Mas Sibert - a trio of wines

Thanks to Stewart Travers of the Languedoc specialists, Cambridge Wine Merchants, I had a very interesting tasting the other day, namely of three wines from Mas Sibert in the Faugères village of Fos. 

Simon Bertschinger developed Mas Sibert from scratch and is helped with his wife, Sara Frémine.   He has a delightfully picturesque cellar in Fos, but his vines are near Domaine Bourdic on the Pézenas-Roujan road.   I wrote about him in an earlier post, as far back as September 2015, and realise after tasting these wines from Stewart, that another visit would be in order, whenever that might be…… So this is what I tasted:

 

2017 Fosénot, Vin de France - £18.99

This is an unusual blend of Syrah and Sangiovese.  The Languedoc never ceases to surprise me.  Deep colour. Quite an inky nose. With some solid fruit and the palate is redolent of dense black fruit, but it is not heavy.  There is a good balance of tannin and acidity, and a lightly sweet, fruity note, with a lovely fresh finish, giving the wine an appealing lift.    13.5°   The wine developed in the glass, making a very satisfying glass of wine, with some lovely originality.   Simon uses indigenous yeast and the wine was neither fined nor filtered.

 

2020 Saramon, Vin de France - £14.99

Another blend of Sangiovese and Syrah, this time a deep rosé, with a vibrant cherry colour.   The nose has what I call a natural note, which can be slightly off-putting. There was some fruit and a streak of tannin and some rounded weight.   I might describe it as characterful and a touch funky!   13.5°

 

2019 Petit Verre d’Ô, Vin de France - £21.99

No prizes for guessing that this is made from Petit Verdot, and unusually, it is fermented in amphora.  That said, I think amphorae are a growing trend in the Languedoc.   There are winemakers out there keen to satisfy their curiosity.   A deep young colour.  A ripe rounded nose with some black fruit, particularly cassis.  And on the palate medium weight with firm fruit and balancing tannins.  Youthful flavours with an appealing fresh note.   Petit Verdot can be difficult to ripen in Bordeaux; this shows what can be done when it is fully ripe, but not too alcoholic at 13°