The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1 & 2

WINE TALK
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The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1, Rasteau

In Provencal, Escaravaille means beetle and the name of this domaine comes from the nickname given by the Rasteau people in the 17th century to the monastic order called the “Black Penitents of Avignon.” This order worked the vineyards wearing long black cloaks and when seen from the village below, the monks looked like beetles scurrying among the vines.

Located just outside of Roaix, this estate has been owned by the Ferran family for three generations and was purchased by Jean-Louis Ferran in 1953. The estate has since passed to Jean-Louis’s grandson, Gilles Ferran in 1999 and after years of selling their grapes to the likes of Chateau Beaucastel and J.L. Chave, bottled their first estate wine, the Rasteau “La Ponce.” Gilles Ferran studied oenology in Montpellier (alongside his long time friend and current consultant, Philippe Cambie) and then worked with his father Daniel in the winery prior to taking the reins in 1999.

The domaine spreads over 40 hectare on Rasteau and 25 Hectares on Cairanne, Villedieu and Saint Roman with diverse soils but a common calcareous and clay sub-terrain.

And now onto the wines…
These are imported by Peter Mesrobian of Ventoux Fine Wines, LLC and I was able to purchase all of these through Flickinger Wines in Chicago. I’ve grouped them in some semblance of order with the first part covering their two Rasteau bottlings, the Classique and the more serious “La Ponce” bottling.

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Classique
The bright purple colored 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Cote du Rhone Village Rasteau Classique is a blend of 70% Grenache (40 year old vines), 30% Syrah (30 year old vines) and offers up a pretty bouquet of raspberry jam, black cherries, fresh cut flowers, black pepper and mineral nuances. Beautifully pure and clean, the Grenache is front and center and this has nice lift, freshness and verve. The palate is medium bodied with light concentration, sweet, beautifully textured fruit, impressive balance and a long finish. Drink this over the next 4 to 6 years. (88 pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce
Sporting a deep red, semi opaque color, the 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Cote du Rhone Village Rasteau la Ponce (80% Grenache from 80 year old vines and 20% Syrah from 35 year old vines that sees 2 to 3 year old barrels; 100% destemmed) possesses deep, rich aromas of macerated bing cherries, dusty earth, minerals and bakers chocolate. With air, this shows hints of barrique with candle wax and subtle meaty notes. This leads into a medium to full bodied wine that has rich fruit, a full, savory texture, admirable balance and a long finish. This has depth and sweetness to the fruit but also balancing acidity. The quality fruit and underlying structure should have this wine drinking well over the next 10 to 12 years. (91 pts.)

Coming soon, Part 2 -4 vintages of Les Hautes Granges

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The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 2, Les Hautes Granges

Coming from a single north westerly facing, cold and windy vineyard in Villedieu, Domaine des Escaravailles Les Hautes Granges bottling is 90% Syrah from 30 year old vines and 10% Grenache from 60 year old vines and sees up to a year in barrique. Hand harvested, meticulously sorted, 100% destemmed and bottled unfined and unfiltered. In a good year 5,000 bottles are produced. All in all, these are fantastic wines that break the stereotype of muddled, overripe Syrah from the south of France with beautiful purity, lifted aromatics, lush textures and plenty of flesh to go along with their unique characters. While there’s certainly similarities between these wines, each has a very unique character with the 2007 taking the fruit bomb status, the 2006 showing stunning purity and edge, the 2005 a structured tannic and streamlined profile and the 2004 showing rich fruit with nice complexity. All cellar worthy, interesting wines!

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
The viscous, glass staining 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges possesses a stunning deep purple, completely opaque color along with blockbuster aromatics of earthy blackberry jam, cassis, earth, licorice and chocolate aromas. While this is aged in new oak, there’s not a hint of wood showing and in the mouth, it’s full bodied with gobs of sweet fruit, glycerol and a soft, lush texture. Despite the size, the purity is outstanding, it’s well balanced and has nice acidity keeping things interesting and fresh. It has sound structure hiding under the fruit but I can’t see any reason to wait. (92/93 pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
The 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges offers up a rich, deep bouquet of blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with new oak, graphite and chocolate aromas. Beautifully pure and clean, this has nice precision, freshness and cut to the aromas and in the mouth, it’s full bodied with decadent fruit, impressive balance and a long finish with ripe tannins. This shows more precision and obvious oak than the 2007 and I’d drink it over the next 10 or so years. (93 pts.)

