Chasm de Cabrespine Minervois 2020

New vintage of the sell-out French red aged in a 200-metre-deep chasm
Years of patient ageing in the cool, humid, pitch-black conditions of a 200-metre-deep chasm have created a rich, rounded southern French red wine. It’s packed with juicy red cherry and spiced black fruit flavours.

What kind of winemaker ages their red wine 200 metres underground in a river running through a vast chasm beneath the mountains of Carcassonne? Sylvain Delabre does – and the result is wowing staff and customers alike. Chasm de Cabrespine 2020 is a bold, spiced Minervois made from handpicked parcels of Syrah and Grenache.

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First, part of this wine is aged in clay amphorae for deep, brooding flavours. Then bottles are left to rest at the very bottom of the chasm, in the most perfect ageing conditions imaginable. No light, perfect humidity and pressure. We call it extreme cellaring.

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It took four hours to retrieve a single bottle for tasting. But what emerged was something extraordinary: a rich, spiced southern French red with years of maturity delivering lovely spice and a long complex finish.