Clos d'Ora Rouge 2015
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet in color, this wine offers currant and boysenberry fruit flavors edged by white pepper, cured meat and dried herb details. On the palate, its tanins are mature, subtle and intense. The black fruit aromas are an invitation to a persistent depth.
Best served with grilled beef.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Gerard Bertrand's icon project is the Clos d'Ora, a biodynamically farmed nine-hectare estate. The 2015 Minervois la Liviniere Clos d'Ora is a blend of the region's four grapes, aged a year in oak and another year in bottle prior to release. It's certainly the most supple and creamy-textured of the 2015s from Bertrand, marrying red berries seamlessly with hints of coffee-tinged oak and resiny notes of native garrigue. Although full-bodied and undeniably ripe (the alcohol is 15.5% but there's no heat), it's far from monolithic, showcasing complexity and elegance rather than brute power. I've been deliberately conservative with my aging estimate because of the wine's lack of track record and relatively young vine age in the Syrah and Mourvèdre components, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it drink well for longer.
-
James Suckling
A very meaty nose together with grilled meat, nutmeg, caramel and smoked spices. Medium to full body with fine tannins, yet it is dense and slightly chewy still. It’s quite intense with character and energy. Some smoked bitterness towards the finish. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification.
-
Wine Spectator
A generous, suave red, with supple layers of cherry reduction and raspberry filling detailed with floral, melted chocolate and anise accents. Beams of mineral and floral impart depth to the velvety finish. Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan. Drink now through 2026.
Other Vintages
2018-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
In 1997, when he had just acquired Laville Bertrou in the heart of the Minervois, Gérard Bertrand visited the vines. At the turn of a plot, he feels a feeling of eternity, like a distant call, which regularly comes back in his dreams and becomes clearer. Everything speaks to him of an exceptional place between dry stone walls. Each time he enters this part of the vineyard, the signal is there. Gérard Bertrand realizes that these vines are located precisely on a unique contact zone: a geological fault between limestone and marl soils. The Clos was delimited in 2000. Biodynamic cultivation is an obvious choice for the soils that called for the creation of this place. Next to old Carignan and Grenache, he plants Syrah and Mourvèdre. On the culminating point, on the site of an old sheepfold, the building is constructed, again in accordance with the principles of biodynamics. It houses an open-air vat room that encourages the interaction of the wines with the stars, a maturing cellar where the sun only comes in at the summer solstice, and a meditation area.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Granted its own appellation within Minervois in the Languedoc region of France, Minervois La Livinière takes its name from cella vinaria, Latin for ‘wine cellar.’ In the hilly northern end of Minervois, the altitude and dense, rocky limestone soils of La Liviniere produce quality red Rhône Blends made from Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache and Carignan.