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13 Nov 2012
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5 Nov 2012
Rhône: Clos de Caveau, Vacqueyras
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| Bungener family with all-singing all-dancing dog. |
Henri Bungener has been running his 12-hectare (30 acre) vineyard organically since 1989, which is located all in one secluded sheltered spot up in the hills on the wild-side slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail. You'll eventually find Clos de Caveau a couple of kilometres out of the little village of Vacqueyras (see closdecaveau.com for directions), which is about 25 miles north of Avignon and 15 miles east of Orange. And handily enough, they also own three different-sized holiday gites on or near the property if you fancy taking in a bit of fresh air and sunshine in the middle of Provencal nowhere. Henri's Vacqueyras reds are made from about two-thirds Grenache, one-third Syrah; and apparently are available in Switzerland, Germany, USA, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. That's useful then!
2008 Fruit Sauvage (Grenache, Syrah) - perhaps a tad past it and lean but it does have hints of nice savoury vs 'sweet' fruit still lurking underneath. €6.30 ex-cellars.
2009 Carmin Brillant (Grenache, Syrah) - aromatic ripe fruity nose, very firm yet peppery and has good depth of fruit, a touch extracted though in the end perhaps. €8.70 ex-cellars.
2007 Lao Muse (Grenache, Syrah) - smoky notes with a hint of oak too, concentrated maturing fruit showing lovely 'sweet/savoury' style and peppery edges, firm and gutsy vs delicious fruit. €18 ex-cellars.
29 Oct 2012
Rhône: Ventoux, Clos de Trias & Marrenon
Two Ventoux producers for the price of one in fact, no relation (other than I tasted their wines at the London Wine Fair in a special Grenache-themed room) but it seemed like a good idea to combine them into a duet of Ventoux-tastic-ness. This wine region lies in the Vaucluse département to the east of the River Rhone and Avignon nudging up against that eponymous and somewhat awesome mountain...
Clos de Trias (above, shadowed by you know what: www.closdetrias.com)
Founded in 2007 (although the vines go way back) by Norwegian Even A. Bakke, who spent 14 years in the California wine business, and his French wife, Trias is now 25 ha (62 acres) lying at the foot of Mount Ventoux. I guess
the name comes from the geological term Triassic (stifle that yawn please!), which is the era the soils around these parts date from, apparently.
Grape-growing here is biodynamic with the philosophy and vineyards in the process
of switching over to this way of life for good, man. 2008 was a tricky
vintage in the region, which required a fair amount of sorting in the field
and winery to pick out the best grapes. 2007 was a more successful year, and
their old-vine red sampled here was made from selected 60+ year-old parcels called Champ Paga, L'Aube, Le Jas and Les Grand Terres (sic.), undergoing "a long
maceration on the skins" and using "minimal sulphur dioxide."
2008 Clos de Trias (75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 8% Carignan, 2% Cinsault) -
quite soft and 'light' (although still 14% alcohol) with enticing maturing
aromas, has a bit of grip still vs nice 'sweet' fruit, developing tobacco/leather edges and a has wild herby side too; drinking well now. €4.50
ex-cellars.
2007 Clos de Trias vieilles vignes (96% Grenache, 4% Syrah; 14.5% alc.) -
smoky maturing nose with liquorice vs tobacco edges, extracted firm and
punchy palate vs lovely spicy 'sweet/savoury' fruit, big mouthful of
flavour. €9.55 ex-cellars.
Marrenon
These guys are actually a 1200-grower strong co-operative set up over 40 years ago; the members' vineyards spread right across the Ventoux and Luberon wine regions with their winery, offices and posh-looking shop based in La Tour d’Aigues in the southeastern corner of the Vaucluse. So they obviously make a big range of wines, although, if this one is pretty typical, they deserve to be investigated further... www.marrenon.com.
2010 Ventoux Classique red (Grenache, Syrah) - vibrant ripe berry fruit, juicy 'sweet'
and tasty palate with savoury and tobacco edges, quite elegant actually on
the finish; very nice red.
