Roussillon: Domaine Depeyre, Cases-de-Pène

Brigitte Bile and Serge Depeyre set up shop in 2002 (I first went there in April 07) and now command 12 ha/30 acres in two main blocks overlooking Cases de Pène and Espira, and Vingrau. Some of their Mourvèdre is 90 years old and there is still the odd Carignan vine here that they believe to be “about 200!” That's what I call old vines. All the plots that used to churn out fruit for VDN wines have been, or are being, replanted with red varieties. Brigitte told me: “we aren't interested in making sweet wines but have added some Muscat to make dry white.”

You'll (have) notice(d) various points of view in this guide on the 'tyrant' Syrah versus Grenache, Carignan etc. and its place in the Roussillon. While the region should arguably focus on the latter grapes to distinguish itself from, say, the Languedoc; there is some damn good Syrah produced in certain sites. Brigitte certainly believes “Syrah is better suited than Grenache here, and we've also planted more Mourvèdre.” Serge and Brigitte are concentrating on exporting their wines – and most of it to our red wine obsessed Belgian friends – but you can buy the wines below in good local wine merchants in e.g. Perpignan, Prades or Argeles. However, they have plans to do up her father's old cellar into an on-site shop...

2005 Cuvée Depeyre Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Syrah plus Grenache Carignan) - light chocolate and spice tones, floral black cherry fruit on top; elegant tight palate, quite closed (this was only bottled 2 months before I tasted it, so it should have opened up a bit now) and fresh, chunky fruit and tannins yet finely textured. Could be good. €8.50 87-89
2004 Cuvée Ste-Colombe Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Syrah Carignan Mourvèdre) - displaying more oak but has lovely juicy black fruits as well, elegant v concentrated with the 14.5% alcohol well integrated; lusher fruit than above v light choc oak on a tight, lively and solid framework. Sainte Colombe is sourced from a 2 ha/5 acre parcel at higher altitude (200-300 metres/800 feet). €13.50 89-911 rue Pasteur, 66600 Cases de Pène. Tel: 04 68 28 32 19, brigitte.bile@orange.fr.

Roussillon: Domaine Rancy, Latour-de-France

Domaine Rancy

Brigitte and Jean-Hubert Verdaguer are real specialists in aged Rivesaltes ambré VDN wines (70% of production), although started making tasty Côtes du Roussillon reds six years ago; 11 out of 17 hectares are old vine Macabeu destined for this purpose. I was lucky enough to try their 1969? Rivesaltes, I think (from memory, I didn't note the vintage down) when visiting La Coume Majou (his personal stock!), which was quite extraordinary. Brigitte and Jean-Hubert have plans to refit part of the cellar into a dining room to do lunches with wine & food matched menus. Despite the fact they sell 80% of their production at the cellar door, very little of this comes from tourists as they are a bit off the beaten track. So hopefully this kind of meal thing will entice people out into the countryside. Believe me, good wines aside, it's definitely worth the trip: the Latour area offers a beautiful backdrop for driving or better still walking. I sampled these wines at the Fenouillèdes wine show in April 2007:

2005 Côtes du Roussillon red – nice juicy black cherry notes set the scene for a quite soft and forward palate v light grip and weight. 85

2005 Latour-de-France Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Carignan Grenache Mourvèdre) – lightly volatile nose (vat sample) gives way to lovely rich blackberry fruit, lively fresh mouth-feel v power, dry grip and delicious length.90-92
2003 Côtes du Roussillon Villages – attractive lush wild fruit cocktail with maturing leather tones, firm palate showing further developing savoury and rustic fruit with underlying 'sweetness' too. 88-90
2003 Latour-de-France Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Mourvèdre plus Carignan Grenache) – similar profile to above although more intense, savoury black olive notes and less rustic; more grip and muscle on the finish. 89-91
2001 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Carignan Syrah Grenache) – their first non-fortified red: complex herbal wild fruit with maturing meaty edges, lush rustic yet still perfumed palate with dry bite and a bit of oomph; those tannins finish up a tad firm, however this is good and quite elegant actually. 89-91

11 Rue Jean Jaurès, 66720 Latour-de-France. Tel: 04 68 29 03 47 / 06 87 11 15 18, info@domaine-rancy.com, www.domaine-rancy.com

Roussillon: Clos des Fées, Vingrau

Updated February 2013 (goes to 'World Grenache Competition' part two featuring Hervé's delicious Grenache blanc vieilles vignes 2011).

