INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 DOMAINE DE CLOVALLON FAUGERES 'LES INDIGENES' $23.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

Often when a wine is described as being a 'single vineyard', the costs usually skyrocket. And deservedly so in the more famous and high end regions, as they are meant to express the very best sites. In some of the more fun cases, like this one, it's more about expressing a unique identity, something that can't be formulated and replicated in a lab. It doesn't even have to be 'The Best', just the fact that it exists and has something distinct to add to the general wine conversation is important. Much of what the Faugeres region has become known for in recent years has been fairly hearty, modern style rich reds with lots of Rhone style Syrah and Grenache. This is pretty much none of that. The source is a 2 acre walled in 'clos' tucked away in a hillside that can only be accessed by a path and small doorway (pictured here from the importer's web site; a mere bottle shot just wouldn't do it justice this week). You genuinely would not be surprised if there was a hobbit house sitting just of frame. The vineyard itself was started over 200 years ago, still containing some vines that are pre-phylloxera, and as the tradition was of the time is interplanted with both red and white varieties. At least 13 different ones have been identified with a few yet unknown. Built with a very natural 'non-interventionist' style, co-fermenting all the grapes together with native yeasts, this wine truly tastes like itself and itself only. Slightly pale red in the glass with a savory, slightly barnyard-y nose (might be the fertilizer made with the help of the neighbor's cow?) that blows off to show lots of earthy red fruit tones and dried herbs. The palate is not extracted or thick, with lots of meaty red fruit tones made a bit tart by the natural acidity, and a slightly gritty savory finish. Great to pair with easy, rustic dishes with a bit of meat to it, anything from chicken to beef.

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