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About the Wine
Fatim's entry-point red, conversely coming from some of her oldest vines of Carignan at 80 years of age. Less finessed and more raw than her other wines, this is true vin de table in a more edgy, 'rock n' roll' style - rustic, sanguine juice to quench a thirst. It packs an explosion of fresh, brambly fruits on opening, that on the palate take on that bloody quality of iron-rich minerals, mixed with that game-y, earthy funk that Carignan can sometimes exhibit. Served with a little chill this is one of those nourishing bottles that provides a lot of joy at the dinner table with friends.
After harvest the bunches were split, half pressed directly and half de-stemmed and carbonically macerated for one week before being pressed into steel to rest for one year before bottling with no additions. On the wilder side, this is a bottle we recommend drinking within 3-4hrs of the cork being pulled.
About Le Chai Volant
Born in Morocco, now residing in the tranquil isolation of the mountainous Pyrénées-Orientales, Fatim initially trained as a herbalist before fulfilling her long-term goal of making wine. After a lot of searching she was able to acquire her own ‘Mas’ – an old remote farm - that comprised 3.5 hectares of vines aged between 20 and 80 years of age and a place to live, in the Aspres region at the foothills of the Canigou mountain range.
Sitting in the valley floor, the vines sit in complete seclusion and were tended to by a grower practising organic farming before her who wanted to ensure that the land fell into the right hands before retiring. Using her previous training, Fatim works in the vineyard with her own brand of biodynamics, using homemade fermented plant extracts from the diverse flora of the hillsides. The arid soils are treated with copper only when absolutely necessary.