2013 Samantha’s Tea Party Grenache
Languedoc, France
Domaine Magellan
This is our first release of Grenache from the
beautiful Domaine Magellan. Magellan is situated about 35km south west of Montpellier and just south of Faugères. Bruno Lafon of Burgundy’s Comte Lafon fame moved into the area in 1999, intrigued with the Mediterranean climate and the soils of compact clay, sandstone and rolling pebbles. Our Grenache stems from a single plot, planted in the 1970s. The grapes were hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel, seeing further aging in concrete and then 4 months in older Burgundy barrels prior to bottling. We were looking for fine acids and clear tannins…the wine clenching a fistful of red fruits and black pepper. We found it.
The 2013 Kitten Swish Grenache is refreshing, agile and pure…the perfect lunch wine and certainly worthy of a “Tea Party”.
I often look around my surroundings for label inspiration. Sometimes this inspiration is from the vineyard, sometimes it’s found on a wine trip and sometimes it’s from my living room.Our environments are filled with pockets of interesting bits and pieces; usually right beneath our noses. Samantha’s tea party collection sat in our living room on display for several months before finding a suitable cupboard. I grew increasingly fond of the delicate collection of cups and saucers. Over the months they came to represent a kind of luxury. A luxury of time and beauty. To have a tea party one must forgo the frantic schedules and simply relax, taking it all in with a cup of tea. Beautiful really.
Wine, like tea, is best enjoyed when you have set aside time for pleasure, relaxing with nothing on the mind except the beauty of life. Our Grenache is something to sip on, to enjoy, whether in a wine glass …or a tea cup.
I had a chance meeting with Bruno Lafon in the summer of 2014. I had been wanting to bottle Grenache from France and was looking for a partner who paid particular detail to freshness and minerality. Bruno is a champion of this style. We discussed the Kitten Swish project over a bottle of 2012 thingsIthoughtaboutyesterday. Thankfully he liked the wine. Sold! Kitten Swish Grenache is born! I am excited to see where this partnership goes. I feel there will be many more Bruno/Brad …Kitten Swish/Magellan projects in the future.
So much to explore.
For allocation requests or a list of available retailers please contact us.