Thank you Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

Below is the comment written by David Schildknecht in the # 195 issue of the Wine Advocate, about our cuvee Constance, 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Thanks to the varietals planted in the property, including Syrah and Mourvèdres.

Thunevin-Calvet Constance 2010 90-91+ Review by David Schildknecht
As for the 2010s, knock wood (since, to be sure, it's early days for these), but if the 2010 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Constance that I tasted from tank is any indication, then Thunevin and Calvet might well achieve this year a sense of levity, fresh fruit juiciness, and interactive complexity that surpasses previous vintages at this address. That's not to suggest that the fruit - abundant black raspberry and blackberry - isn't sweetly ripe; in fact it's nearly liqueur-like. But here, my animal appetite as well as my intellectual curiosity (not just professional duty) sends me in search of a second sip. Scrubby suggestions of juniper and arbor vitae; resinous mint and marjoram; and saliva-inducing salinity that seems linked to a more intriguing sense of mineral impingement vie for attention and contribute to a sense of vibrancy which let's hope (but I am pretty confident) will be preserved in bottle, from which this ought then to be worth revisiting for at least 3-4 years. The 2008 offered a welcome sense of dynamic, but this 2010 outdoes it in that department; and as for sheer sense of schist-typical expression of stone and smoke, this surpasses the 2007 Constance in that respect. In a sign of the times, incidentally, this year the share of Carignan exceeds that of Grenache.

To settle a trademark dispute, the former Domaine Calvet-Thunevin is now "Thunevin-Calvet," but there were no corresponding changes in company structure or team members. Where there has been change - and for more about how Jean-Roger Calvet and Jean-Luc Thunevin entered into this collaboration and its evolution consult my report in issue 183 - is in the line-up of wines and their elevage. New wood, like ultra-ripe fruit, is still prominent, but barriques have increasingly given way to demi-muids and foudres, while the talk is of enhancing freshness and minerality, an aim reflected not only in the rigorous exclusion via table de trie of any overripe berries and in the approach to fermentation and elevage, but also in a decision to plant additional Carignan which, like Mourvedre, Calvet sees as having a more important role in the domaine's future. Most of the wines I tasted on this occasion were in the 15-15.5% alcohol range but seldom did I apprehend any significant heat. (Changes in the individual cuvee make-ups are detailed in my tasting notes.) The 2008 vintage was noteworthy for the length of its ripening period, notes Calvet, with his harvest not having concluded until the end of the first week in October. The 2009 harvest was finished two weeks sooner and even then required stringent sorting to remove overripe berries in Grenache as well as Syrah.

Importers include M. S. Walker, Somerville, MA; tel. (617) 776-6700 and Monsieur Touton Selection, New York, NY; tel. (212) 255-0674