Roc d'Anglade 2021

Tasting Notes and Serving Suggestions for Roc d'Anglade 2021

Tasting

Appearance

The wine displays a brilliant light ruby color with purple highlights.

Nose

The nose reveals a complex, multidimensional aromatic palette. Dominant notes bring out ripe red fruits such as strawberry, wild cherry, and morello cherry. These primary aromas are joined by sophisticated nuances of blackcurrant, blackberry, and undergrowth, alongside sweet spices such as cinnamon and black pepper. Floral touches of violet complete the bouquet. With aeration, a subtle licorice note gradually emerges. The wine will reveal the full depth of its aromatic complexity after several years of cellaring.

Palate

The attack stands out for its very silky texture, a signature hallmark of the estate’s wines. The mid-palate offers a fine balance, with beautiful concentration without any heaviness. Notes of ripe red and black fruits dominate the flavor profile, accompanied by candied hints. The balance between acidity, alcohol, and tannins remains remarkably harmonious. The tannins are very fine, with no rough edges. Aromatic persistence carries through to a satisfying finish, leaving an overall impression of elegance and balance rather than showy power.

Food and Wine Pairing

Roc d'Anglade 2021 pairs exceptionally well with classic preparations of red meats: Milanese veal chop, Beef Wellington roast, rib steak, and game. Sauce-based dishes—especially those featuring reductions of fruit or meat—find in this wine a refined companion. Milk-fed lamb roasted with thyme makes a particularly harmonious pairing. Lamb tagine with black olives or fresh plums is a remarkable gastronomic match. Braised duck with figs or simply roasted duck also pairs with elegance. Medium-intensity aged cheeses such as Comté or Gruyère provide a pleasing complement to this wine.

Serving and Cellaring

Roc d'Anglade 2021 should be served between 16 and 18°C. Prior aeration significantly enhances the wine’s expression: it is strongly recommended to decant it for 20 minutes to one hour before serving. This vintage will ideally reach its peak between around 2028 and 2038. Overall cellaring potential extends to about 2041, confirming the deep structure of this wine and its ability to evolve at length in bottle.

The freshness and aromatic expression of a Languedoc wine

The estate

The Roc d'Anglade estate was established in 1999 by Rémy Pédréno, a former IT engineer who transitioned to viticulture after training with renowned winemakers, notably at Domaine Rostaing in Côte-Rôtie. Located in Langlade in the Gard, near Nîmes, the estate covers around 10 hectares of vines aged from 5 to 60 years. Rémy Pédréno has run the property with his wife, Martine, for more than twenty years. Certified organic since 2011 by Ecocert. Recognized as one of the finest winemakers in the Gard and the Languedoc, Rémy Pédréno made the deliberate choice to forgo prestigious official appellations in order to enjoy complete creative freedom in his grape varieties and viticultural practices. The estate enjoys exceptional critical recognition, with two stars in Revue des Vins de France and three stars in the Bettane et Desseauve guide.

The vineyard

Roc d'Anglade’s vineyard benefits from a distinctive location in Langlade, in the Gard department. Its defining feature is a predominantly north-facing exposure, unlike many Languedoc vineyards. This orientation gives the vines remarkable freshness that shows in the wines’ final structure, ensuring a gradual build-up of ripeness without excessive overripeness while preserving a crucial natural acidity. The terroir is made up of clay-silica soils overlying calcareous marls, strikingly reminiscent of the soils of Burgundy’s greatest vineyards, with one third clay, one third silica, and one third silt. Substantial limestone pebbles on the surface play a key thermal role, gradually releasing the heat they have stored. The average vine age ranges from 25 to 30 years, with some parcels reaching 60 years. Work in the vineyard is carried out by hand, with natural grass cover in the plots. Yields are deliberately kept very low at 20 hectoliters per hectare for the reds. Harvesting is exclusively manual, allowing for precise grape selection. This wine is classified as IGP Pays du Gard.

The vintage

The 2021 vintage began as a challenging year but evolved favorably. After a winter marked by a frost episode that affected the entire French winegrowing territory, milder spring conditions encouraged flowering. Three months of heatwave conditions and drought followed, but without significantly impacting the crop. These conditions enabled the 2021 vintage to avoid overripeness and a loss of acidity, maintaining a remarkable balance between ripeness and freshness.

Winemaking and aging

The grapes for Roc d'Anglade 2021 undergo an 18-day maceration with whole clusters, meaning the stems remain in contact with the must during this period. This technique contributes to the hallmark tannin finesse of the estate’s wines. Maceration takes place in open vats without forced extraction, allowing spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Vat time lasts approximately 15 days. After primary fermentation, the wine is aged in demi-muids of 125 to 150 liters for 16 to 18 months. Extended aging in older vessels preserves freshness while allowing the tannic structure to integrate harmoniously, without imparting pronounced oaky flavors to the wine. Bottling is carried out without fining and with very light filtration, preserving the wine’s potential to develop further over time.

Grape varieties

Carignan (55%), Mourvèdre (25%), Syrah (20%)