Courier Red Blend

Profile & Story

Courier is the label of Kimberly Jones, a Napa-based wine broker and importer who in 2006 purchased 14 acres of century-old Grenache and Carignan vines in Maury, in France's Roussillon region, rescuing them from a government land-consolidation program that was uprooting old vines for orchards. The vineyards sit on harsh, schist soil in one of France's hottest, driest growing areas, yielding tiny amounts of intensely concentrated fruit (as little as a quarter-ton per acre). The 2018 Courier Cotes Catalanes Rouge, a blend of roughly 70% old-vine Grenache and 30% old-vine Carignan, was the first vintage made under new winemaker Jean-Roger Calvet, a partner of Jean-Luc Thunevin of Chateau Valandraud in Saint-Emilion.

Pairing Recommendation

A good companion to birria or a rich beef mole, where its ripe dark fruit and gentle spice hold up to slow-cooked, deeply seasoned meat.