The philosophy behind Hervé Bizeul's cult estate and wines is refreshingly simple, upheld by a quiet-spoken man who claims to have been “surprised by the world fame.” You'll find more notes on three of his wines here, plus the wines below tasted in his cellar in April 2007 during the Fenouillèdes wine show. Hervé “didn't want to have a stand and hog the limelight,” believing there are other exciting discoveries in the Roussillon. Hervé, a restaurateur and wine writer in previous lives (his blog is an interesting read) said: “I'm very attached to the idea of a vigneron working their terrain. AOC doesn't need to develop, we just need to aim to make hand-crafted wines at a very high level.” He tries to “search for and retain the fruit to make rich, Mediterranean, flavoursome wines traditional to this area.” First and foremost, Hervé thinks he “makes wine for myself, then I work out how to manage the different plots and varieties” according to that principle. The ideal is making wines that can be drunk from “5 to 12 years old, except la Petite Sibérie.” He sells about 40% of production in France and spends a lot of time promoting Clos des Fées around the world, where his wines have become very sought-after. Hence those prices: easy to criticise although it's a whole different argument, and who can knock someone who's earned such a reputation?

2005 white (old vine Grenache Blanc) – pretty toasty nose gives way to a honeyed v mineral personality, lightly oxidised creamy and nutty style finishing with subtle freshness v weight too. 87
2005 Les Sorcières, Côtes du Roussillon (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – sort of reduced on the nose showing pungent or herbal black cherry fruit, a touch of chocolatey oak on the palate backed up by ripe fruit, fresh bite and light tannins. It loses that smell after a few minutes (Hervé adds CO2 for some reason). €10 87
2004 Vieilles Vignes, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – quite savoury with liquorice notes, rich and aromatic; fairly firm and tight framework offering power and concentration, yet lively too on its good length. €25 90-92
2004 Le Clos des Fées de Hervé Bizeul, Côtes du Roussillon Villages – rather a lot of coco oak otherwise it's closed up; power and almost chalky texture, it is long and firm v sweet fruit but just too oaky at the moment... €50
2004 La Petite Sibérie, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (100% Grenache, technically not allowed for AOC but who cares) – the best fruit sourced from a “mono-parcel,” as our man calls it, presumably a 'cool' site. Again, it has plenty of smoky oak but it's much richer with liquorice Grenache purity and very ripe black cherry fruit; weighty 15%+ alcohol which doesn't really shout out, surprisingly, with a lovely coating of sweet fruit and coconut to finish. By the way, this wine would cost up to a breathtakingly expensive €200 a bottle, if you can find any. 92-94
2005 red blend vat sample – obviously oaky but has lovely lush fruit too, quite fine actually while commanding and with attractive texture.
2005 Clos des Fées vat sample – similarly, there's lots of coco oak although shows attractive burst of fruit and the trademark power; finishes with fine fresh tannins. Needs a few months at least to round out and let that oak melt in more, which it carries better than the 2004.
1999 Clos des Fées – developing leather and spice tones, red pepper notes too plus roasted coffee, complex aromas; still quite firm with leather and nice meaty side, long finish. 92-94

69 Rue Maréchal Joffre, 66600 (ominous postcode!) Vingrau. Tel: 04 68 29 40 00, info@closdesfees.com, www.closdesfees.com.

Roussillon: Mas Crémat, Espira de l'Agly

Originally from Burgundy, Catherine Jeannin's beautiful hillside Mas was established (and replanted) 17 years ago, complete with charming old Catalan farmhouse buildings; and is found down a signposted, vine-enclosed track between the villages of Espira and Cases-de-Pène. You catch a glimpse of it while driving along the main road; but you have to carry on towards Espira, turn left at the roundabout up a hill and then left off this road. Now that her son and daughters have returned after various studies and work experience to help run the estate, Catherine wants to develop the wine tourism side by offering accommodation and lunches to small groups of wine lovers, as well as regular events such as their 'open day' in June. Watch this space...
In addition to all the usual red suspects, they have 10 ha/25 acres of white varieties including the less common Vermentino and Carignan blanc, plus both Muscats. "I'd like to increase plantings of red," she explained, implying she'll remove some of these white grape vines. "But it's important to have a good mix of vins de pays and dearer wines. We find people buy either the cheapest or the dearest, not so much the mid-price ones." Their 'entry level' red is indeed great value (see below) and sensibly Catherine believes that "we don't want to price our top wines too high."

