Marselan is a curious beast that’s been popping up here and there. Originally created as a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, it was successfully bred near the town of Marseillan, France from which it takes its name. Despite these two very well-known grapes, this cross has absolutely no characteristic of either. It was designed to be for the hot regions of Southern France such as the Languedoc but has taken quite well to the climate and tendencies of Catalonia and is an “experimental” grape in several DOs.
You can read a bit more in this article as well as reviews of the Mig Mig from La Vinyeta here and here. Of course, it’s important to note that Mig Mig has only half of its blend coming from Marselan with the other half being Lledoner Roig.
Coming across a wine of 100% Marselan is a bit rare and even more rare is coming across one that’s excellent. Joan Olivella and Lluís Carsí of Vins de Foresta have seemingly breached the quality barrier with this wine and are making an extremely tasty wine down in Penedès, albeit outside the DO. You probably won’t find it though given they produce only about 400 ambient yeast fermented bottles each year–such is the case with “experimental” wines. But, if you do happen to come across this, it’s an incredibly fine curiosity worth tasting as it will be like nothing you expect it to be and that, is the awesome sauce of wine these days.
