Domaine of the Bee 2011
- Retail
- £40.00
- Member
- £32.00
- Case
- £240.00
- Case (Member)
- £192.00
- Varieties
- Carignan, Grenache
- Vintage
- 2011
- Country
- France
- Region
- Roussillon
- Alcohol
- 15%
- Bottle Size
- 750ml
- Drinking Window
- 2013 - 2020
Awards
- Award
- -
- Event
- Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2014 - Silver medal
- Year
- 2014
- Description
- The biggest, darkest, richest Bee that we have made - absolutely bursting with blackberry black pepper, and yet somehow it is also REALLY smooth. Jancis Robinson MW was "seriously impressed". David Williams in the Observer called it "brooding, voluminous, evocative and silky".
- Body
- full
- Winemaking notes
- The third and last year that we made our wine in the D66 winery in Maury. The hallmark of this vintage was the long pre-fermentation maceration, made possible by chilling the grapes overnight before crushing them, which really brought out the intense colour, and rich fruit of this excellent vintage. With a much higher yield from the Coume de Roy vineyard, we needed more upended demi-muids (500 L barrels) with the ends taken out, and as in previous vintages, the Carignan from La Roque and Grenache from the Bac de Genievres were fermented in shallow stainless steel tanks Pressing with a small basket press. Maturation in a mixture of new, 1 year old and 2 year old barriques and Demi-muids for 14 months.
- Growing Conditions
- One of those rare years that delivered both exceptional quality and above-average quantity. The wines have been fruit-forward from the moment the grapes were picked at full ripeness, just before the rain which washed out the last week of vintage for some growers.
Reviews
Nathan Nolan - Mr Drink 'n' Eat
http://www.mrdrinkneat.com/2013/07/domaine-of-the-bee-open-house/July 30, 2013
"Domaine of the Bee 2011… is showing bright, jazzy vibrant dark berry fruit with liquorice and some grey stony notes. This wine is happy in your face juicy fun right now but imagine it will evolve a great deal over the coming years"
Jancis Robinson MW - www.jancisrobinson.com
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201310171.htmlOctober 18, 2013
"The nose of this regular bottling is intense but not overripe or alcoholic and the palate is obviously that of a substantial wine but the texture is delightful and the aromas - burnt black fruits, dried herbs, something mineral - unfurl with real grace. While under the influence of this wine, I wrote that these aromas unfurled 'slowly like a cat stretching'. There is considerable tannin well covered with fruit and I'd suggest ideally drinking this well-packaged wine over the next five years." - 16.5
David Williams - The Observer
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/15/wine-buying-online-best-sitesMarch 16, 2014
"The internet has made it much easier for a number of enterprising wine producers to sell their wines direct, including ex-Laithwaites wine director Justin Howard-Sneyd, whose brooding, voluminous, evocative and silky southern French red from old grenache and carignan vines shows he understands winemaking as well as wine-selling."
Jancis Robinson MW - www.jancisrobinson.com
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/tastings/view/553637May 15, 2014
"Round and full of pzazz. Lots of fun with great richness. Velvety with great energy. It tastes cool considering its alcohol level." - 16.5