Carignan Blends
JANUARY 2026
Happy New Year! We're going to kick off 2026 with two Carignan blends! Carignan is a wonderful, ancient grape grown predominantly in Languedoc-Roussillon (French Mediterranean near the border to Spain), in Spain in the winelands around Barcelona, and on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Carignan has a special, recognizable flavor and at the same time, it's hard to describe. It has notes of violets, dark berries, red fruits (cranberry, red plums), and this special, herbal minerality that can have a leathery, smoky note of cured meat.
Carignan is sometimes found as a single varietal (we have one from Sardinia if you get the Carignan-bug), but it's most often part of a Syrah-Grenache blend. (Don't worry. You'll know the Carignan is there!) Your two examples are blends from France: one is a little more delicate, while the second bottle is a powerhouse of a red — fuller-bodied, rich, flavorful, and dry! So fun what different micro-climates, different terroir, and different winemakers do with a grape!
Hope you enjoy your two January club wines. We think they are a delicious and interesting way to kick off the new year!
Château d'Or et GeulesCostières de Nîmes, Southern Rhône
Diane de Puymorin (pictured) and Mathieu Chatain own and operate this estate located in AOC Costières de Nîmes in the southwest corner of the Rhône Valley with pebble soil classic for that area. Maritime breezes offer freshness to the wines as well as a note of salinity. The estate has 60% younger vines and 40% 50+ years and older.
Château d’Or et de Gueules wines are organic and biodynamic (Demeter) certified, and "the estate is buzzing with biodiversity initiatives : maintenance and development of hedgerows, oak and olive trees planting, sheep pasture for mowing, bird sanctuary."
Pictured below: Diane de Puymorin (right) with her daughter
Chateau d'Or et de Gueules 2022 Les Cimels Rouge • Southern Rhône, France • Reg $16.99 | Mixed Case $13.59
Costières de Nimes blend of Syrah, Carignan, Grenache. 60/30/10. Super inviting nose. Spicy, herbal aromas with lots of red fruit. Juicy & rich but elegant. Flavors of raspberries, strawberries, dark cherries with herbal notes. Spicy, peppery finish. Medium- to lighter in body. Fantastic value! Would be great with so many dishes: pizza, burgers, grilled & roasted meats, but light enough for veggie pasta. Drink now.
Domaine Cabirau
Maury, Roussillon, France
Importer's notes: Domaine Cabirau is a Roussillon (French Catalonia) vineyard, owned by American importer (active 1980-2007) Dan Kravitz (pictured). In 2007, he purchased 13.5 acres of Grenache vineyards in Roussillon. The vineyard is twenty miles inland from the Mediterranean and twenty miles north of Spain. The vines were planted on steep slopes of schist, dark sharp rock that gives a distinctive mineral character to Grenache, different from the earthiness of Côtes du Rhône planted on flat vineyards of smooth white river stones. By 2018 he had accumulated twenty-three acres (15.2 Grenache, 1.5 Syrah, 3.6 Carignan, 2.4 Macabeu) in the village of Maury.
Domaine Cabirau 2021 Maury Sec "Serge & Marie" • Languedoc-Roussillon, France • Reg $19.99 | Wine Club $17.99 | Mixed Case $14.39
From the DOC Maury = sub-appellation of Côtes du Roussillon, right on the border to Spain. Garrigue, herbal nose with red & black raspberries, dark plums. Flavors of red & dark plums, black raspberries, blackberries on the finish with herbal notes throughout. Fuller-bodied. Little bit of a dry, rustic finish (=Julie), fresh finish (=Jens). We are so pleased with this wine! What a value. Drink now to 2 years. Best with meat and/or mushroom dishes.
A Note from Jens:
Your wine club pickup tasting is usually the 2nd Saturday of the month, but this month because of our time off, is the 3rd Saturday of the month.
Join to taste and learn about your club wines before enjoying them at home. This month's Carignan blends are interesting and fun. Carignan has special taste all its own. Pictured above: a “gathering of rogues” — restaurateurs and wine merchants — from the Gard region tasting through Chateau d'Or et de Gueules’s lineup. Also pictured are the musts (and notes) from their daily tastings during fermentation.
You'll also be able to taste the FLAGSHIP club wines. Our January theme is Syrah... A World Tour, featuring wines from France's Northern Rhône, Washington State, and Australia's McLaren Vale Valley. The wines are delicious and couldn't be more different.
Hope you can join!
Cheers,
Jens Strecker, Owner
Portalis Wine Shop
If you are here because you’re curious about our wine clubs: Here’s more general info & online sign-up. You can also peruse the last 12 months of both clubs to get a feel for the themes we pick and the wines we showcase: Portalis EXPLORES (our everyday wine club) & Portalis FLAGSHIP (our signature club).