2016 Elite d'Or Cabernet/Marselan – Domaine de la Baume, IGP Pays d'Oc

An estate that had to be rebuilt from the ground up after the phylloxera disaster – and from it came a cuvée that leaves nothing about its power to chance.

The estate

In 1882 Jean Prat took over an estate in Servian, in the Hérault, that phylloxera had almost completely destroyed. It took him and his sons more than 20 years to rebuild the plots – and in the end they had a 100-hectare vineyard. Since 2003 Domaine de la Baume has belonged to the Grands Chais de France group under Joseph Helfrich, who expanded its marketing at home and abroad and modernised the estate thoroughly – from plot-by-plot characterisation to night harvesting.

The wine

Elite d'Or combines a traditional southern French variety, Marselan, with the best-known name among red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon. It is produced in small quantities, exclusively from the best fruit of the estate's own vines, some of them very old. The vinification is modern: cold maceration before fermentation, alcoholic fermentation in wooden casks, then ageing in French oak barrels.

Tasting note

A dark colour with garnet highlights. Spicy, ripe notes meet an exceptionally intense, almost exotic bouquet of berries, blackberry, bay leaf, coffee, toasted bread and chocolate. Powerful and concentrated on the palate, with intense red-fruit flavours from the Cabernet Sauvignon underlined by the spice of the Marselan. Barrel ageing gives the wine complexity, aromatic length and a slightly sweet character.

Drinking window

Until 2028 – the 2016 is already showing lovely maturity, with potential still to come.

At the table

Red meat and game, but also surprisingly good with mushrooms or other powerful, earthy dishes.

• A rare grape combination: A Marselan–Cabernet cuvée is rarely found as a bottling of its own.
• Beautifully mature: The 2016 already shows the complexity of a mature vintage, with a drinking window until 2028.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Marselan
Taste: Dry
Origin: France / Languedoc-Roussillon, IGP Pays d'Oc
Alcohol content: see label
Volume: 0.75 L

Allergens: Contains sulphites

Nutrition (average per 100 ml, calculated according to EU Regulation 2021/2117) Energy: approx. 380 kJ / 91 kcal · Carbohydrates: approx. 0.3 g · of which sugars: approx. 0.2 g