After a cool start to the year, in spite of a cool rainy spring we had a relatively good flowering, and then a long dry period in July, August and September.
Quality-wise, 2018 turned out to be another excellent vintage - now four in a row, from 2015 to 2018 - with real ripeness and concentration - this is a classic Domaine of the Bee flagship red

A big, booming nose of forest bramble fruit, roasted black plums, and a little vanilla and clove from 1/4 new oak barrels

Immediately charming and open, this wine has had a little longer in barrel then normal (thank you coronavirus), and has a slightly more rounded feel as a young wine, but it has the depth of fruit and freshness of tannin to continue to develop over the next few years. A rich, full-bodied red.

A deep rich red

Great with grilled red meat, hearty stews, barbequed food, and hard cheeses.

After pressing, all of the wine was drained into a mixture of 500L and 225L barrels, approximately a quarter of which are new, and left to mature for 18 months.

We harvested a good yield of lovely ripe grapes in early October, and our last block from the Coume de Roy picked a few days after the first rain, but just before the heavens opened on the 15th October.

This vintage was due to be bottled in late March, but the bottling was cancelled, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. We re-scheduled the bottling for early June.