The Carignan vine tends to divide wine drinkers. You either love it or loathe it. In general, as longstanding purple pagers know, I do not love it – in fact I continue to view its harsh tartness in general as the scourge of the Languedoc, although I have certainly enjoyed some old-vine examples such as Les Mégalithes 2001 Domaine Bertrand Bergé made in the village of Paziols in Fitou (which was still tasting beautifully the other day, more than a year after I first tried it).
However, even I admit that the vine can be extremely attractive when it is...