91 Pts David Schildknecht - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"The 2004 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Les Dentelles- a blend of Grenache and Carignan (presumably with the legally requisite splash of Syrah)- displays a sweetly enticing nose of candied essences of cassis, black raspberry, mint, caramel and chocolate. Undeniably sweet and flamboyant in its oak-engendered accents of vanilla, toast, and coconut, this seamlessly rich Roussillon red is remarkably polished and viscous in texture and lingering in finish. But close attention reveals underlying suggestions of firm tannin and stoniness, and it will be most interesting to chart its evolution over the next several years." -91 points- David Schildknecht- Wine Advocate

WINE:
"The 'older sister' of the Cuvee Constance, the Cuvee des Dentelles differentiates itself by its maturity. The grapes come from lower yield vineyards with older vines...with a wine that is predominantly red and dark fruit thanks to the old vine Carignan. The age of the vines are 40-100 years old. The soils are schist and lime-claystone. The wine spends 16-18 months in larger barrels and 300 liter new oak barriques. No fining or filtration." -Winery; translated by KM

WINERY:
"The Domaine Calvet-Thunevin was created in 2001, after a meeting between Jean-Luc Thunevin, owner of Chateau Valandraud in St. Emilion and Jean-Roger Calvet, a young winemaker from Maury. Jean-Luc Thunevin bought several hectares, in addition to Jean-Roger's, went to the local cooperative during the first vintage. Later the vinification was moved to a garage located off a small street in the village. Little by little, the winery has grown and now 60 hectares are farmed...Maury is a region that is dominated by shale. This winery also has vineyards with clay-limestone soils." -Winery; translated by KM

VINEYARDS:
"All of the work is ecological, although it is impossible to be 100% organic due to the size and winds around our vineyards. However, we put into practice environmental approaches as well as using a 'lutte raisonnee' such as no chemical fertilizer and work that is done by mules instead of tractors...treatments against mildew are done with small amounts of sulfur." -Winery; translated by KM

VINIFICATION:
"Harvest is done by hand and placed into small baskets of 12 kilos. A first sorting is done in the parcel and after arriving at the cellar, the grapes follow another sorting before being crushed. All of the grapes are destemmed and crushed before going into the vats. Vinification is traditional and put into 58 hectoliter cement vats. Punching downs and pumping overs occur during fermentation, as well as at least one rack and return before alcoholic fermentation. There's a 3-6 week maceration period, depending on the wine." -Winery; translated by KM