Nicolas Carmarans ‘Fer de Sang’ Rouge 2023
Location: France, South West, Aveyron
Winemaker: Nicolas Carmarans
Grapes: Fer Servadou
Soil: Fer Servadou, from 2 parcels of vines grown at a grape varietal conservatory in the commune of Marcillac-Vallon, planted in clay-limestone soils. It's a massal selection of old vines, farmed organically, which Nicolas buys from his cousin.
Winemaking: Organic farming. Hand harvest. One week maceration with whole bunches, gentle pressing, blending of free-run and press juices, and elevage in old barrique.
From us at M&L: Wine grapes are remarkable: in the right hands they are transmuted into such a broad array of flavors as to be unrecognizable as vitis vinifera. Mutations have delineated the common wine grape into myriad varieties; the soils, the climate and the care taken to grow them bear significantly on the resulting wine. Every once in a while we encounter a wine whose flavors (as we subjectively interpret them) seem so far afield - even within the broadest spectrum of signatures - that we puzzle over “how” such a wine came to be.
Nicolas is a living legend - as willful and intuitive a winemaker as he is a renegade. His estate in Izagues, Aveyron is remote and extreme. Nicolas works extensively with the native grape Fer Servadou (Bracoul in Occitaine). There is profound complexity in Nicolas’ wines, and here the balance of bracing flowers and shrubby umami is uncanny (menthol? lovage? violets? sun dried tomatoes?????!).
However, for all of their power in the flavor department Nicolas’ wines drink effortlessly. Smooth and gastronomic with a mineral spine and real delicacy - choose your own adventure with charred chops or blackened chicken biriyani.
From the Importer Steven Graf Wine: For a long time, Nicolas ran a natural wine bar in Paris. From 2002 to 2007 he dabbled in winemaking in the same appellation where his great-grandfather made wine. Then, after purchasing his prized "Le Mauvais Temps" site, he was all in. He's worked tirelessly to restore the natural terroir of this beautiful site, surrounded by forests and all the biodiversity responsible for the unique character of his unique wines. Never any chemicals or pesticide, minimal sulphur, and truly authentic.
There are some bottles we wait for all year, and there's no better example than a wine like Fer de Sang, iron from blood, a completely peerless wine. These are grapes from a vineyard in Marcillac that Nicolas has been working with for years. It's a vineyard of clay (hence the iron) that makes for the most powerful and expressive wine in Carmaran's lineup. Its’ counterpart, Maximus, comes from granite, and the difference makes the case for the importance of terroir. Far lighter, sharper, full of its own idiosyncrasies. Another white wine as well, Entre les Eaux, a blend of Nicolas's Chenin and Aligoté from Burgundy.
Location: France, South West, Aveyron
Winemaker: Nicolas Carmarans
Grapes: Fer Servadou
Soil: Fer Servadou, from 2 parcels of vines grown at a grape varietal conservatory in the commune of Marcillac-Vallon, planted in clay-limestone soils. It's a massal selection of old vines, farmed organically, which Nicolas buys from his cousin.
Winemaking: Organic farming. Hand harvest. One week maceration with whole bunches, gentle pressing, blending of free-run and press juices, and elevage in old barrique.
From us at M&L: Wine grapes are remarkable: in the right hands they are transmuted into such a broad array of flavors as to be unrecognizable as vitis vinifera. Mutations have delineated the common wine grape into myriad varieties; the soils, the climate and the care taken to grow them bear significantly on the resulting wine. Every once in a while we encounter a wine whose flavors (as we subjectively interpret them) seem so far afield - even within the broadest spectrum of signatures - that we puzzle over “how” such a wine came to be.
Nicolas is a living legend - as willful and intuitive a winemaker as he is a renegade. His estate in Izagues, Aveyron is remote and extreme. Nicolas works extensively with the native grape Fer Servadou (Bracoul in Occitaine). There is profound complexity in Nicolas’ wines, and here the balance of bracing flowers and shrubby umami is uncanny (menthol? lovage? violets? sun dried tomatoes?????!).
