Grande Réserve

Val de l'Ours
There’s a place on the hills bordering the Mediterranean shores where nature has always been so abundant that brown bears had chosen it to settle down, knowing that the rocky hillsides and forest would provide them a safe habitat, and the thick vegetation ample supplies of food and water.
Today human activity has reclaimed this fertile valley, pushing the bears further up towards the Pyrenean mountains and allowing us to produce a range of generous wines.

The vintage
The weather usually varies enormously across the Languedoc region, but was uncharacteristically uniform in 2017. There was plenty of rain between the end of January and the end of March, enabling the replenishment of the water reserves essential for a good start to the growth cycle. This unusually wet start to the season was followed by some major climate incidents : like everywhere else in France, and indeed in Europe, the Languedoc experienced two frosts at the end of April of a severity that had not been seen in the region for more than 25 years, and which destroyed hundreds of hectares of vines. Nearly a third of Aussières’ vineyard was affected by these late sub-zero temperatures, and in one area the entire harvest was lost. Nevertheless, in the areas not affected by this disaster, the vintage proved to be of very high quality, with temperature and rainfall patterns similar to the excellent 2015. This enabled a good expression of the vines throughout the growth cycle, from bud break to flowering and, finally, the ripening stage. Superb weather in September and October allowed for excellent levels of ripeness to be reached by all the grape varieties, with beautiful aromatic expression and good balance across all of the plots.
The plots used to produce Val De L'Ours Grande Réserve were harvested between 2 September and 8 October 2017.
Varietals
Syrah : 34%
Carignan : 33%
Grenache : 23%
Mourvèdre : 10%

Tasting
Beautiful, deep dark-red colour.
The nose is still somewhat reserved, offering aromas of spices and garrigue mingled with toasted notes from the barrel ageing.
A generous, harmonious wine on the palate, revealing black fruit and spices, supported by silky, elegant tannins Well-balanced, this wine can be enjoyed now, but will also keep for several more years.