Château Maris Les Amandiers Minervois La Livinière 2018
Member Price €62.69
This wine shows how truly great wine from Languedoc can be - if you give it the chance to shine.
It’s from Château Maris in La Livinière - one of the Languedoc’s best wineries producing rich reds in one of the Languedoc’s best areas.
Ben Darnault of Mas Calamiac fame is the head winemaker here - everything he touches seems to turn to (liquid) gold.
The reason this wine is so good, is that absolutely zero expense is spared in the making of it.
It’s from the oldest Syrah vineyard at Château Maris, which is totally organic, biodynamic and dry-grown.
The immaculate fruit is hand-picked in the vineyard and then each berry is painstakingly hand-removed from the stems in the winery. The whole process takes two days and ten people!
But Ben tells me this meticulous work is completely worth it - it produces the perfect ferment and as a winemaker there’s very little he needs to do with it.
The wine spends 18-24 months in new French oak and then finishes its ageing in concrete eggs.
You end up with a wine with incredible intensity and gorgeous bright aromatics, but it’s also so easy to drink - which is how you know that Ben Darnault has had his hands on it.
If you love a good Côte-Rôtie, but don’t love shelling out €100+ for it, then you’ll be in heaven with this wine.
| Wine type | Red |
| Grape(s) | 100% Syrah |
| Country | France |
| Region of origin | Minervois |
| Appellation | AOP La Liviniere |
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Alcohol % | 15 |
| Oak? | 100% new oak |
| Months in Oak | 18 month |
| Type of Oak | French |
| Allergens (e.g. Milk, Egg, Fish, Nuts) | SO2 |
| Average age of vines | 40 years old |
| Average altitude of vines (m) | 200 |
| Soil type(s) | Sand stone and clay |
| Closure Type | Cork |
| Is this wine organic? | Yes |
| Biodynamic? | Yes Demeter |
| Sustainably produced? | yes |
| Suitable for vegans? | Yes Demeter |
| Ageing potential (years) | 15 |
| Ideal drinking window | 2023-2029 |
I worked closely with Ben for 10 years at Naked - Ben as a young, up-and-coming winemaker, me as a young, mostly-winging-it Managing Director.
It’s fair to say we both had a role to play in growing our respective careers and businesses - Ben is now one of Naked’s most successful winemakers.
We know how important it is to get your wine order quickly and efficiently. So we’ve partnered with UPS to offer next-day delivery on our wines.
Here’s what you need to know:
- It’s free - delivery is already included in the members' price
- It’s fast - you’ll get next-day delivery if you order before 12pm Monday-Thursday
- It’s environmentally-friendly - all of our orders are shipped carbon neutral with UPS.
We ship to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland only. €2 per case is added to all Northern Ireland orders to cover additional shipping costs. The point of sale occurs in the Republic of Ireland.
Our minimum order requirement is 6 bottles and we ship in multiples of 6’s. This can be 6 different bottles!
You may need to show your ID on delivery.
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