Domaine Anne Gros & Jean-Paul Tollot, Ciaude, Minervois

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This turned out to be a great food wine. Was had with lamb cutlets and a salad of fennel and zucchini. Drinking very well, the fruit has been picked at exactly the right moment. Nicely integrated tannins, and a good acid backbone.

Nose with dark berries, animal notes including barnyard aromas, some tar, dried herbs and flowery notes. Medium bodied with dark berries, fine acidity, minerality, some pepper and dried herbs, some tannic bite, and a fine finish. Quite polished and balanced. Drinks well now but could probably develop a little further. 89 p.

Very well made Grenache Syrah Carignan blend with judicious use of oak. Good length and a nice mix of strawberry, raspberry, currant, oak and roasted provencal herb beefiness. Has a reasonable drinking curve ahead; very nice wine now, would revisit in 5 years. Pure hedonism. Drink or hold until 2020.

Jancis Robinson once asked, in perfectly hyper-rhetorical fashion, "Can Carignan be great?" Referencing of course the indifferent use over the years of this possibly high-yield grape. Here's at least one solid response to that question. Some vines here are more than a century old, and there's according depth. Meatiness and minerality both. Fruit roll-ups on the front, some nice fatty, marrowy meat on the back. It's really nice, and still has plenty of life in it. I overpaid at 40 …

Dark red in color, pretty dark red fruit nose with hints of sour cherries and a bit of spices. Easy to drink palate and very ripe but not over the top, great with pizza! The fruit and suppleness is able to hide the 14% alcohol.

Nice complexity - full of stony minerality, exotic spices, musky mushroom, black cherry, smoke meat, wild leather plus a dose of strange fishiness. The texture is suprisingly smooth as this is quite a heavy wine with good density and depth. Sweet core dark fruit character and host of other secondary flavours are well integrated with its underlying acidity and good tannins. Medium finsih with touches of mineral & mocha-like bitterness. Overall a well-made and refined effort.

Dark fruits and smoke in the bouquet. Same on the palate. Good cherries, some toasted oak, minerals and pepper. The tannin is a bit green/young and drying. Excellent wine. Give it 4+ years of ageing. 88+ for now

Alcohol :: 14% 104yrs old vine of Carignan. Popped an poured into decanter. First pour: quite smelly with strong barnyard that disappeared after 20mins in the glass. As expected, no one get this right but friends who guessed a southern Rhone is indeed correct. White pepper, game, smoke, earth and touch of lavender that reminded me of the Chave St-Joseph with considerably depth and some complexity waving around the palate. Finished dry, medium length with soft mineral undertone. Not bad …

Domaine Tasting at Anne Gros (Burgundy, France) : From bottle at Domaine Anne Gros. Like the 2008 vs. 2009 Fontanilles, this too is like its 2009 counterpart, but with a little less stuffing. Still quite good though with plenty of spicy dark red fruits and savory qualities. Crushed stone. Ripe fruit on the palate and a mineral driven finish. Delicious and very forward today.

Outstanding finesse and delivery with ample fruit and excellent compliment of Syrah spice, both on the nose and on the finish. A wine that continued to blossom throughout our meal of plum pork and impressed the whole table. Although I have limited experience with the Minervois region, I'd recommend this bottle to anyone vaguely interested. It is clear that Anne Gros and Jean-Paul Tollot have touched this wine.