However, for all of their power in the flavor department Nicolas’ wines drink effortlessly. Smooth and gastronomic with a mineral spine and real delicacy - choose your own adventure with charred chops or blackened chicken biriyani.
From the Importer Steven Graf Wine: For a long time, Nicolas ran a natural wine bar in Paris. From 2002 to 2007 he dabbled in winemaking in the same appellation where his great-grandfather made wine. Then, after purchasing his prized "Le Mauvais Temps" site, he was all in. He's worked tirelessly to restore the natural terroir of this beautiful site, surrounded by forests and all the biodiversity responsible for the unique character of his unique wines. Never any chemicals or pesticide, minimal sulphur, and truly authentic.
There are some bottles we wait for all year, and there's no better example than a wine like Fer de Sang, iron from blood, a completely peerless wine. These are grapes from a vineyard in Marcillac that Nicolas has been working with for years. It's a vineyard of clay (hence the iron) that makes for the most powerful and expressive wine in Carmaran's lineup. Its’ counterpart, Maximus, comes from granite, and the difference makes the case for the importance of terroir. Far lighter, sharper, full of its own idiosyncrasies. Another white wine as well, Entre les Eaux, a blend of Nicolas's Chenin and Aligoté from Burgundy.
Location: France, South West, Aveyron
Winemaker: Nicolas Carmarans
Grapes: Fer Servadou
Soil: Fer Servadou, from 2 parcels of vines grown at a grape varietal conservatory in the commune of Marcillac-Vallon, planted in clay-limestone soils. It's a massal selection of old vines, farmed organically, which Nicolas buys from his cousin.
Winemaking: Organic farming. Hand harvest. One week maceration with whole bunches, gentle pressing, blending of free-run and press juices, and elevage in old barrique.
From us at M&L: Wine grapes are remarkable: in the right hands they are transmuted into such a broad array of flavors as to be unrecognizable as vitis vinifera. Mutations have delineated the common wine grape into myriad varieties; the soils, the climate and the care taken to grow them bear significantly on the resulting wine. Every once in a while we encounter a wine whose flavors (as we subjectively interpret them) seem so far afield - even within the broadest spectrum of signatures - that we puzzle over “how” such a wine came to be.
Nicolas is a living legend - as willful and intuitive a winemaker as he is a renegade. His estate in Izagues, Aveyron is remote and extreme. Nicolas works extensively with the native grape Fer Servadou (Bracoul in Occitaine). There is profound complexity in Nicolas’ wines, and here the balance of bracing flowers and shrubby umami is uncanny (menthol? lovage? violets? sun dried tomatoes?????!).
However, for all of their power in the flavor department Nicolas’ wines drink effortlessly. Smooth and gastronomic with a mineral spine and real delicacy - choose your own adventure with charred chops or blackened chicken biriyani.
From the Importer Steven Graf Wine: For a long time, Nicolas ran a natural wine bar in Paris. From 2002 to 2007 he dabbled in winemaking in the same appellation where his great-grandfather made wine. Then, after purchasing his prized "Le Mauvais Temps" site, he was all in. He's worked tirelessly to restore the natural terroir of this beautiful site, surrounded by forests and all the biodiversity responsible for the unique character of his unique wines. Never any chemicals or pesticide, minimal sulphur, and truly authentic.
There are some bottles we wait for all year, and there's no better example than a wine like Fer de Sang, iron from blood, a completely peerless wine. These are grapes from a vineyard in Marcillac that Nicolas has been working with for years. It's a vineyard of clay (hence the iron) that makes for the most powerful and expressive wine in Carmaran's lineup. Its’ counterpart, Maximus, comes from granite, and the difference makes the case for the importance of terroir. Far lighter, sharper, full of its own idiosyncrasies. Another white wine as well, Entre les Eaux, a blend of Nicolas's Chenin and Aligoté from Burgundy.