25 Oct 2012
Rhône: Domaine de Mourchon, Séguret
Walter McKinlay and family bought Domaine de Mourchon and, at the time, its 17 hectares (42 acres) of old vines up on the stoney hillsides (at about 350 metres altitude) of the breathtakingly picturesque Les Dentelles de Montmirail in 1998. They immediately got to work on constructing a new winery, as the vine-land was previously owned by a co-op grower so there wasn't a cellar, in time for the following year's vintage. Being noticed by American wine critic Robert Parker, publisher of the Wine Advocate, among many others probably hasn't done them any harm, nor for the reputation of the relatively recent Côtes du Rhône Villages subzone of Séguret. This cute wee old village lies to the northeast of Avignon not far from Gigondas or Rasteau. The McKinlays also have a handsome-looking Provencal stone gite available for holiday rentals, standing right next to the cellar (handy for a little in situ sampling): see website link below. I actually went to the estate, on a day-tour of the lesser-known southern Rhone wilderness way back in 2003 (the year they purchased a few more vineyards in fact), and met Walter for the first time; and had the opportunity to catch up with him and taste his latest vintages and releases a few months ago at the London International Wine Fair. My thoughts back then (click here to read an article written at the time, scroll right down to the bottom almost) were probably on the lines of "quite good wines with much more potential," and trying them again nearly 10 years later confirmed that they do indeed merit the attention of our Rhone Valley tinged taste buds.
www.domainedemourchon.com
www.domainedemourchon.com
2011 La Source white Côtes du Rhône (35% Grenache blanc, 25% Roussanne, 15%
Marsanne, 15% Viognier, 10% Clairette and Bourboulenc) - rich honeyed vs
floral and mineral touches, full and rounded vs juicy and crisp, attractive
style.
2011 Loubié rosé Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages (60% Grenache, 40% Syrah
from 40 year-old vines) - attractive creamy red fruits vs juicy and crisp
mouth-feel, very quaffable rosé and quite elegant actually.
2010 Côtes du Rhône red (60% Grenache, 40% Syrah from 40 year-old vines) - nice
fruity juicy spicy style, hints of black cherry and liquorice with a bit of
grip vs attractive peppery fruit underneath. €6.25 cellar door.
2009 Tradition Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages (65% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10%
Carignan from 40 year-old vines) - funky nose with rustic edges vs rich and
dark side, pretty firm still vs lush mouth-feel and savoury flavours to
finish.
2010 Grande Réserve Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages (65% Grenache, 35% Syrah
from 60 year-old vines) - closed up on the nose to start, leads on to a very
concentrated palate with solid structure, firm vs lush vs spicy finish;
serious wine, closes up again on the finish but very promising.
2009 Family Reserve Syrah Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages (100% Syrah from
60 year-old vines) - pretty chocolate oaky to start with layered with thick
texture of concentrated peppery black fruits, that oak blends in in the end
thanks to its very rich vs solid framework. Wow.
2010 Family Reserve Grenache Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages (100% Grenache from 60
year-old vines) - not much on the nose initially, moving on to lovely pure
peppery Grenache fruit, 'sweet' and lush vs punchy and firm-textured, again
very concentrated. Wow-er.
13 Oct 2012
Rhône: La Célestière, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
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La Célestière 2009 Tradition (15% alc.) - powerful nose with ripe juicy fruit and white pepper vs liquorice notes, same on the palate with punchy structured mouth-feel vs rich fruit then attractive bitter twist of tannin. €19
La Croze 2009 (selected vines planted around 1920) - lovely pure Grenache nose, big mouthful with grippy vs oily texture, powerful finish that closes up a little vs underlying concentration. Yum.
Les Domaines 2009 - coconut and vanilla oak tones, again it's big and concentrated with attractive liquorice and spice flavours; finishes a tad hot and bitter perhaps.