Tried and tested back in March 2007:
2005 Grenache vieilles vignes, vin de pays Côtes Catalanes white (70+ year-old Grenache blanc & gris 14%) - subtle toasty notes mingle with apricot, peach and floral tones; elegant soft mouth-feel, attractive but lacks a bit of zing perhaps. €12 85+
2006 Tamarius red, vin de pays Côtes Catalanes (Syrah Grenache Carignan) - delicious vibrant black cherry/currant fruit with light cedar tones, fresh and easy palate with a touch of grip to finish. €4.30 85-87
2005 Côtes du Roussillon red (Grenache Syrah Carignan Mourvèdre) - still quite fruity although savoury too with rustic edges; more structured and firmer with nice backdrop of fruit, quite elegant and long. 87-89
2003 Cuvée Bastien, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre 14%) - smoky and peppery showing lovely fruit with liquorice notes; concentrated and firm v spicy and lush with very light chocolate oak coating, again good balance grip and length. 90-92

Mas Crémat, 66600 Espira de l'Agly. Tel: 04 68 38 92 06, www.mascremat.com, mascremat@mascremat.com.

Roussillon: Olivier Pithon, Calce

Updated Dec 2012 - see below.

This much talked-about domaine (although I'm still not 100% convinced why...) is found on the 'high' street in sleepy Calce: to find it, look for a clue outside on the pavement such as the odd winery hose or empty palette. Olivier started doing his own thing in 2001, having worked for Gérard Gauby among others, and thinks the Roussillon "has a big future in quality wines" thanks to its "rich variety of very different terroirs and old vines." He now has 15 ha / 37 acres spread out around the village and up towards the Col de la Dona (a lovely spot for a drive or walking), planted with about 60% red varieties. He also believes that "the best white wines in the Languedoc and Roussillon are from around here! The region has everything going for it, you can do lots of different styles – simple, big, elegant, less heavy... We just need to build up its image, new growers are arriving all the time hoping to follow in the footsteps of people like Gauby." And, like many, feels the Roussillon's main advantage over parts of the Languedoc is that "people kept their old vines and it's cooler (relatively) and windier here, favouring the production of finer wines."

Here are a few wines I tasted from vat in Olivier's garage cellar (in the sense of compact premises rather than home to overblown styles) back in March 2007 (read on for latest vintages):
2006 Cuvée Laïs white (Macabeu Grenache blanc) – quite rich and toasty v perfumed and exotic apricot fruit, fresh and long with nice poise on the finish. 87-89
2006 La D18 (named after the road!) white (100% Grenache blanc) – very different from above, more mineral and appley with lightly creamy and spicy edges, again fresh acidity to finish.
2006 red (mostly young Carignan) – shows nice floral cherry fruit with light grip, peppery and fruity. 85+
2005 Saturne (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – about to be bottled: complex wild flowers and ripe cherry fruit, liquorice palate with a tight, dry and fresh finish. 89-91
I've tried one or two others since, I'll add them to this blurb when i've relocated them.

UPDATE 2012 live from Millésime Bio wine show, Montpellier!

2011 Mon P'tit Pithon blanc (Macabeu, Grenache blanc/gris) – appley nutty and leesy, perhaps lacks a bit of character in the end. €8.20 cellar door.

2011 Laïs blanc (Macabeu, Grenache blanc/gris: barrel sample) – quite rich and toasty with apricot fruit tones, concentrated with nice yeast-lees bite, long finish balancing power and fresh acidity. Very good. €15.50

2011 Mon P'tit Pithon red (mostly young vine Grenache) – attractive fruity and minty style, fairly simple though. €8.20

2009 Le Pilou (very old Carignan) – intense and concentrated with lush vs crunchy blueberry, black cherry and cassis fruit; has freshness vs weight too on its tasty long finish. Very good although rather dear at €33. 

19 Route d'Estagel, 66600 Calce. Tel/fax: 04 68 38 50 21, pithon.olivier@wanadoo.fr, www.domaineolivierpithon.com.

Roussillon: La Préceptorie de Centernach, St-Arnac

For your pure enjoyment, here are some tasting notes on a few well-shaped white and red, dry & sweet, wines from man of nature Vincent Legrand (pictured right). La Préceptorie covers some 40 ha/100 acres (that's a lot of ploughing) producing mostly Vin de Pays wines in all colours (5700 cases) followed by AOC Roussillon styles and 2000 cases of small bottles of luscious Maury. I tasted these in March 2007 along with Domaine de la Rectorie's (see 'R' under winery A to Z) range (see below, they work together) at their Argeles warehouse and office:

