Hand picked and collected in traditional wooden tubs...
PIERRE CROS
“Pierre Cros settled on 25 ha of vineyards and as much olives, almond trees and truffle oaks. He is a great “winzer-artist”, a real benchmark in the Minervois... (Guide Hachette)
Souvenirs, souvenirs 1988
Hand picked and collected in traditional wooden tubs...
A Pinot noir from the South, growing in a rocky place called “Les Aspres”, which means “arid” in Catalan. I promise that he doesn’t smell like a Pinot from the north. It’s not an substitute for Burgundy wines and you still will find many reasons to purchase wine from the vineyards around Beaune…
The wine has its peculiar style, its own character. A lot of fruit, Kirsch, black and red currant… a slight smell of yeast, pastry, vanilla and cinnamon. A couple of months of ageing in used oak barrels might be the reason for this. I have always been impressed by the ardour and power of this Pinot, without getting heavy or thick. Some vintages may present a little warmth, but not this 2011.
After 24 hours of opening, the wine still tastes very well: powerful fruit, sweet spices and some fresh green aromas, as well as a very high “drinkability”.
In its youth, this Pinot noir is THE perfect wine for a Saturday lunch or a Tuesday night dinner! But you may as well leave it in your cellar for several years. You’ll be surprised…
Let’s not waste time on colour and other visual aspects of this wine. The truth that “wine is made for drinking and not for watching” applies to this cuvee ever since its creation. Mainly made of Carignan grapes, supported by equal parts of Syrah and Cinsault, as well as a smaller percentage of Grenache and Mourvèdre.
A real representative of southern France, that never tried to please at any price, but whose taste always pleased… A seductive peasant, honest, simple and pleasant.
The nose of the 2011 vintage is rich, full of black fruit, oak, roast and smoke aromas, as well as forest floor. Medium-bodied and smooth, with crispy acidity and pleasant, fine tannins. It shows a quite long final, with ripe fruits, fresh marmalade and some spices.
This bottle of wine is easy – easy to match with many recipes and every days food, easy to introduce to your friends, easy to open, easy to drink, easy to like…
Vertical tasting of “Les Aspres” from 2011 to 1998...
While tasting wine, I rarely get distracted by its colour. But for this almost black Touriga nacional from the Minervois I have to make an exception. It shows deep purple hints and it seems to stick to the glass like thick ink. After this impressive visual introduction, the diffidence of its bouquet made of black fruit, ink, tar and fresh fern somehow surprises me. After a while though it opens up, showing quite some aromatic power. The black fruit divides into cassis and blackberry, tar becomes smoke and sweet spices raise from the centre of the glass: Vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate…
Fresh and mellow on the palate, with few tannins and maybe a little bitterness towards the end, due to its youth. Tasty and very seductive, excellent with a piece of young Cantal cheese.
Later in the evening, I am going for some chocolate with chilli and other spices. The result is amazing. While the spices lower the sweetness of the wine (without making it taste harsh), they push the fruity and spicy aromas out of the glass, adding laurel and rosemary to the smell of fresh fern.
On the occasion of the first international Carignan Day, Pierre Cros had taken some old vintages of his pure Carignan from the cellar, to organise a “vertical” tasting from 1999 up to 2011. Some of these vintages are quite familiar to me, like those from 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2010, but I was curious to see how the older vintages would look like. After a meticulous preparation of the bottles (they were all opened 4 hours earlier and served at 16°C) I could finally taste them, accompanied by friends of Domaine Cros and two passionate wine journalists. The tasting started with the 1999 vintage.
Some of us, being ahead of me, already wrote about the tasting and their favourite wines (2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2010 for Michel S. , 1999 and 2007 for André D. ).
Nach einigen Monaten der Überlegung finden Sie hier unter nun meine eigenen Eindrücke. Damit ich Sie nicht in 13 Jahrgängen endloser Weinpoesie verliere, sollen einige Stichwort ausreichen, um die Weine zu beschreiben, es sei denn, es dürstet mich nach mehr.
2011
2011 creamy, tasty, lively
2010
still young, fruity, few tannins, fresh, citrus aromas
2009
very ripe, full-bodied, great tannin structure, straight, chewy
2008
very fruity, rich, smooth, dense
2007
buttery, fatty, velvety, generous
2006
fresh, still young, full-bodied, well structured
2005
This wine really shows freshness and youth, together with well-structured, fine tannins. It seems to age slowly and may still have a couple of years to go. Great with crispy, roasted duck or a French Cassoulet
2004
gingerbread, chilli, smooth, velvety… quite exotic impressions. Drink now or leave it for another three years
2003
melting, luscious, generous, together with a pleasant feeling of warmth (but much less as one might have expected due to this hot vintage), nice tannins
2002
spices, caramel, silky – a beautiful ten-year old wine. Who would have expected this during harvest? Probably another indication that wine is mainly made in the vineyard. This wine was made by 97 year old vineyard, giving ripe tannins and spicy aromas to the grapes, in spite of the torrential rainfalls during the 2002 vintage.
2001
roasted, smoky aromas, dark fruit marmelade, flowing
2000
smooth, fresh, grassy, chocolate
1999
not much fruit left, but very elegant. A straight wine, medium-bodied, mineral and earthy – warm, freshly ploughed earth on an autumn morning. A wine for chocolate, a wine for cigars, a wine to sit by the fire place. Very intimate…
Seventh „Coup de Cœur“ fort he leading cuvée of the estate. As a “spiritual leader” of the Minervois, Pierre Cros belongs to those wine grower artists, that have found the Holy Grail in their vineyards and share their life’s work with us, by honouring our tables with their Devine brewage.
This 2009 provides aromas of black currant, vanilla, blackberry, pepper and cinnamon of exceptional intensity. Smooth and full-bodied, even sensual on the palate, this wine evolves towards an apotheosis of a nearly endless final.
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