Chateau Ollieux-Romanis, Atal Sia

A great match for your Spring Lamb when in season.

The Atal Sia is grown on the pudding stone (over sandstone) terroir of Boutenac and is a lush confection of Carignan 45%; Grenache 25%; Mourvèdre 25% and a dollop of Syrah for poke. This is their top cuvee BUT with no oak here, yet this is still a deep and intense wine with black fruits, orange peel, spice and liquorice and a smooth, silky, almost sweet palate.

Impressively, more than a third of Ollieux-Romanis's vines are Carignan aged between 50 and over 100 years old, but they also grow Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Roussanne and Marsanne, among other varieties. Soil types vary greatly too – from hard clay with rolled pebbles, to red mediterranean soil – but all are excellent at keeping vines hydrated in the scorching summer heat. The family practises sustainable viticulture, and more and more of their wines are now certified organic. Weed-killer was discontinued many years ago, and chemical fertilisers have been replaced by compost made almost entirely on the vineyard.

The harvest takes place in September, with different parcels of grapes being picked together according to their quality. A small team of pickers harvests about 80% of the grapes by hand, as their ancestors did, carrying the grapes in baskets on their back. They are then transported to the winery by tractor in small boxes, where they are sorted and then most of the grapes undergo carbonic maceration. Although the family pay careful attention to their long-held traditions, they are also dedicated to improving their wines by using the best modern technology: for instance, they use a pneumatic press which is gentler to the grapes and extracts better-quality juice.