8 Oct 2012
Roussillon: Latour de France open-day 11 November
Sounds like a taste-tastic day out, where you can sample wines from and talk to 14 estate winemakers/owners (most of them organically inclined actually) in the picturesque setting of ye olde village of Latour de France on Sunday 11th November (it's not too far from Perpignan). €5 entry fee gets you a special tasting glass (you can keep it) and access to all these cellars; there's an evening meal with wine laid on too for €25, which you have to book in advance. More info on their Facebook page. The gig includes these wineries (highlighted means a link to profile on this blog): Domaine Tribouley, Domaine de Sabbat, Domaine Rivaton, Domaine Respaut, Domaine des Mathouans, Domaine Giocanti, Domaine Fabresse, Domaine Calimas, Domaine de Bila Haut (Michel Chapoutier), Domaine de la Balmière, Domaine de l'Ausseil and Clos du Rouge Gorge. Best done on foot or by bike or on horseback perhaps...
21 Sept 2012
International Grenache Day
It's today, so you're in the right place! Browse around this French Med blog to find tons of Grenache-suffused words and wines. And try this report on Australian Grenache freshly posted on my other blog WineWriting.com:
Or this Catalan Garnatxa one:
6 Sept 2012
Roussillon: Domaine Rouaud update, Pézilla
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| Rivesaltes ageing in demijohns From www.domaine-rouaud.com |
Previous words and wines from Domaine Rouaud can be viewed HERE (scribbled 2006 to 2008, so I've been following them for six years now). I've updated and tweaked their profile below and added some of the latest releases sampled at this year's Millésime Bio organic wine show in Montpellier a few months ago, where I talked to Sophie Rouaud...
Jérôme
Rouaud and his wife Sophie were drawn to the deep south by a hazy
wine dream and initially worked nine hectares of vines and grapes,
which were picked for the local co-op winery. They established their
own estate in 2003 (that year of heatwave after heatwave), which has
since expanded to 15 ha (37 acres) lying on the distinctive
clay-stoney-schist slopes found to the north of the village of
Pézilla (about 10km west of Perpignan). They'd already opted for
organic farming since they started out - something they were
determined to do - and got full-blown 'certified' status (visions of
compulsory wearing of a straight jacket while among those precious
mad vines...) from the 2004 vintage. These vineyards are home to a
happy mix of senior-citizen Carignan (red, white and 'grey'), born in
1949, and the other usual suspects, some of them relative babies
planted ten years ago.
Before
this viticultural upheaval, Jérôme worked for years in the car
industry in Paris (yawn) then dramatically switched career, having
been bitten by the wine bug, first to a Nicolas wine shop followed by
Bordeaux university to study winemaking and viticulture. The couple
moved to the Roussillon, as a job came up as a winery assistant; and
finally they bought, ripped out and rebuilt an old Catalan-brick
house cum cellar in sedate Pézilla. Nothing too radical on the
winemaking front (which is fine) e.g. what you'd expect from any
conscientious organic grower, such as using indigenous yeasts or
a low sulphite policy (there's a rational and not overly
technical explanation on their site about what Jérôme does and
why).
Some
of their wines are exported to Germany, Denmark and Sweden: get in
touch for details. Where it's all going down: 7 Rue du Portal d’Amont, 66370
Pézilla-la-Rivière. Tel: 04 68 92 46 59, mobile: 06 98 17 22 81;
rouaud.vigneron.66@orange.fr,
www.domaine-rouaud.com.
2011
Llosa
white Côtes
Catalanes
(100%
Maccabeu) – perfumed honeysuckle with apple notes, quite rich and
lees-y vs attractive nutty 'mineral' side, quite intense finish. Good
stuff: €8.50
cellar door.
2011
Barbacane Grenache Côtes Catalanes (45 year-old vines) – spicy liquorice aromas / flavours, quite soft
and easy-going palate, nice drink-young style. €8.50
2010
Rive Gauche Côtes du
Roussillon (80% Syrah, 20% Grenache from 35-45 year-old
vines) – new wine: rustic leather edges vs dark sweet
berry/cherry fruit, dry vs rich and rounded mouth-feel. Very good.
