Wine of the Week 11/6/18

Château de Lastours “Arnaud de Berre” Corbières 2013

The Corbières hills, in France’s Languedoc region, are breathtakingly rugged, and quite beautiful. It’s a hot, dry region, and vines are one of the few plants that do well in the nutrient-poor stony soils.

Although this appellation originally was thought of as a place for inexpensive, average-quality wine, growers are realizing the land's potential and this region is becoming increasingly exciting for modern, cutting-edge styles.

Château de Lastours is located on an old Roman road known as the Via Domitia – which goes from Narbonne to Spain. A castrum (a Roman fortified camp) was built on the route to accommodate travellers. The Castrum de Turribus later became Château de Lastours, in reference to the watchtowers that overlooked the Via Domitia at this particularly dangerous point.

Arnaud de Berre is the name of a knight who lived on the Lastours estate in the Middle Ages. The river that crosses the estate is named after him.

Lastours is a gravity fed, low-energy usage winery, that applies the principles of integrated farm management. This means, among other things no use of pesticides or chemicals in the vineyards. We’ve long been fans of the Lastours “Simone Descamps,” their old-vine cuvée, and this younger, fresher version is just as delicious! 45 % Carignan, 35 % Grenache and 20 % Syrah, all stainless steel.

Regularly $16.99/On sale for $12.96