Marcillac Vieilles Vignes Domaine du Cros 2011

The wines are made exclusively from the Mansois grape, otherwise known as 'Fer' or 'Fer Savadou' in Gaillac.

In 1892, Domaine de Cros was a tiny estate of only one hectare producing a mere 4,000 bottles a year. They then implemented a program of buying and renting older vineyards and planting on the best hillsides, some of which have a gradient of 1:3. The surface area of the vineyard now covers 25 hectares, most of which are used for AOC production. The Teuliers then constructed a wine storehouse enabling them to rack by gravity and added on an air-conditioned bottle storage room.

Vieilles Vignes spends 18 months in old oak casks and expresses a myriad of black fruit flavours; myrtille, mûre and cassis to name but a few. The wines define the enigmatic term 'gouleyant', often used in France ('easy to drink' might be the best translation). A delicious wine with instant appeal.