Les Armières

What the RVF says in its 2018 Guide: "Antoine-Marie Arena produced his first wines in 2014. Antoine Arena's youngest son has been working and making wine at the family estate for years. He now signs his own cuvées, taking charge of Hauts de Carco in white and Carco in red, and made his entry in the 2017 edition. The reading of the wines and the sensitivity of the new blended wines confirm the talent of this young winemaker. The coherence and depth of his wines are beyond doubt: we award him a well-deserved second star. The wines: they give a lot of emotion, show both precision and accuracy. Hauts de Carco has great purity, a powerful yet firm mouthfeel. Bianco Gentile is a model, with the maturity of this grape variety, without its drawbacks: full-bodied, it is well managed by bitters that reframe it. Bianchi, a blend of vermentino, biancu gentile and muscat, is subtle. It exhales notes of rose and cumin, and delights us with its harmonious mouthfeel, its quality length; for a lemon chicken. Carco, not very extracted and infused, is distinguished by its right substance and finesse. Memoria is chubbier and fuller, but retains the precision of the fruit and the quality of the tannins. Finally, San Giovanni, still very young, offers spicy nuances and a quality substance. It seduces by its dimension"

"Enfant du pays, Pierre Quinonero, du Domaine de la Garance a pour objectif de produire des vins au caractère méditerranéen, taillés pour la garde. Il a grandi dans les 1,5 hectare de vignes de son grand-père maternel, à quelques kilomètres de Pézenas, au milieu des vignes et de la garrigue. Et c’est à ce même endroit qu’il a bâti de ses mains sa cave et son mas dès 1991.

 

Autodidacte, il travaille seul, sans œnologue, et a replanté grenache et syrah, issus de sélections massales. Il a pour lui un terroir de basalte mais aussi des parcelles plus fraîches avec des galets roulés en sous-sol.

 

Ses blancs, travaillés sur l’oxydatif, pourront trouver leur public. Ses vins rouges offrent relief et de personnalité, à l’instar d’Armières, qu’il est recommandé de carafer. Les vins n’étant pas protégés par le soufre, il est impératif de stocker les bouteilles dans de bonnes conditions." 1* RVF Guide