Wine of the Week 7/6/21

Mary Taylor À Laplume Agenais 2020
Regularly $16.99/On Sale for $12.96

Young, brilliant micro-negociant Mary Taylor is dedicated to featuring small traditional producers from under-represented but high-quality wine-growing regions.  In the traditional spirit of the “Old World,” each Mary Taylor Wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographical origin, true to local traditions and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. (unlike almost all other negociants, Mary features the name of the winemaker and vineyard on the front of every bottle) At first glance, her bottles look the same - she likens this choice to eschew flashy labels to book covers in a Parisian shop: “they may all look similar but inside, you get something unique.”  We love Mary’s dedication to featuring lesser-known appellations at incredible prices, and we were blown away by this southwestern rosé the second we tasted it.  

“Agenais” is the IGP (Indication Géographique Protégé) that was established in 2011 to capture the typicity of the wines from the Lot-et-Garonne area of Southwest France.  The ancient capital city Agen is 84 miles from Bordeaux.

Christophe Avi stopped working with the large co-op of Buzet roughly 30 years ago when he discovered a passion for biodynamic farming and since has cultivated 20 hectares of deeply regenerative and biodiverse vineyards. This Agenais rosé is made from his younger vines, no more than 20 years, and consists of juice from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, both indigenous to the region. Vines are planted near the Garonne river, where soils range from sandy riverbeds to limestone hills in the north.  This rosé is an absolute steal at its normal price and is an unmissable buy as a Wine of the Week.  Pop this one in your fridge and bring it out to accompany your classier summer meals and to impress your friends!