Domaine Benjamin Taillandier Six Roses Rosé France 750ml.

Winemaking Notes: Cinsault and Syrah fruit were manually harvested from 30-year-old vines. Grapes were directly pressed and fermented in stainless steel before being aged for 6 months in stainless steel. Wine was neither fined nor filtered, with minimal SO2 added.

Tasting Notes: The 2020 Six Roses is a super drinkable, all purpose rosé. Fresh and floral with a hint of candied strawberry, stones, and a good amount of grip. This is a crusher.

Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Cinsault, Syrah, Carignan
Vineyard Size: 1 hectare
Soil: shiste, clay, limestone, sand, marl
Average Age of Vines: 30 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand.
Winemaking: direct press, fermentation in tanks
Aging: 6 months in stainless steal
Fining: none
Filtration: none
So2: 5 mg/L

After finishing winemaking school, Benjamin spent some time working in a conventional winery. In 2004, however, he met natural winemaker Jean-Baptiste Senat and began working with him in his cellar. He was influenced by Senat’s ideas and techniques. After his stage ended, he knew that he wanted to make his wine with a similar philosophy one day.

In 2007 he settled in his family’s hometown of Caunes-Minnervois, which sits between the ancient city of Carcassone and The Montagne Noir. He purchased 5.7ha of Grenache Noir, Syrah, Cinsault, Terret Gris and began working it organically, eventually converting all of it over to biodynamics. Each year he added a plot to his estate and now he works 9.5 ha all by hand and now fully Ecocert certified. He also runs a terrific wine bar downtown called Cantine du Curé which is open during the summer tourist season.

Benjamin feels that many of the wines in the Minnervois AOC are too concentrated and alcoholic, and works hard to make wines that, while full flavored, are lighter, fresher and lower in alcohol than most average wines from the Languedoc. Indeed, there is a level of liveliness in this wines that you seldom see in the wines of the region, Benjamin is happily introducing people to the concept of Minnervois “vin de soif”.