Region: France - Provence - Protegee Alpilles
Grapes: 60% Cinsault, 30% Carignan, 10% Grenache
Alcohol: 12.5%
Notes on the Wine
Amethyste is Dominique’s ode to Cinsault, a wonderful grape that gives a fresh, low-alcohol wine and is increasingly in vogue down south. Buoyant and juicy like great Beaujolais, with a Provençal flair and the touch of a masterful winemaker, this southern beauty is France’s best example of pure Cinsault.
Notes on the Producer
Not far from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a tourist town known for Roman ruins and as the place where Van Gogh painted “The Starry Night,” you’ll find Domaine Hauvette. Nestled among the foothills of Les Alpilles, the vines are surrounded by a rocky and wild landscape—the clay and limestone soil retains moisture for the arid summer months, the Mistral blows half the year, and <em>garrigue</em> is seemingly everywhere. It is here that in the early 1980s Dominique Hauvette, seeking more sunshine, left her job as a lawyer in the Savoie, re-discovered her passion for raising horses, and began studying oenology. Thirty-some years later and Dominique now has 17 hectares of vines and an international reputation for making benchmark natural wines.
