Domaine Lafage 2022 "Bastide Miraflors" Cotes du Rousillon

94 pts - best buy                                                                     One of the Best Buys of the year from France! A fantastic value. A custom cuvée for European Cellars and a joint project between Eric Solomon and Jean-Marc Lafage, Bastide Miraflors is a cuvée created from old vine Grenache grown on the schist and granite soils of Saint-Paul de Fenouillet, a terroir that always ripens late in the year, and Syrah from gravelly soils near the Mediterranean. After a long maceration of six weeks, the wine ages for 12 months in roughly 3/4 concrete vats and 1/4 600L French oak demi-muids."  90 Points Wine Advocate: "Elegantly peppery, the 2022 Côtes du Roussillon Bastide Miraflors evokes aromas of dark berries, spices, flowers and ripe cherries. Moderately weighted, round and supple, it's textured with structured tannins and a long, ethereal finish. There's no reason to wait." “A steal from Lafage is the Bastide Miraflors...This is one to buy by the case.” -- Robert Parker Jean-Marc Lafage has knocked it out of the park once again with this high-quality, low-cost stunner of a wine. Domaine Lafage is housed in their facility just outside the city of Perpignan. One of the most advanced wineries in the region, Jean-Marc and his wife Elaine are crafting "must buy" wines from the region of Roussillon. The Bastide Miraflors is a blend of Syrah and old-vine Grenache. The vineyards for this wine are practicing organic with an average vine age of 55 years. The last three years, this has been one of our ten best sellers of the year. We expect no less again.