Carignan, Roussillon, France 

Fanciful, ethereal & sober (hah!), this wine is like Wednesday Adams (circa 2022), there is funk, bite, keen wit & a passionate spirit. Since 2013, Saskia van der Horst has been working her 4.5 hectares of organic vines in the south of France. Saskia also speaks of her interest in agroforestry, how vines and trees can live together in symbiosis and improve balance in all related aspects. A unique perspective and some of the most zealous wines we’ve tasted as of late. 100% Carignan from roughly 90-year old vines on scrumptious marl and sandstone soils. Destemmed, with one week of semi-carbonic maceration, and six months of aging in fibreglass. Saskia’s entry wine, meant as the all-around southern french red. Leaps beyond table wine. High toned sour cherry candies, playing ‘Paint it Black’ on the cello, inter-dimensional violet fruit, beginning of fall leaves – both green and dirt splattered dried ones & a pinch of salt, culminating in supple tannins that lick YOUR tongue, not the other way ‘round. Pour alongside roasted kabocha squash, sprinkled in zhoug & dipped in labneh.