2014 Le Roc des Anges Segna de Cor Cotes du Roussillon Villages 750 ml

The 2014 Le Roc des Anges Segna de Cor Côtes du Roussillon is bright dark-red. Silken, almost candied aromas of blackberry, violet, crushed stone, and sweet spice. Broad, dense, and powerfully built, yet perfectly weightless on the palate. The flavors are both lush and vibrant, but it’s the schiste minerality that makes it so hard to put this wine down. 

The schist is something to behold at Le Roc des Anges. You don’t need a black belt in karate to take a giant piece of this paper-thin slate and crack it in a hundred pieces across your knee. The Grenache and Carignan vines are largely ancient, with half dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. The Gallet family allow the vines to grow high, leaves shielding the grapes from the wind and summer heat. The roots burrow deep underground. The highly mineral soil makes for mineral wine with unusually low pH (good acidity) for a wine from this far south. This isn’t just a rich wine. It’s a deliciously sophisticated rich wine. 

The Gallets have been proprietors here since 2001. Consistency has been a hallmark all along, but we can’t help but notice how things have taken off in the last decade. Since 2008, we’ve touted Roc des Anges as one of the most captivating producers in the wind-swept Roussillon. In that estimation, we’re far from alone. Roc des Anges has now graced the wine lists of over 50 Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. Try this nectar-like, old-vine 2014 Segna de Cor—a spectacularly rich, slick, sinewed wine—and you’ll understand why.