€9.50
2009
Têt
Pourpre Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50/50
Syrah & Carignan, 45-65 year-old vines) – has a touch more oak
layered with ripe black fruits with earthy edges, quite firm still
with punchy finish; maybe less charming this vintage (?) in common
with other 09s. €13
A few earlier vintages of this wine are HERE.
2009
Essència
Côtes du Roussillon Villages (85% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache from
15-60 year-old vines) – oakier still but it's rich and intense with
nice fruity berry palate and savoury black olive undertones, powerful
structured finish; needs a bit of time to open up fully. Very good
though: €18.
29 Aug 2012
Roussillon: Domaine Boucabeille, Corneilla de la Rivière / Força Réal
 |
| Jean Boucabeille |
Named
after affable owner Jean Boucabeille, who I met, interrogated and
tasted with at Millésime Bio organic wine show earlier this year in Montpellier.
Which means he has taken the organic wine-growing plunge, as is
increasingly the fashion (fashion can be a good thing), with 2011
being his first fully 'certified' vintage. Jean's original vineyard plots hang on to eleven distinct staggered terraces facing
southeast up on the Força Réal hill overlooking Millas, Corneilla
and surrounding villages. These contoured vines were replanted
in the 70s at between 200 to 350 metres altitude, following the lie
of the land; and the “black mount” itself (see Jean's last red
noted below, whose name evokes the locals' nickname for it) peaks at over
500m, or about 1550 feet, impaled
by a giant TV mast. And Jean's been hard at it over the course of
2012 planting another six hectares of
white and red Grenache, Mourvèdre and Roussanne in
backbreaking stony schist soils, bringing the total to 28 (70 acres).
They've deliberately kept the surrounding woodland in its 'natural' state with wild scrub and flowers, olive and fruit trees, honey
production and even the odd grazing goat and ewe.
Good range overall, especially their Orris white wine and a rather sexy Rivesaltes Hors d'Age that sees at least five years barrel ageing. More info @ www.boucabeille.com, and you'll find the winery off the D614 road before you reach Corneilla de la Rivière (coming from Estagel or Millas). Phone no. 04 68 34 75 71. Sold in London by Philglas & Swiggot (see £ prices below) and Firth and Co. (N. Yorks); and also in Germany, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Poland and the US (in civilized Virginia at least).
Good range overall, especially their Orris white wine and a rather sexy Rivesaltes Hors d'Age that sees at least five years barrel ageing. More info @ www.boucabeille.com, and you'll find the winery off the D614 road before you reach Corneilla de la Rivière (coming from Estagel or Millas). Phone no. 04 68 34 75 71. Sold in London by Philglas & Swiggot (see £ prices below) and Firth and Co. (N. Yorks); and also in Germany, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Poland and the US (in civilized Virginia at least).
2011
Le Blanc de Régis Boucabeille
(50/50 Grenache blanc / Maccabeu, 13% alc.) – quite rich milky and
honeyed nose/palate tinged with spicy floral notes, crisp 'mineral'
vs weighty mouth-feel, attractive style and good with it.
2011
Le Rosé de Régis Boucabeille (Grenache gris / noir & Syrah,
13.5%) – juicy and quite delicate start with nice bite and texture,
finishing with a bit of oomph and fruity roundness too. Serious rosé.
2011
Les Terrasses de Régis Boucabeille red (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah;
14%) – lovely rich spicy warm and dark fruit with peppery liquorice
undertones, nice solid fruity style. £12.50
2010
Les Orris white (70 Maccabeu, Grenache blanc; 13%) – honeyed
and toasty edged with floral white peach aromas/flavours, crisp vs
weighty palate with developing oily tones on the finish. Very good.
