12 products
- Red Wine
- Carignan, Grenache, Syrah
- Natural, Organic, Vegan-Friendly
- Dry
- Full Bodied
- 750ml
- 14% alc./vol
About the Winery
Domaine Frédéric Brouca
Frédéric grew up in Normandy and met his Canadian wife Elaine at university in Lille, Northern France. They live a nomadic lifestyle (Canada, India, Singapore and USA) though Frédéric spends about half of his time in Faugères. Since early age, Frédéric had a calling for farming and the fierce desire to become a winegrower. After completing a Masters Degree in Finance in 2001, Frédéric went back to college for a Sommelier diploma and started his career as a Burgundy wine broker.
In late 2012, Frédéric and Elaine were fortunate to take over 25 acres of old vines in Faugères, organically farmed for twenty years and deeply rooted in schist soils.
2013 was the inaugural vintage for Domaine Frédéric Brouca. In his modest winery in the village of Laurens, Frédéric is creating a new vision for Faugères wines; fresh, vibrant and made without artifice. Nothing revolutionary, simply returning to our grandparent's ideology of farming and winemaking to craft 'Vins Vivants'. The Faugères Appellation is in the heart of Languedoc in the Hérault department. Here, winemaking dates back to the Greek times and was developed during the Roman Era. It wasn't until the early 1900's, however, that the wines became more widely known for its unique schist soils and moderate Mediterranean climate. These villages are heavily reliant on wine as an important part of their culture and economy.
The area is stunning with mountain views and close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea (20 miles / 30 kms). Faugères has a long history of responsible farming. It boasts the highest percentage of organic vineyards for any AOC in all of France with almost 50% of farmers making the choice.
Press Reviews
Wine Align
92 points - Sara d'Amato
A clean, juicy and lightly salty blend of grenache, syrah and carignan made from organically grown grapes on the hillsides of Faugères in the Languedoc, an appellation that boasts the highest percentage of organically farmed vineyards of any French AOC. As is typical with natural wines, this is fermented with wild yeast and is both unfined and filtered showing a touch of expected sediment at present when you near the bottom of the bottle. A fine example of the character that Brouca can coax out of his blends despite minimal intervention techniques. The 2020 is drinking very well now with a mouth-filling concentration of fruit, and barely perceptible wood spice from the 10% use of neutral barrels, the remainder having been vinified in stainless steel. The alcohol is well-balanced and the wine avoids the trappings of warm & jammy yet still showcases the generous sunshine of the region and natural garrigue. Very good length. Tasted January 2023.
92 points - Sara d'Amato
A clean, juicy and lightly salty blend of grenache, syrah and carignan made from organically grown grapes on the hillsides of Faugères in the Languedoc, an appellation that boasts the highest percentage of organically farmed vineyards of any French AOC. As is typical with natural wines, this is fermented with wild yeast and is both unfined and filtered showing a touch of expected sediment at present when you near the bottom of the bottle. A fine example of the character that Brouca can coax out of his blends despite minimal intervention techniques. The 2020 is drinking very well now with a mouth-filling concentration of fruit, and barely perceptible wood spice from the 10% use of neutral barrels, the remainder having been vinified in stainless steel. The alcohol is well-balanced and the wine avoids the trappings of warm & jammy yet still showcases the generous sunshine of the region and natural garrigue. Very good length. Tasted January 2023.
91 points - David Lawrason
This is a very expressive, interesting and rather juicy red made from a fairly typical blend of grenache (which dominates texturally), syrah and carignan. The nose shows quite floral violet notes with plummy/black cherry fruit, pepper and a touch of meatiness. It is mid-weight, fairly soft yet lively on the palate with some alcohol heat providing intensity. Carignan's acid and tannin complex adds to this idea. The length is excellent. Tasted January 2023.
- Red Wine
- Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah
- Sustainable, Vegan-Friendly
- 750ml
- Red Wine
- Carignan, Syrah
- Organic, Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.50% alc./vol
About the Winery
Garage Wine Co.
Garage Wine was literally started in a garage in 2001, by Etobicoke expat Derek Mossman and his wife Pilar Miranda. Since then, the dynamic duo handcraft wines from a series of individual vineyards located in the Maule and Itata Valleys, in the south of Santiago, Chile.
Garage Wine Co makes wines from a series of individual parcels, small lots / bottlings of 8-22 barrels that include a series of dry-farmed field-blends of Carignan, Garnacha, Monastrell, País, Cinsault and Cab Franc grown on pre-phylloxera rootstock with small farmers in the Maule and Itata. Each wine is from a 1-2 hectare parcel in a different place.
Over the years working in the community they have raised a veritable posse of vineyard hands whose skills are working the vineyards the old way / the traditional way– originario. The vineyards are on the old coastal range of mountains closer to the Pacific and have granitic soils with cracks for roots to get deep down into.
When GWCo. speaks of the provenance of these wines they mean more than just the geological terroir. Derek and Pilar think the farming practices that have evolved over generations have as much to do with the wines’ personalities as the soils. All the wines are made by hand with native yeasts in small tanks, punched down manually and pressed out in a small basket press. GWCo is still very much a DIY operation and we still tow much of the crop back to the winery in trailers behind trusty pickup trucks 2,000 kilos at a time.
Press Reviews
Wine Advocate
96+ Points - Luis Gutiérrez
The 2020 Truquilemu Vineyard follows the path of the 2018 and 2019 with even lower alcohol (12.9%) and great freshness and acidity, a pH of 3.36 and 6.4 grams of acidity. The modus operandi was the usual: fermented in open-top vats with indigenous yeasts and manual punch-down with a slow malolactic, which took 10 months to finish, and matured in used barrels over two winters. It contains some 4% Syrah. This has the ethereal quality of this vineyard, powerful but weightless. This place makes fresh wines even in warm vintages like 2020, and you feel that especially in the palate where the wine is vibrant and lively. 5,882 bottles were filled in February 2022.