2006 Coume Marie Réserve l'Almandin, Côtes du Roussillon blanc (Grenache Gris Macabeu 14.5%) - barrel sample: milky and juicy with fresh mineral length, the high alcohol and light wood toast aren't very noticeable and should integrate nicely. 87-89
2006 Les Terres Nouvelles Réserve l'Almandin "écrits de lumière", vin de pays Côtes Catalanes blanc (Grenache Gris 13.5%) - barrel sample: delicious flowery white peach aromas with very light creamy tones, fresh bite v power and poise. 88-90
2005 Zoé vin de pays Côtes Catalanes rouge (Syrah 13.5%) - nice juicy black cherry fruit with fragrant spicy edges, attractive full palate v light dry bite. 87-89
2005 Coume Marie, Côtes du Roussillon rouge (14.5%) - richer and more structured but still has fragrant black cherry and spice, quite brawny v tangy fresh fruit. 89-91
2005 Cuvée Aurélie Pereira de Abreu, Maury (Grenache & Carignan 17.5%) - youthful aromas and flavours, shows enticing lush peppery blackberry fruit with lightly savoury leather notes; the alcohol's a bit obvious at the moment but it has attractive sweet texture, bite and finish. 90

Centernach near Maury: 1 Route de Lansac, 66220 St-Arnac. Tel: 04 68 81 02 94 / 06 82 67 04 17, legrandvin@wanadoo.fr. See La Rectorie below for more web contacts. Summer 2009: Vincent Legrand is no longer at La Préceptorie, update to follow...

Roussillon: Château Valmy, Argelès-sur-Mer

The road up to Martine and Bernard Carbonnell's remarkable Bavarian/Disney-esque castle cum winery & hotel is well signposted off the Argelès bypass, but you absolutely could not miss it (even if it was dark and you were wearing sunglasses...). Perched up on a hill and surrounded by neatly terraced cascading vineyards, the Carbonnells have spent a fortune restoring this old family estate. Bernard started by replanting all the vineyards in the 1990s, building a show-piece glass-inner-walled cellar with tasting bar and finally had the peeling château itself renovated. They now offer five sumptuous and well-equipped guest rooms that retain a certain timeless Old World charm; priced from €150 to €350 depending on time of year, size and meal options (it's not open in the winter by the way).
As for the wines, I found them attractive and well-made although a bit over-glossy and lacking substance given the quite high prices they charge (€8 to €16); then again, most of the vines are still young so the wines should gain more depth in time. They currently produce about 70,000 bottles and "need to get to 100K to really be profitable, in terms of the investments made," taking a long-term view like so many who believe in the Roussillon's quality future and have gambled a lot of money on it. The whole set-up is clearly geared to getting numbers of wine tourists to come to them, and why not when you have an extraordinary estate like this in a superb location? And it appears to be paying off: Martine said they now sell around 60% of production on-site, way above the average; and it's a great place for them to entertain their trade customers too.

These wines tasted in March 2007:
2005 Valmy rosé (Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre) – fruity chunky and rounded with quite fresh length; good but looking a little old, look forward to trying the 06. 85
2005 Les Roses Blanches de Valmy (Viognier Marsanne Grenache blanc) – pretty toasty (fermented in oak) but does has nice aromatic apricot notes and creamy full palate too. 85
2004 Côtes du Roussillon rouge (Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre) – attractive creamy blackcurrant and raspberry fruit, soft and ripe with dry bite and subtle finish. 83-85
2004 Le Premier de Valmy, Côtes du Roussillon (Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre) - coconut spice dominates the nose (14 months in oak), quite lush with elegant fruit texture, dry v rounded then tighter finish. Quite good but €16? 87
2004 Valmya Rivesaltes Grenat VDN (Grenache) – enticing blackberry/cherry nose moves on to savoury v dark chocolate and wild fruit flavours; nice balance of tannin texture, sweetness and alcohol. 89
2005 L'Or de Valmy, Muscat de Rivesaltes (Muscat petits grains) – delicious floral honeyed nose, fruity and rich palate with lively finish showing roundness and freshness. 87

Chemin de Valmy, 66700 Argelès-sur-Mer. Tel: 04 68 81 25 70 / 04 68 95 95 25, contact@chateau-valmy.com/ chateau.valmy@tiscali.fr, www.chateau-valmy.com

Organically focused on Corsica: Abbatucci & Granajolo

Corsica was one of my three main themes to stay organically focused at the Millésime Bio 2007 showcase, held in Narbonne (Languedoc) a few days ago (the other two were Alsace and Tuscany: that link takes you to the other two-thirds of the wines on WineWriting.com). Read my reports on Millésime Bio 2006 and 2005 for a slightly less eclectic selection of wines and comments on organic viticulture. Plus winners (honoured or should've been) and views from last year's Signature Bio competition.

