2019 La Bascule ‘Gloriette’

Region: Languedoc-Roussillon > France

Grapes: Cinsault, Grenache           

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: organic farming, sandy, silt soil, short carbonic maceration in fiberglass followed by 6 months in barrel. All racking and bottling by gravity. Bottled unfined/unfiltered with no added So2; zero-zero

Winemakers: Stéphane and Caroline Morin, and Fifi

La Bascule is a collaboration between Fifi Imports (one of our favorite natty wine importers) and Domaine Leonine. Fifi teamed up with his longtime friends and winemakers, Stéphane and Caroline Morin, to collaborate on a series of wines in the style of Domaine Leonine, but with a touch of bombast from Fifi himself. Although this is not to say that the Morins are dull – Stéphane was a fashion photographer in Paris before moving to the hills of the Pyrenees in 2005 to start his domaine – so yeah, there is a really fun personality mashup happening here!

The wine is super alive – fresh, and textured, with dense, wild berries, Christmas spice and savory herbs -- and tastes warm and comforting and addictive all at once. The label says 14.%% ABV, but ignore this - many Frenchies labeled their wines above 14.2% in the past year to get around the ridiculous Trump-era tariffs (placed on bottles 14.1% or less).  IRL, is fairly light-bodied and high acid, so definitely one for the fridge and would drink better on the cooler side of room temp. Toss it in as you are reheating your leftovers and dinner is complete – we’re thinking Indian food or tacos al pastor would be just about right!

SERVE SLIGHTLY CHILLED