{"product_id":"les-foulards-rouges-octobre-vdf-2025","title":"Les Foulards Rouges \"Octobre\" 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMontesquieu-des-Albères sits where the Pyrenees make their final drop to the Mediterranean — about six miles from the sea and three from the Spanish border. The vines for Octobre grow on decomposed granitic gneiss in the Albères foothills, poor soil that limits vigor and concentrates fruit. This is one of the hottest, driest corners of France, but the tramontane wind funnels down off the mountains and the sea moderates the nights, so acidity survives the sunshine. Nicq bottles outside the appellation system as Vin de France, which frees him to make exactly the kind of drink-now red the appellation rules were never written for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOctobre is Nicq's primeur: Grenache and Syrah, hand-harvested, fermented whole-cluster by carbonic maceration, rested briefly in used 500-liter barrels, and bottled in October just weeks after picking — no fining, no filtration, no added sulfur at any stage. It is the natural-wine world's answer to Beaujolais Nouveau, and for many American drinkers it is the first taste of each new French vintage. The 2025 season in Roussillon was tense: spring humidity brought mildew pressure, August turned hot and dry, and yields came in very low — but the surviving fruit held better acidity than recent scorching years. Expect crunchy pomegranate and sour cherry, cracked black pepper, and violets over a light, cool-textured palate weight that takes a 30-minute chill happily. Drink it young; that is the entire point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore founding Les Foulards Rouges in Montesquieu-des-Albères in 2002, Jean-François Nicq spent 1989 to 2001 at the Vignerons d'Estézargues cooperative in the Gard, where he did something almost unheard of: he steered an entire co-op toward native-yeast fermentation and minimal sulfur. That track record made him one of the founding figures of natural wine in the Roussillon, and his cuvées now sell out on allocation across France and the US. He farms his old hillside vines organically and by hand, making wines meant for tables, not cellars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe it cool with a roast chicken showered in herbes de Provence — the wine's acidity cuts the skin's fat while the herbs echo the garrigue. Grilled merguez with charred peppers matches its pepper-spice register. An anchovy, olive, and caramelized-onion pissaladière plays salt against the wine's bright fruit. Or just open it with a charcuterie board while dinner is still in the oven. This is natural wine from Roussillon at its most useful: the bottle that disappears before anyone thought to save it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51288831557855,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8280221.jpg?v=1787961526","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/les-foulards-rouges-octobre-vdf-2025","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}