2009
Les Orris red (75 Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre; 14%) – hints
of coconut oak and grain too vs firm and lush mouth-feel, balancing
soft dark fruit with dry grip. Good. £24
2009
Monte Nero Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache, Syrah,
Mourvèdre, Carignan; 14%)– more savoury meaty and developed,
grainy texture with attractive tannins, quite subtle and accomplished for
the dry and hot vintage 2009. £15
Vins Doux Naturels
2007
Rivesaltes ambré (70 Maccabeu, Grenache blanc; residual sugar 98
g/l and 15.5% alc) – nutty Fino vs Madeira type quirky nose, sweet
palate with tangy orange peel edges, delicious walnut flavours too
and almost a bit of grip of the finish! Very good.
Rivesaltes
Hors d'Age (mostly Maccabeu, 15.5% alc, RS 117 g/l) – more
complex and 'volatile' aromas with rich vs tangy palate and tasty
very long finish. Towards excellent, should slowly get even better
with bottle age...
23 Aug 2012
New wine tasting evenings in Belfast and Bangor - updated
In addition to the 5-week courses and Saturday wine workshops already scheduled in the RMJ / Wine Education Service program, I'm planning on running these informal tutored tastings in Belfast city centre over the next few months:
UPDATED 30 AUGUST
I've also penciled in two wine tasting & supper evenings at the Ava in Bangor (Co. Down):
Thursday 25 October 7pm - Mediterranean wine tasting with tapas £30
Thursday 11th October "Classic Grape Varieties" - £25
"A mini world tour tasting and talking about popular favourites such as Chardonnay and Merlot, but also looking at wines made from perhaps lesser-known varieties such as Grenache, Viognier or Sangiovese."
Wednesday 14th November "Classic Wines of Southern France" - £30
"An exciting tasting taking in a swathe of 'the Big South', ranging from classics from Bordeaux to more obscure deep southwestern France, down to the Spanish border on the Mediterranean, through the Languedoc and eastwards to Provence..."
Wednesday 5th December "Champagne and Sparkling Wines" - £35
"A fizzy world tour starting in France with Champagne and other fine sparklers, then comparing with the ever popular Cava (a premium example), Italian 'new kid on the block' Prosecco, passing through the southern hemisphere (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) and ending up in England!"
Tastings run from about 7pm to 9pm and eight different wines will usually be sampled and talked about at each event. Full details of all courses and tastings and how to book on this page:
Tastings run from about 7pm to 9pm and eight different wines will usually be sampled and talked about at each event. Full details of all courses and tastings and how to book on this page:
Or send me an email or book with Paypal (see below). Previous info and dates posted on my other blog:
www.winewriting.com/2012/07/wine-education-service-courses-tastings.html
www.winewriting.com/2012/07/wine-education-service-courses-tastings.html
UPDATED 30 AUGUST
I've also penciled in two wine tasting & supper evenings at the Ava in Bangor (Co. Down):
Thursday 25 October 7pm - Mediterranean wine tasting with tapas £30
"We'll taste and talk about six wines from Spain, Italy, southern France and a couple of surprises too, followed by a tasty selection of Mediterranean style tapas accompanied by a glass (or two) picked from the tasting wines."
Thursday 29 November 7pm - Christmas Champagne and sparkling wine tasting & supper £40
Thursday 29 November 7pm - Christmas Champagne and sparkling wine tasting & supper £40
"A mini world tour tasting of six fine sparkling wines including classic Champagne and other French sparklers, Spain, Italy, the New World and perhaps an English surprise too! Followed by a supper selection of tasty nibble dishes and a nice glass of fizz from the tasting."
Please email me for more info and booking or click on the Wine Education Service Belfast link as above or book now using PayPal.co.uk! This button takes you to my Paypal secure payment page (click here for more about card payments etc.):
Please email me for more info and booking or click on the Wine Education Service Belfast link as above or book now using PayPal.co.uk! This button takes you to my Paypal secure payment page (click here for more about card payments etc.):
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