Catherine Jeannin-Mongeard moved down from Burgundy in 1990 to make characterful wines on her farm “Mas Cremat” just outside Perpignan, in the hot windswept south of France, close to the Spanish border. Idyllic as it may sound, there is an invigorating Mistral-like wind called “Cers” that roars through the gnarly vines and drives everyone a bit mad. We have always found Tamarius enjoyable from when we first started working with Catherine back in the late 90’s. Her old vines produce some lovely, deep juice. She used to blend Grenache with Carignan and recently switched to Grenache and Syrah. Les Balmettes is an unusual blend of white Grenache and the rarely seen white Carignan. Her Muscat Sec is intensely spicy, peppery, dry Muscat, a blend of 50/50 Muscat Frontignan and Muscat Alexandrie.