CORSICA

Okay, there were only two estates from Beauty Island at the MB show - maybe the only ones farmed organically? - so hardly representative. Domaine Comte Abbatucci is now run according to biodynamic principles: whatever the methods, it's recognised as one of the best producers, which I agree with wholeheartedly. Jean-Charles Abbatucci has been experimenting with 18 previously vanished Corsican varieties with some interesting results - see my notes on his 2006 white vat samples. And his red Faustine blend is delicious: he had three different vintages at the tasting.
On the other hand, Domaine de Granajolo perhaps exemplifies the disappointment I've felt before with Corsican wines - admittedly it's been a few years since I've been there though. Or their reds at least, which lack real ripeness and generosity. I'm not sure why: are the varieties planted in the wrong sites or the growing techniques unsuitable or do they just pick too early? Either way, when will Corsica as a whole fulfil what appears to be such great potential? While you're mulling over these cumbersome questions, enjoy the wines:

Comte Abbatucci - Casalabriva

2006 Vermentinu (tank sample) - nice concentration v aromatic fruit, zesty v ripe and rounded; unusual. 87-89
2006 rosé (tank sample: Barbarossa Sciacarellu) - floral redcurrant, very zesty with nice extract and fresh length. 87-89
2006 white blend 1 (I didn't write the grape names down and couldn't find them on their website) - banana and peach notes lead to a creamy concentrated palate and fresh length; interesting. 87+
2006 white blend 2 - zesty extract v rich fruit, quite yeasty at the moment yet should be good. 87+
2005 cuvée Faustine, Ajaccio AOC (Sciacarellu Niellucciu and a touch of old vine Carignan) - smoky ripe Italianesque raisin and liquorice fruit, soft fruity mouth-feel v quite firm and fresh, nice power v elegance. 89-91
2004 cuvée Faustine (Sciacarellu Niellucciu and a touch of old vine Carignan) - less smoky, more structured yet similar in character, nice grip v ripeness. 90-92
2003 cuvée Faustine (Sciacarellu Niellucciu and a touch of old vine Carignan) - more developed and complex on the nose, quite rich 'tar' tones v firm and fresh, power v lovely fruit. 92

By the way, if you're feeling well-off, you can drink Abbatucci's wines in Gordon Ramsay's London restaurants.
ABBATUCCI WINES TASTED PREVIOUSLY (biodynamic wines report May 2006).

Domaine de Granajolo - Ste Lucie de Porto-Vecchio

2005 blanc, Corse Porto-Vecchio AOC - fresh perfumed and zesty with lemon and banana notes, tight steely finish. 87
2005 cuvée Monika rosé (Niellucciu) - nice creamy fruit showing toffee-like edges v tart raspberry flavours, weighty v appealing freshness. 87
2003 cuvée Monika rouge (Syrah Niellucciu) - herbal red pepper tones v rustic richness, tannins are a bit hard but this has more generous fruit than the two 04 reds I tried. 83-85

LATEST ON GRANAJOLO HERE (profile, 2009 reds and 2011 white and rosé...)

Roussillon: La Coume du Roy, Maury

The de Volontat-Bachelet family has a shop down on the main road coming into Maury, but the real fun goes on in the cellar up the hill. At least, fun to watch Jean-Francois ("a bit crazy") clamber around behind and on top of huge old casks drawing off samples of different ages and styles of Maury wines, and tasting them just as they come - the vintage dates below are correct by the way. He amusingly described himself as "only the husband and winemaker, my wife's (Agnès) the owner," who is in fact the sixth generation owner of these cramped cellars (built in 1932) and 25 ha (62 acres) that provide those precious grapes.There are essentially two styles of Maury - on a basic level: in reality, there are almost as many as any producer wishes to make! (Same principle for Banyuls, more or less) - both using mainly the same variety: Grenache noir (and Macabeu, Grenache blanc and/or Grenache gris for the rarer white). The more (or less) oxidised, aged one where (for red) the grapes undergo a 4-5 day maceration on skins (or less even) and short fermentation to obtain colour and desired sugar level, then are pressed and the juice fortified with spirit (leaving about 100 grams/litre residual sugar). The other style is said to date from around the mid 1980s: "muté sur grains," meaning the entire must with the berries macerating in it is fortified, stopping fermentation with around 80-85 g/l RS; followed by 2 to 4 weeks maceration on the skins before pressing (avoiding oxidation), which gives much richer colour and tannins. This type of Banyuls is sometimes bottled relatively soon, depending on the exact style you want - after a period in vat or filled-up barriques - and sometimes aged a little longer in bottle before release (so, technically similar to Vintage or Late Bottled Vintage Port, depending on if and how long in barrel). Whereas the traditional approach is to mature it in vats and/or large old casks, and usually not topped up, or even glass demijohns outside, to promote oxidation, like e.g. Banyuls "Grand Cru" or Tawny Port styles.
Coume du Roy also make Muscat de Rivesaltes and a little Côtes du Roussillon Villages red. As for Maury, there's often a story behind each of the great vintages kept back and when they're transferred from cask. There's still a tiny bit left of the original 1880 (see note below); the 1939 was replaced by the 2000, their daughter's birth date; the 01 with the 98, the year they took over the property etc. Apparently up to 10% of the wine is lost per year in evaporation. Apart from doing 35 wine shows in France every year, Jean-Francois is active in the US, Japan, Belgium and Denmark. They also "sell a lot to British tourists but very little in the UK," he said, proving that people do like unfamiliar wines once they've tried them. 

Tasted 4th Sept 2006:
2004 Maury from vat ('muté sur grain') - lovely spicy blackberry fruit, aromatic and rich with light leather notes; power v sweetness v nice bite. €10 87+
2004 Maury from vat (traditional) - more subdued with more chocolate and leather, lighter palate with alcohol and sugar less integrated at this stage.
1998 ('muté sur grain') - browning colour, nice pecan and caramel notes turning into richer pruney fruit tinged with Madeira-type complexity; wild mint edges mix with lush sweetness v tannin dryness, plus oily pure fruit finish. €12.40 50cl 90-92
1932 - orangey brown, very interesting volatile Madeira-type nose with toffee and orange peel edges; the 16.6% alcohol seems more obvious here, but this is delicious with its savoury v sweet, old yet youthful class. €190 50cl 95+
1880 - wow: liquid treacle, dark and thick; very volatile with coconut notes, incredibly rich molasses and caramelised raisins with dense lush finish; extraordinary stuff, seems pathetically futile to give it a score!

Tasted Feb 2007:
2003 Maury (17%) - enticing developing savoury leather notes on top of spicy liquorice and prune, rich earthy chocolate palate with nice bite of tannins and alcohol keeping check on the sweetness. Drinking now but plenty of life in it yet. 90+

13 Route de Cucugnan, 66460 Maury. Tel: 04 68 59 67 58, mobile 06 86 49 39 52, 04 68 59 02 11 (shop); www.lacoumeduroy.com

Fitou splits from Languedoc

This story was posted on www.decanter.com on 1/12/2006.

The entire Fitou appellation and its producers have left the CIVL, the regional association of Languedoc wineries. When revealing export marketing budgets at the CIVL’s AGM in Narbonne, Fitou’s letter of resignation was also conspicuously on the agenda.

The move towards a single, united wine trade federation called Inter-Sud - combining CIVL, CIVR (Roussillon), Inter-Oc (vin de pays d’Oc) and ANIVIT (vins de pays & table) - has been too slow for some members. The concept of managing and promoting the whole region as ‘South of France’ was agreed a year ago and the Inter-Sud charter signed in June this year. Jean-Marc Astruc, Fitou winegrowers’ president, commented: “If we want to do this, we have to do it quickly. Everyone is talking about unity but people are dragging their feet.” Katie Jones, export manager at Mont Tauch, the progressive co-operative based in Tuchan and major player in Fitou production, added: “we’re committed to South of France, it’s a fantastic idea. The CIVL was just one level too much…”

“The reason why Fitou left is because what we were paying in was too much compared to what we got out of it,” clarified Astruc. “The administrative structure was too expensive and Fitou wasn’t very visible,” he added. “South of France is simple, clear and easier for the consumer. There’s no point in paying to complicate.” Philippe Coste, CIVL president, endorsed reducing the timescale: “we must make this happen over the next year, especially with the Languedoc regional AOC; how can we if we’re still each doing our own thing?”