum paste, black cherry liqueur, resinous herbs, and smoky, charred game. Amazingly dense on the palate, its resinous, smoky and gamey personality, culminating in a concentrated bitter-sweet and rather grainy and warm finish, may be too much for some tasters, and this powerful wine would probably best be paired with appropriately charred grilled meats." 13.5% abv.