Domaine Rimbert Mas Au Schiste 2006

It's been a while since I've tasted any Domaine Rimbert wines. Most recently was a Les Travers de Marceau in a restaurant - a good uncomplicated and inexpensive luncheon choice with the benefit of a relatively tame 12.5% alcohol. The Mas au Schiste is about a third each of Carignan, Syrah and Grenache with a splash of Mourvèdre. Schist is the clay/shale soil found in this part of Saint-Chinian, the village of Berlou, along with neighbouring Faugères. I decanted it a couple of hours in advance as advised by the caviste. Chocolate red colour. Quite an elegant and gentle wine - mineral with hints of sour cherry, wild mint and smoke. Nice finish. It's not a layered wine, more a sweeping curve of flavour, and it certainly doesn't come at you. The flowers are a type of wild garlic (allium acutiflorum) that grow by vines.