2015 By Jeff Carrel Les Darons Languedoc is sold out.

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  • 91 - 93 pts Wine Advocate
    91 - 93 pts RPWA
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2015 By Jeff Carrel Les Darons Languedoc 750 ml

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  • Curated by unrivaled experts
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  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

Parker’s 91-93pt Summer Red of the Year (and Why Some Should Reconsider Early Retirement)

As many in Montpelier sweated through three weeks of 85-degree nights in June 2015, it was easy to forget just how dismal the winter and early spring had been. As it turned out, winemaker Jeff Carrel explained, in retrospect, it was the cold rain of January, February, and March that set the stage for what many believe to be the most extraordinary vintage in decades in Languedoc-Roussillon.

For anyone considering early retirement, spending the next 20 years in the south of France, and tending a few acres of head-trained Grenache, the story of the 2015 growing season will make you think twice.

The beginning of the 2015 growing season was anything but promising. The unusually wet winter and spring brought heightened risk of mildew. Luckily for Jeff Carrel, by the first of May, le meteo turned on a dime. May came in like a lamb, ushering in a series of dry, very windy days. Le Mistral gusted off the Mediterranean, a hot cleansing wind that all but vanquished any sign of mildew. June started off exceedingly hot, with temperatures surpassing 90 degrees, until a flash storm on June 7th momentarily refreshed the vines. On June 26th, however, the mercury soared again, now topping 100 degrees — conditions that would continue for three consecutive weeks.

Carrel called the conditions “suffocating.” By mid-July, winter’s high water table had all but evaporated, and hydric stress — all but unthinkable in late February — became a reality. Then, in still another dramatic turnaround, rain began to fall on August 14th. Temperatures dropped precipitously. The vines recharged and then made a mad dash for the finish line.

The 2015 Jeff Carrel “Les Darons” is a gentle beast. Opaque purple in color, with utterly hedonistic aromas of blackberry, violets, sweet licorice, and sweet herbs. Despite all the opulence, still finely delineated and beautifully focused. Rich, intensely concentrated, silken in texture, the core features a powerful mix of crushed black fruit and black cherry preserves, a splash of kirsch and crème de cassis, finishing with surprising tautness and tension. Drink now-2020.

91-93 points from Parker, making this one of The Wine Advocate’s top-rated under-$20 reds of the year. A bargain at the $25 release price. Like STEALING at $16 this morning — exclusively on WineAccess.