Les Fruits, "Occitan", Barossa Valley
Staff Pick
Organic

Les Fruits, "Occitan", Barossa Valley - 2018

Item # 46033 750mL

Winemaker Tim Stock set out to approximate an Australian version of the savory red styles from the Mediterranean coast of France. Full of garrigue, and with a distinct fruit leather aroma, this blend of Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, and Grenache achieves this effect. Aged in used French oak, this dry red wine has medium body. Pair with cassoulet.

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Color
Red
Vintage
2018
Country
Australia
Region
South Australia
Sub-Region
Barossa Valley
Producer
Les Fruits
Grape Variety
Syrah
Carignan
Grenache
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Production Methods

Organic

Organic

Biodynamic

Wine made from grapes grown organically using natural composting techniques and special preparations of herbal sprays while following the astronomical calendar.

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Staff Pick Notes

I was expecting yet another Barossa GSM blend but this wine’s bright, attention-grabbing nose let me know immediately it was extraordinary. Aromas of grape gum, eucalyptus, Kalamata olive, bay leaf, and sour cherry all prepare us for a deliciously funky, crunchy, and focused palate with notes of raspberry sorbet, and fine, raspy, whole-bunch tannins. Carignan (whole bunch carbonic) provides the spice, Shiraz the classic Barossa fruit, and co-fermented Grenache/Mourvèdre round everything out. Aged in a range of neutral French barrels, including ‘Ol’ Stony’, a 70+-year-old 1100 liter monster. Tim Scott has been importing French and Georgian wines to Australia for two decades, and Les Fruits is his labor-of-love side project for making incredible wines like this one, which are “naturally farmed, unfined, unfiltered, and unfussed.”

- SG

Glossary

Grenache

The Grenache grape (a.k.a. Grenache Noir) produces relatively pale, fruity red wines that often stop just short of sweetness. Grenache is familiar to most wine drinkers as an ingredient in the blends of the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon, where it can add charm to varieties that are a little rougher around the edges. The distinguished Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas appellations are both characterized by significant percentages of Grenache, while in Tavel and Lirac the grape is used to make...

Read more about Grenache

Mourvèdre

Known as Mataro in California and Monastrell in Spain, Mourvèdre can produce bold, tannic, highly alcoholic red wines. They usually show no shortage of fruit as well, and the best examples keep it all in perfect balance. Rhône-style blends are cropping up all over the world, and one of the classic tried-and-true combinations is "GSM," or Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre. The "M" contributes focus and fleshy character to blends - but Mourvèdre also shines on its own as a varietal wine.

Carignan

Grown all over Europe and the Americas, Carignan (a.k.a. Carignane, Carignano, and Cariñena) is seldom seen as a 100% varietal wine. Many appellations of Languedoc-Roussillon must include a certain percentage of Carignan, but it is rarely the dominant grape in these blends. For years, this naturally high-yielding grape suffered from overproduction, but New World winemakers have lately taken up the Carignan cause and produced some distinctive and delicious examples. Now that it is subject to...

Read more about Carignan

Barossa Valley

Perhaps no name is as emblematic of high-quality Shiraz as is South Australia's Barossa valley, the heart of the country's wine industry. Home to the famous ancient vineyards of Australia wines, the Barossa valley viticultural region actually encompasses two valleys, the Barossa and the cooler, higher-altitude Eden valley; historically, production has centered around the Barossa valley, with its adequate rainfall and long warm summers. The style of wine made here reflects these summers as the...

Read more about Barossa Valley

Syrah

We'd like to clear this up once and for all: the Shiraz grape is genetically identical to Syrah. Australian winemakers put "Shiraz" on the map (and, many would argue, vice versa), and the term is now used throughout much of the New World. Let it never be said, however, that Shiraz and Syrah are the same thing: the region in which the grape is grown determines much about the flavor of the wine it will produce. Typically, New World Shiraz yields bigger, fruitier wines than the the peppery Syrahs...

Read more about Syrah

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