Here we offer two delicious reds from winemaker Alex Sichel, one of the great Peter Sichel’s grandsons, in the excellent 2025 vintage. Amassa is an exclusive cuvée featuring grenache, syrah and carignan from selected vineyard sites across the property. It provides immediate drinking pleasure with vibrant, pure red fruit character and fine tannins. The Terre Rouge is Alex’s top wine; made from 100% grenache it has wonderful finesse, with generous, mouth-filling fruit and a very long finish. Both wines are labelled IGP Cucugnan as opposed to Corbières to highlight the unique style of the wines. Cucugnan is the tiny village where the winery is based.
Order by midday, Tuesday 15th September
The Sichel family is usually associated with the wines of Bordeaux, but young Alex moved to a remote corner of the southern Corbières in 2019 to run the estate established by his grandfather in the 1980s. Alex set about transforming the property, employing biodynamic cultivation techniques from day one and focusing on the very best high-altitude vineyard plots. He also radically changed the style of wines, moving away from the traditional full-bodied, concentrated, often tannic style of Corbières in favour of more subtle, scented wines that are approachable younger. In a very short time Alex has made a huge impact; his wines now appear in top restaurants across France, and last year Alex was voted ‘Newcomer of the Year’ by the influential Revue du Vin de France, the most highly respected wine magazine in France.
The 2025 vintage was the smallest on record, so we expect the wines to be in great demand.
