Saint-Chinian is an appellation of spectacular landscapes and sweeping vistas. One of the newer AOC regions, it was elevated to this status in 1982. Even though it is a newer appellation the region has some wonderful old vine sources, especially for carignan. Domaine La Madura's oldest vines are carignan and the varietal is one of the main components of the "Classic" bottling. It is made up of 39% carignan, 30% grenache, 15% syrah and 16% mourvedre. The wine has beautiful raspberry and plum fruit with a purity of lavender that makes you feel like you are standing on the precipice of one of those sweeping vistas. It is medium bodied with balancing acidity and has the classic spice and mineral tones that are a hallmark to this region and its terroir. The wine is also bottled unfined and unfiltered helping maintain that focus and purity. (Keith Mabry, K&L Hollywood)