For a taste of regional Languedoc-Roussillon here’s an excellent example from Jeff Carrel and his mate Sebastien Calduch. The wine is called "Comme à Cayenne" because the plot where the Grenache and Carignan were planted was so hard that Michel’s mother regularly said it was like "working the ground in Cayenne", a slavery prison in French Guyana. This wine is 85% Grenache and 15% Carignan which delivers notes of black fruits and spices. A concentrated wine but without excessiveness. Intense, elegant, well rounded and with an authentic mix of spices like liquorice and dark fruits like cherries and blackcurrants.

Jeff is one of the best winemakers we partner with, responsible for producing a wide variety of high quality wines. He works with different grape growers in different places and indulges his genius over a wide variety of grapes and styles and terroirs. If the wider Languedoc region of southern France were a country in its own right, it would be one of the best wine-growing countries. Jeff has successfully managed to combine a growing level of quality regional wines conforming to the structures and confines of Appellation Contrôlée. But he also enjoys the freedom to experiment using a vast range of grapes, soils, and microclimates to produce ground-breaking new wines freed from those Appellation Contrôlée shackles. It’s the best of both worlds. Jeff Carrel reflects this freedom with his wide range of wines and styles.

Serve with lamb, pigeon or a filet of beef...