Origin: Southwest, France
Retail: $15.95 | Sale: $14.36
The appellation of Marcillac is located in the western part of the Auvergne, nestled in the mountain range known as the Massif Central. The vineyards lie along steep slopes in a remote valley that offers a beneficial micro-climate. The valley draws warm and dry air from the Mediterranean during the summer and fall while also sheltering the vineyards from the harsh winters. The local grape of the area is Fer Servadou, locally called Mansois. In the local dialect, Occitan, it was called Saoumences, which is interesting because of the last part of the name being similar to Mencia, or the Spanish name for Cabernet Franc. In fact, the Cabernet Franc and Fer Servadou are both part of the Carmenere family of grape varieties. Domaine du Cros, with its 33 hectares, is the largest independent producer in the appellation and Philippe Teulier and his family have been instrumental in reestablishing the reputation of Marcillac’s wines. Philippe Teulier’s vines lie at elevations as high as 450 meters on a few different hillsides that surround the village of Clairvaux. Much of his vineyard is terraced and the soil is an iron rich clay known locally as “rougier” with outcroppings of limestone.
“Lo Sang del Pais” translates as “the blood of the countryside” and one can easily feel the life-force of this wine. They produce only a small amount of rosé every year. The wine is basically a rosé version of the red wine. The grape bunches are hand harvested and after being de-stemmed they are fed into fermentation tanks using gravity flow. After a day or two, some free run juice is drawn from several different tanks and assembled into a stainless-steel tank to ferment at a low temperature. It has a remarkably vibrant and bright color and aromas that are reminiscent of red fruits enhanced by iron and pepper.
100% Fer Servadou