Grenache Noir & Carignan, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France

An aromatic, savoury and JUICY zero-zero stunner from one of our favourite nomadic projects. Extremely well travelled, brilliant sommelier-turned-winemaker, Lainie Taillefer spent 10 years between Europe and Montreal prolifically treading vineyards, while working in, and orchestrating the wine lists of a who’s who of famed restaurants. Her experience, wine-mind and taste buds are some of the most accomplished we know. In 2020, L’Étrangère came about as a gracefully-morphing and low-intervention exploration of place that started in Segovia, Spain and has since travelled to Vipava Valley, Slovenia, Mosel Valley, Germany, Weinviertel, Austria and now southern France! Coming out of a challenging time for Lainie, ‘The foreigner… and her weirdos’, is a blend of over 100-year-old intense, earthy carignan and 44-year-old berried, spiced grenache from Philippe Wies of La Petite Baigneuse in Maury. The grapes were picked by hand, cooled overnight and on Sunday in September (a flower day), were added to a barrel in a millefeuille style for fermentation – meaning unternating layers of destemmed grapes and whole clusters. After fermentation completed the wine was split between a single Burgundy barrel and stainless steel vat for eight months – watched over by wine royalty Bruno Duchéne– to truly marry, before being bottled on yet another auspicious flower day. Race track asphalt, cherry liquorice, strawberry kiwi juice fullness, texture spreads across the tongue like a fishnet, holding fish covered in tart, citric scales, red roses & oodles of pollen. Enjoy alongside anything on a skewer, chicken hearts, mushrooms, beef satay or summer squash are all great options.