2005 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
Very northern rhone’esk on the nose, the 2005 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges possesses fresh, crisp aromatics of raspberries, leather, minerals and fresh cut flowers. There’s subtle spice and graphite notes mixed in and this shows nice complexity paired with rich fruit. This leads into a medium to full bodied wine that has a streamlined, smooth texture, crisp acids and a solid, tannic underlying structure. Firms up on the finish and while approachable now, is a candidate for short term cellaring. (91 pts.)

2004 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
Roasted herbs, blackberry, charcoal, bakers chocolate and a big dollop of dirt come jumping out of the glass of 2004 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges and as this sat in the glass, it gained both complexity (cigar, smoke and meaty notes) and fruit intensity. The palate is medium to full bodied with stunning fruit, a rich, mouth filling texture and a long finish where fine grained tannins show up. While this lacks the freshness of the younger vintages, it shows impressive complexity, solid fruit and plenty of character. Drink over the next 10+ years.
(90 pts.)

Coming soon: Part 3 - 2006 & 2007 Heritage 1924

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The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 3, Héritage 1924
This 100% old vine Grenache cuvee comes from a steep, south easterly facing vineyard in Rasteau that was planted in (or prior to) 1924. The plot features steep, rocky slopes and is at an altitude of 200 meters. As is common with this producer, everything is 100% destemmed and the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The style of these wines is ripe, clean fruit paired with serious texture and balance and they offer a polished, elegant drinking experience. Both the 2006 and 2007 share the same silky, textural impact in the mouth but where the 2007 is perfumed and complex with mainly red fruits, the 2006 is slightly more closed and reticent with darker, earthier notes. These were consumed over a period of three days and they held up beautifully and are highly recommended!

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Heritage 1924
Ripe, heady and beautifully perfumed, the 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Heritage 1924 offers up pure and clean aromas of kirsch liqueur, raspberries and licorice intermixed with sweet spice and subtle garrigue notes. There’s nothing rustic or unrefined about this and the palate is pure silk with a suave, seamless texture, full body and perfect balance that carries into a long finish. This is a ripe, elegant and beautifully built wine. The balance and fruit should have this drinking well over the next decade or more. (93+ pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Heritage 1924
The fantastic 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Heritage 1924 is slightly more restrained than the ‘07, possessing deep, rich aromatics of licorice infused black cherry, hot stones, flowers, graphite and subtle meaty notes along with notable purity, finesse and subtlety. The palate is full bodied and possesses a drop dead gorgeous, silky, seamless texture that offers up a level of refinement that’s hard to come by from the south of France. Beautifully balanced and polished, this picks up fine grained tannins on the long, persistent finish and should drink well for some time. (92 pts.)

  • Jeb Dunnuck

Part 1 and 2 can be found here:
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1, Rasteau
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 2, Les Hautes Granges

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For whatever they are worth, my notes (late October 2008) on the 2005 Escaravailles Heritage 1924:

2005 Domaine des Escaravailles “Heritage 1924” - The word “escaravailles” is the Occitan (close to the language spoken in the Val d’Aran in Catalonia) plural for “beetle” (similar to the French “scarabée”, or, in English, “scarab”). The domaine’s name comes from the nickname given to the 17th century landowner-priests who always wore long black robes. That explains the beetle prominently depicted on the label.

From Rasteau (in Southern Rhône, northeast of Châteauneuf-du-Pape) that uses a lot of grenache and is famous for its chocolatey, fortifide vin doux naturel. Peppery, minerally, ripe, fruity - mostly cherries, red currant and raspberry, then blackberry, kirsch, chocolate, a hefty dose of anise (much more pronounced than in the Mourillons). Youthfully alcoholic, tannins unresolved. Fruit seemed deeper-veined than the previous wine, body fuller and noticeably heftier as well. Feels modern to me, but that could be the vintage.

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Great note Noel and I can see the similarities to the '06 and '07. Thanks.