Domaine de Rancy - Côtes du Roussillon Latour de France 2016

Brigitte Verdaguer and her husband Jean-Hubert, specialists in timeless amber sweet wines, passionately cultivate the approximately twenty hectares of this estate located in the town of Latour-de-France. The plots are plowed using a horse. Today, their daughter Delphine is taking over the reins, and we are following this transition closely. Since their estate is the oldest private winery in the village, the amber Rivesaltes wines are always on hand, aging in ancient, time-worn casks. You’ll still find very old bottles there, dating back as far as the 1940s—a priceless treasure for any wine lover.

Grown on the schist soils of Latour from a blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Carignan, this wine reveals intense aromas of red and black fruits and garrigue. A fresh and lively attack, with notes of pepper, gives way to a powerful, warm, and deep palate, featuring firm yet very fine-grained tannins.

Since 1989, Brigitte and Jean-Hubert Verdaguer have been running the family estate (now 17 hectares of organic vineyards) located in the heart of the village of Latour-de-France. Since its founding in 1920, this estate has focused on naturally sweet wines aged for long periods in oak, particularly Rivesaltes, although at the turn of the century, it began producing dry wines, both AOC and IGP. Another flagship product of the winemakers is the dry Rancio, an IGP wine.

Concentrated, firm, and tannic, this 2016 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France is a tank-aged blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 30% Carignan, and 30% Grenache. It harmoniously blends black cherries with raspberries and strawberries, then adds a touch of star anise and notes of red pepper to bring great complexity. Give it another year or two to mellow, then enjoy it over the next five years.

Heavenly and fig-like, well-balanced, a bit dry but with a frank fruitiness.

This historic estate in the Agly Valley is now run by Jean-Hubert Verdaguer and his wife Brigitte, who have been assisted since 2006 by their eldest daughter, Delphine. Beginning in 2001, the Verdaguer family added a line of dry wines to their collection of aged Rivesaltes, the flagship of the estate’s production. Both in the vineyard and in the cellar, the work is carried out with great care. While the red wines are of a high standard, it is above all the admirable naturally sweet wines (including a collection of old vintages dating back to 1919) that have earned this estate its reputation. A benchmark estate that deserves the full attention of wine lovers—essential for the historical significance of its wines, which are among those that most vividly showcase the uniqueness of Catalonia’s winemaking history.