L’Anglore
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 Barrett
