2021 Ludovic Engelvin, Oasis, Vin de France Rosé, Languedoc, France.
The 100% Mourvèdre Rosé “Oasis” from Ludovic Engelvin, who’s wines are just being imported to the States, is a lovely and authentic dry style wine with bright intensity, but with surprising depth, especially considering it was direct press and 100% stainless steel fermented and aged and quickly bottled, with an exotic range of flavors and aromas, including ruby citrus, guava, sour cherry, red peach and strawberry, along with lavender, rose oil, mineral notes and a crisp finish. This wine, which looks darker in the glass bottle has an orange/salmon lighter hue in the glass and a touch of spice and herbs on the nose, adding a fine zesty saline, stony loamy note with air and I wish I had a few more bottles tucked away to enjoy on a Summer day, alas we will have to wait until the next release to arrive, hopefully in the late Spring of 2024. As I said in my prior review, I was captivated with Engelvin’s unique no sulfur 100% Mourvèdre “Oasis” Rosé, his Cru-Elles Rhône style blend and his 100% Grenache “Clausus” red, a wine that has the depth, but with delicacy and finesse of some of the modern Sierra de Gredos Garnachas. To make his all organic wines, which are fermented with all natural or native yeasts and gently crushed without de-stemming, Ludovic does not do rigorous macerations, he has a light touch with his wine looking for nuance and allowing the terroir to lead the flavor in bottle. This Cru-elles saw just 15 days of skin maceration and fermentation before lightly pressed to a combination of tank and glass fibre vat for an aging period of only 6 months before bottling, with excellent and quaffable results, if you love Cinsault, you’ll want to chase the Cru-Elles, which is available down, while we again wait for the new Oasis to come over! The Languedoc has lots of history in wine, but as Kermit explains, it has been a viticultural treasure since the Romans were here centuries ago.
While at the Kermit Lynch 50th Anniversary Portfolio Tasting in San Francisco recently, as I’ve mentioned, while fighting through the crowds to get a chance to taste some of the world’s most cherished and sought after wines, like those of Raveneau and Vieux Telegraphe. I was surprised to find this quiet, but clearly talented young winemaker, who shyly was presenting his wines at a tucked away table, but who’s wines shown brightly and with inner grace not often found in the Languedoc, these were impressive wines. My French is a non starter, so I wasn’t able to express my admiration to the fullest, but I really loved Ludovic Engelvin’s offerings, with his Cru-Elles Rouge, which I already reviewed here, and his Oasis Rosé being two standouts. Ludovic was mentored by Didier Barral, one of the regions biggest and most admired stars, also imported by Kermit Lynch, whom he befriended during his sommelier days, according to Kermit, and remains close to still, and that time cemented his belief in low-impact farming and natural winemaking, which he has obviously put to good use. Engelvin is working towards biodynamics and zero additives, except for a very minimal amount of sulfur, he uses, as he notes, no mechanical intervention in vineyards so as not to compact soils and lets sheep do the grass and weed trimming. Young vigneron Ludovic Engelvin, who has traveled far and wide even at such a young age and even worked with the legendary Didier Dagueneau in Pouilly-Fume, makes his wines in the village of Vic-le-Fesq, an almost unknown place between the Pic Saint Loup and Tavel regions, an area known as the Languedoc Gardois. Discovered by Kermit Lynch Imports, who are some of the world’s best talent scouts, Engelvin has just released his first set of wines, all made with organic grapes and crafted to promote purity and terroir, he doesn’t yet use any oak, preferring to use stainless steel and fiberglass vats, which as I experienced is hugely successful so far, this is a producer to follow!
($28 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive