Matthieu Barret `Petit Ours` Côtes-Du-Rhône Rouge 2020

Brightly fruited, with blackberry and currant fruits, a beautifully juicy palate. So delicious!

100% Syrah sourced from organically farmed vineyards. This is the négociant label for top Cornas producer Domaine du Coulet and the pedigree is evident in the bottle. Brightly fruited, with blackberry and currant fruits, a beautifully juicy palate with well integrated tannins and nice minerality.

Producer: Domain du Coulet

Region/Country: Northern Rhone, France

Grape/s: Syrah

Production Method: Organic farming. Wild yeast fermentation and bottled without fining or filtration with minimal sulphur

Style: Bright and fruity with crisp acid and nice body. Very approachable

Pairing Suggestion: Grilled meats, game and poultry dishes

Variety: Syrah/Shiraz

Profile: Labelling a wine as Syrah or Shiraz used to be indicative of origin however now tends to refer to style. Wines labelled as Syrah will be in the classic French style, medium bodied, blue fruited and showing lovely peppery spice whereas Shiraz tends to be fuller in body, with riper red and black fruit character indicating a warmer climate - the Australian style. The variety responds very well to oak maturation, adding tannic structure to the fruity frame, allowing for extreme age ability. It is also a very good blending grape, adding richness, fruit and structure.

Classic Regions: Rhone Valley (France), Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale (Australia), Hawkes Bay (New Zealand)

Domaine du Coulet

A seventh-generation vigneron, Matthieu Barret studied viticulture in Beaune and joined his grandfather in Cornas in 1997. He immediately started working the vines organically and produced his first vintage in 2000. The vines are planted on steep south/south-east-facing terraces which are carved into the granite rock of Cornas. Matthieu has also consistently pursued innovation and minimal intervention in the winery. In 2006, Matthieu decided to use fewer oak barrels in vinification and started to use concrete egg and diamond-shaped vats to achieve a superior purity of fruit.