L’Horizon Cotes Catalanes Mar i Muntanya

L’Horizon’s “Mar y Muntanya” (“Sea and Mountains” in Catalan) combines 45% each Syrah and Carignan with a splash of Grenache, and it’s made partly in cement vats and partly in large oak barrels. This is a wine that shows adamantly just how distinct Calce is from the larger Languedoc-Roussillon region. Thomas employs semi-carbonic maceration to give this wine a certain lift and fruit-driven exuberance, though its easygoing vinification does nothing to hamper its expression of stoniness and garrigue-y depth. Thomas is an admitted lover and admirer of great Burgundy, and this wine has the spirit of a delicious red wine from the Cote de Beaune—and while it perhaps lacks the imposing depth of his more serious red wines (see below), it’s hard to imagine a red wine from this area more satisfyingly delicious.