Plaisance-Penavayre Le Rouge Fronton '20

Louis Penavayre, a self-taught wine grower, converted his family’s entire farm, about seven hectares of vines, animals, and fruit trees, to vines and making wine 1971. The estate is located in in Vacquiers, in southwestern France. His son Marc is the current owner, having taken over in 1991, with a focus on gentle cultivation and the health of the vineyards and grapes. The 2006 vintage was the first under organic conversion, with certification in 2011, and the estate also follows biodynamic principles. The vineyard area is now around 26 hectares, and Marc works with his son, Thibaut. The name Plaisance refers to the vineyards Marc started with, which were mostly located in the lieu-dit Plaisance.The southeast vineyards are located on the highest terraces of Tarn (altitude 220 meters), within Fronton AOP. The old, heavily eroded clay, gravel, pebbly soils have a high proportion of silica and quartz. Vinification is carried out with indigenous yeasts, and the wines are neither fined nor filtered. The red varieties grown include an array of local varieties, such as Négrette, Négret Pounjut, Jurançon Noir, Abouriou, Alicante, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Gamay.

The 2020 Rouge is a blend of 68% Négrette, 24% Syrah, and 8% Cabernet Franc, and the vines were planted between 1963 and 2001. The varieties are destemmed, then vinified and aged separately in stainless steel tanks before final blending. Fermentation is carried out with ambient yeast. The wine was aged for 18 months in concrete tanks, then bottled unfiltered and unfined.

This is a true bistro wine, so enjoy this with seared hanger steak and potatoes dauphinoise.