2020 Karnage Zak

WINEMAKER: Stéphane Planche & Charles Dagand
REGION: Languedoc, FR
VARIETAL: Mauzac
VITICULTURE: Organic

"The grapes for this wine were purchased from a vineyard in Castelreng which is about 20 kilometres south of Carcassonne in southern France in the Languedoc region. The harvest occurred on 13th September 2020. The grape variety is Mauzac which is a key ingredient of the famous sparkling wines of nearby Limoux (the main grape variety these days is Chardonnay, but Mauzac is still required) and still wines from Gaillac which is further north.

The Mauzac was directly pressed without destemming and then left to ferment throughout the winter including going through malolactic fermentation. The fermentation was quite slow, but obviously went through to completion. The resultant wine was bottled on July 1st, 2021 without any additions." - Living Wines

Karnage is a relatively new négoce (winemakers who buy the grapes they are going to make wines with) in the Jura, based in the central town of Arbois. This company is a collaboration between two well-known Arbois locals. The first is Stéphane Planche who we first came across when he was the sommelier at the high-end Arbois restaurant called Maison Jeunet (which has subsequently moved from Arbois to Port Lesney). After leaving the restaurant he set up his own wine store and occasional bar called Les Jardins de St-Vincent just around the corner in the very centre of Arbois. The second person involved in the négoce is Charles Dagand who was previously the partner of Alice Bouvet from l’Octavin. So we got to know Charles and we also started importing his own wine some years ago.