2007 Le Cigare Volant - en foudre

$45.00 per bottle / $486.00 per case
$38.25 per bottle / $432.00 per case (Members)

Red Wine of the Earth
This is a special reserve bottling of the Cigare cuvée that was aged exclusively en foudre, or 10,000-liter upright wood tanks. Bright ruby red with a pale purplish rim, the wine is wildly aromatic, with floral herbs, menthol, and a little fennel on the nose. On the palate there is bright cherry, fresh red currant, and cranberry flavors with a bit of spice. It offers less grip on the palate than the wine aged in smaller vessels, allowing the wine’s filigree and detail to show. It is the most fine-boned, lithe, and feminine of the 2007 Cigare variant bottlings.

A blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre with just a soupçon of cinsault makes for a bright and wonderfully gamey wine. The chief red in residence, grenache, derives primarily from our traditional Biodynamic® grenache source from Alta Loma Vineyard in Monterey County. This is supplemented with a smidge of our own Estate grenache, adding a discreet spiciness to the attraction. The syrah is principally sourced from Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, which produces the closest analogue we have found to a Northern Rhône syrah—tannic and meaty in the lower registers; peppery, fruitful, and delicately floral in the top, all the while showing great balance and harmony. A group of non-irrigated, centenarian Contra Costa vineyards has provided mourvèdre for Cigare for many years. Finally, a dollop of cinsault provides a very particular fragrance of flowers and aromatic herbs.

While the youthful '07 is excellent right now, aging it for 2-3 more years would be all to the good. We recommend a gentle decanting before consumption.

Vital Statistics
Varietal Blend: 60% grenache, 32% syrah, 4% mourvèdre, 4% cinsault
Appellation: Central Coast
TA: 6 g/L
pH: 3.62
Alcohol by Volume: 14.4%
Serving Temp: 55-60°F
Cellaring: Aged 20 months. Aging potential: 20+ years from release (Nov. 2010)
Production: 559 cases