This is a Collectivino favourite, and co-founder Martin's go-to bottle when heading to dinner parties. With its 23 grape varieties (some of which even the grower can't name), this is an exceptional Minervois wine from the Languedoc region of France. With an incredible complexity for its price point, this wonderful wine won't disappoint.

Tasting notes:

A unique and unusual wine, Plantation 1905 is made from 23 different grape varieties growing in a vineyard first planted in 1905. All the varieties are pressed together and vinification proceeds with as little intervention as possible, to recreate a traditional 'field blend' style. The resulting wine is soft and fruity, with an array of ripe red and black fruit aromas on the nose, a clean red fruit palate with morello cherry and plum coming through, fine structured tannins and a long finish. 

Food pairings:

Great with lamb, hearty meats or Toulouse sausage.

About the vineyard: 

Domaine La Tour Boisée is a family-run estate established in 1826. Jaques and Jean-Francois pour their love and expertise into producing small-scale fine wines from their 60 hectares, overlooked by the 12th Century tower that used to be part of a fortification wall of the local village, that sits proudly in the heart of the estate.

La Tour Boisée is named for a remnant of the village's fortifications, built in 1165 and now in the garden of the estate. Marie-Claude and her husband Jean-Louis Poudou, a vintner himself from a long line of winegrowers, inherited the Domaine in 1982 from her parents. The family has been there since around 1826 and each generation has shown itself committed to the land.

Today the estate is made up of 200 acres of vineyards. Care has been taken over the years to conserve the finest vines of the old varieties while updating and improving the rest of the vineyard. The result is a rich diversity of wines, each of which can be traced back to a specific plot of vines.

Great emphasis is placed on perfecting the local art of blending, traditional to Languedoc wine-making. Marsanne, Macabeu, Muscat Petit Grain and Sauvignon Blanc are used for the white wines; Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvedre for the reds. Each variety is planted on carefully selected sites and different training methods are employed to achieve optimum ripeness in the grapes. The family have recently moved to organic production; full certification began with the 2013 vintage of Domaine La Tour Boisée.

The family also produce a second line of Vin de Pays Côteaux de Peyriac wines under the label Domaine de Subremont.

Sustainability credentials: Good (2*)

Certified as organic by Agriculture Biologique, a trusted French organisation. Tour Boisée has been organic for ten years, and have embedded organic and some biodynamic methods into their estate. Although they practice lower-intervention techniques, they do still add small quantities of sulphites to ensure the wine travels well and is of consistent quality.

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