Ludovic Engelvin "Clausus" Gard Rouge 2020
We have 11 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
The Land
Nestled between the Pic Saint Loup and Tavel, the Languedoc Gardois region has a rich winemaking history dating back to Roman times when Nîmes was a key hub. Despite a twentieth-century focus on quantity over quality, the area's historic vineyards are now seeing a revival. Ludovic Engelvin's vineyards, located in a rugged landscape of limestone and sandstone with aromatic garrigue (local underbrush) give his wines their distinctive character.
The Wine
"Clausus" Gard Rouge 2020 is a pure Grenache that shows off the elegance and purity of the grape. Ludovic Engelvin focuses on infusion over extraction, creating a wine with delicate flavors and excellent balance. The wine is free from oak, fining, and filtration, and uses only minimal sulfur. It has seductive aromas and a smooth texture. This wine is a great example of the natural concentration from low-yielding old vines combined with a careful minimal intervention approach.
The People
Ludovic Engelvin's path to winemaking includes studies in viticulture and enology, internships in cellars across southern France, Spain, and the Loire Valley, and a key period with the late Didier Dagueneau. As a sommelier in Provence, he honed his tasting skills and developed a deep appreciation for unique wines. Influenced by mentors like Didier Dagueneau and Didier Barral, Ludovic practices low-impact farming and natural winemaking. He uses essential oils and herbal tisanes instead of synthetic treatments and lets spontaneous vegetation aerate the soil while his sheep provide natural fertilizer. Ludovic's dedication to making characterful wines shines through in "Clausus," reviving the Languedoc's lesser-known vineyards with fresh energy and renewed prestige.
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The Rhône Valley is a diverse and historic wine region, divided into two distinct areas. The Northern Rhône is the birthplace of Syrah, with steep, terraced vineyards that produce some of the world's most revered wines, such as those from Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. The Southern Rhône is much more expansive, offering a wider range of styles, but typically based around Grenache-based blends, with wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape known for their complexity and power. While the region is celebrated for its reds, it also produces incredible textured whites, and as a whole the region displays the spectrum of French wine and the incredible differences that can come from small geographic changes.
Rhone Valley
Grenache is a widely planted grape variety that thrives in its Mediterranean home. In Spain, it's known as Garnacha, where it reaches its peak in the Sierra de Gredos as a pure varietal wine, while also being a key blending component in Rioja. France's Southern Rhône, notably Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is another well-known region, where Grenache is often the base of a blended wine. Grenache also finds a home in Sardinia as Cannonau, and it has spread beyond its Mediterranean origins, most famously to Australia's Barossa Valley. The resulting wines are typically light in color, yet they possess a full body and flavor, displaying mature red fruit notes, herbal spices, and often a hint of orange peel, along with soft tannins and moderate acidity. It is an incredibly versatile grape, showing different expressions based on its terroir and the winemaking style employed.
