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The word “unique” has become ubiquitous in wine conversation. As the word is devalued, its meaning warped through overuse, we seek to bolster it through the addition of modifiers: “very,” “really,” and (my personal favorite) “sort of.” Unique means “one of a kind,” a concept that requires no modification. In considering the wines of Eric Pfifferling of L’Anglore, we ask you to hearken back to the true meaning of this word. What does it mean to be unique in the world of wine? For us it means a brilliant grower whose work in the vineyard and cellar is unparalleled within his or her appellation. It means wines that have a certain je ne sais quoi, wines that are not only driven by terroir, but offer the drinker a glimpse of the person who made them. The more vintages we taste of L’Anglore, the more we find Pfifferling to be an excellent embodiment of uniqueness in wine.
For those unfamiliar, L’Anglore is a seven hectare Domaine in Tavel, a southern French village on the western side of the Rhône River. The appellation of Tavel is for Rosé wine only: ripe, fruity, powerful, and based on Grenache. A native of Tavel, Pfifferling was a bee keeper who sold his grapes to the cooperative until 2002, when he decided to make his own wine. In possession of very good terroir, strewn with gallets as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape on the east side of the Rhône, Pfifferling has extremely old vines. He works his vines without chemicals, harvests by hand, and avoids all manipulation in the winery, meaning no added yeast, enzymes, or sulfur. To our knowledge he is the only grower in Tavel who makes wine this way and it is often remarked that his wines have the character of Tavel before the arrival of chemicals and winery tricks. In truth, Pfifferling’s wines have a somewhat legendary quality and it is difficult both to find them and to find information about them.
Of course at this juncture if you haven’t personally swooned over a bottle of L’Anglore, you are probably wondering : “well, how do they taste?” You may also have anticipated the answer: unique. The Rosés are full-bodied yet elegant, with the expressiveness, the jubilance and spice of naturally made wine. They are deeply colored in the glass and could easily masquerade as red wines. (We’re fairly certain we’ve got Poulsard on the shelf that is paler than Pfifferling’s Tavel.) Perhaps their most striking quality is that they radically differ from fruity, yeasted, alcoholic, commonplace Rosé from Tavel. The reds are rich, forward, and pure, indicative of an arid southern climate. They are labeled ‘Vin de France’ because the Tavel appellation does not allow red wine. Available in very limited quantities, it’s a wonder they’ve remained on the shelf as long as they have with such well-deserved praise surrounding their maker. -Sophie
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Tavel Rosé
Spicy, deep, and dark with purple fruits, strawberries, and purple flowers on the nose and palate, this is the Tavel that defies popular imagines of Tavel. The blend is as follows: Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, and Clairette, as is the case with many full-bodied Rhône wines, some white grapes are added to lighten the blend. Truly a mind-bending rosé wine that is lightly tannic, this could pass for a light red without trying too hard... -msb
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Tavel Vintage
From one 600 liter demi-muid, bottled in March 2012, 36 bottles for the US. This is a big wine that cries out to be viewed as serious and thus stashed away in your cellar to see where it goes after a few years. Right now it has some chocolate-y, ripe, sweet cherry notes on the nose, along with a light plumminess and spice. The finish is long with tannins that indicate good potential to age. This is an excellent wine that is unlike any other Tavel. -msb
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Vin de France Chemin de la Brune Bl. de Noir
Made from Grenache and Cinsault, one could say that if one of Eric Pfifferling's wines approximated a pale, crisp Rosé, it would be this one... That being said, the wine remains unlike anything else, bearing that unique Pfifferling stamp. This is a direct press Rosé, meaning there is basically no skin contact and the wine is extremely delicately colored. Offering more pit fruits than red berries, the wine has just a touch of the pickliness of natural wine with a densely textured palate and long finish. There's always a good balance of acid in Pfifferling's wines that lightens the overall experience of full-bodied southern French wine. -msb
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Vin de France Comeyre
I was under the impression that this was the most "serious" of Pfifferling's cuvées, until I tasted his Tavel Reserve. However, this remains a serious wine, based on 90% Carignan and 10% Grenache from very old vines grown on sand and clay and strewn with gallets. The wine is dense and brooding with wild aromas of drying black berries, cassis, and brushy herbs and spices. There's a density here as well as a tannic structure that will produce cravings for a grilled leg of lamb... -msb
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Vin de France Les Traverses
A blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache, this wine comes from 50-100 year old vines. It is matured in steel with no added sulfur. The wine combines the lush, dark fruitiness of natural southern French wine with a generous hint of garrigue-y spice: pepper and lavendar and blackberries and black plums. The flavors are pure and clear as a bell even as they are ripe and succulent. -msb
L'Anglore (Eric Pfifferling) 2011 Vin de France Pierre Chaude
This wine is 100% Grenache, made in a light and quaffable style with cool fermentation and very little intervention...One might almost say the wine exists to defy images of Grenache as a as grape that yields jammy and leaden wines. I particularly enjoyed what our friend, Bert Celce, of WineTerroirs had to say about this cuvée from L'Anglore: "The Pierre Chaude is a cuvée you must absolutely buy if you stumble on a bottle in a shop (but I would say this for most of L'Anglore wines)..." There is something ineffable about the spirit of the wine that must be tasted to believed. -msb