2023 Elian Da Ros Côtes du Marmandais "Vin est une Fête" Rouge, South West, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

To put an end to these Southwest wines laboriously copying Bordeaux, the "entry-level" cuvée from Elian da Ros shows that, if you put in a little effort, you can produce a wine with personality in a vineyard and an AOC that have none. This is a wine that lives up to its name - a convivial, no-nonsense wine, all roundness, suppleness, and fruit. 

40% Abouriou, 40% Cabernet franc, 20% Merlot

Merlot and Cabernet Franc are destemmed, then vatted in open concrete vats for 10 to 15 days. Gentle extractions. The Abouriou is vatted in whole bunches and vinified using semi-carbonic maceration. Aged for 10 months in large, used barrels plus 1 month in concrete vats. The wine is bottle unfined and with light filtration.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Elian Da Ros is beloved in Marmandais for displaying elegance and finesse while working with grape varieties famous for masculinity and strength. Elian has taken a more Burgundian approach in his winemaking and a gentle approach in his vineyards. Before creating his domaine and becoming the first vigneron in the Côtes du Marmandais in 1998, Elian Da Ros spent five years working with Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace. He returned to the Côtes du Marmandais with the gift of 5 hectares of vines passed on to him by his father. Like the rest of the Marmandais, Elian’s father sold all his fruit to local co-ops. Elian decided it was time for a change. He began bottling his family’s wines under his name. It was at this time that Elian Da Ros became the pioneer of the Marmandais. Elian and Sandrine now farm 22 hectares biodynamically. Their vineyards are immaculate.