Domaine des Enfants suis l etoile, 2019
Domaine des Enfants suis l etoile, 2019
The 2014 Côtes Catalanes 'Suis l'étoile', which is Carignan, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre offers loads of smoke, toast, liquorice, and cured meats to go with a core of black raspberry, cassis and kirsch-styled fruit. Full-bodied, seamless, layered and balanced, with a blockbuster finish, it will deliver the goods over the coming 7-8 years, probably longer.
25% Grenache
10% Syrah
10% Mourvedre
Producer's Profile
Carrie Sumner and Marcel Buhler
Domaine des Enfants was founded in 2006 by Swiss-born Marcel Bühler. He studied finance and he was working in a Zurich bank when he decided that it didn’t suit him. He had always wanted to be a gardener. He moved to the Roussillon, more precisely to the Côtes Catalanes, in the vicinity of the commune of Maury, a tough countryside, with wind swept vineyards on precarious slopes. Then in 2011, he met Carrie Sumner, a sommelier from Oregon, who was training on the adjacent farm. One thing led to another and the couple moved under the same roof.
Carrie and Marcel’s estate consists of 25 hectares, mainly old vineyards of Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, and Lladoner Pelut, on different soils (slate, granite, gneiss, and limestone) and varying heights. Their vines are as old as 100 years, and yields are often as low as 5hl/ha.
Together, they have embraced a respectful organic viticulture, preserving the cultural landscape and the heritage of the region. They are often helped out by their horse Nina.
Their wines are the exact result of what the vineyards have to offer. The couple intervenes very little with the natural process, and they give their wines time to find harmony and balance.
The hard-working couple describes their wines as ‘the fruit of their passion’.
For Carrie and Marcel, wine is their means to engage with other people, to spark a conversation, to share thoughts, and to awaken emotions.
