WINESCENE

Vinisud Discover- Maury Wines

Yesterday I referenced the region in the Roussillion that has once again captured my attention. Over dinner on Sunday night my conversation with the winemaker of these wines,


led to an exploration of D66, the wine road that bisects the Maury.



And yes, like our own Route 66 the adventure is around every bend.

The youthful couple behind Domaine Des Enfants, she an American from Oregon, and he the young winemaker remind me of Dave and Becky Corey of Core Wine when I first met them almost ten years ago at Hospice du Rhone. with a bit of Morgan Clendenen tossed in. Their wines have a quality and purity that attracts me, as did the wines of Mad Camps and Serre Romani.




Farther south and heading over to the border hills close to Andorra is Clot de L'Oum





There reds and whites are mind blowing, and were first discovered at Willi's Wine Bar. Clearly in the class of Clos Des Fees, Gauby and Mad de la Rectorie, the five wines I tasted were each really fine examples of new winemakers working with very old vines who are making excellent wines with Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre us fantastic whites from Grenache Gris, Blanc, Macabo and Carignan Blanc. One of Mad Camps whites, made only from Sauvignon Blanc was mind numbingly exotic and was like having fruit cup without the sweetness.

Needless to say, the Maury will be on my next trip list to visit.

Occupy:Grenache Rising

Forget Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange. Occupy: Grenache has taken over Vinisud with nearly every wine being poured being related to Grenache. Call it Blanc, gris or rouge and Grenache is being found everywhere at the every other year Grenache fete.

And the Occupy Gang of Pour was out in force with dozens of only Grenache vignerons who risked bottle and grape to converge at Vinisud.

The first night was capped off at G-Night, the first in a series of wine event Occupy: Grenache takeovers.

Vinexpo is next.

Vinisud Rediscovery-Vaquer

Back in the 90s when I was authoring a series of email messages called "Road Reports" I was directed by an Alsatian region wine sales rep to try the wine of Vaquer when I was in Banyuls over my birthday that year.

Over the years whenever I found a bottle of any of the exceptional Vin d'Pays wines, from the vineyard between Collioure and Perpignan in a remote corner of the Roussillion, I would always order the wine or bring one home with me. It's one of those wines you just have to experience and know you're having something very special in your glass.

Years back, he wines of Vaquer were legendary in the Vin d'Pays circles, on par with DAUMAS GASSAC and the Alain Roux era of St. Jean de Bebian. Today the top of the rung goes to La Grange de Peres but now with Kermit Lynch beginning to import the 11 year young Vaquer red, we can once again find an old friend.

The winemaker is the wife of the former winemaker who died young. After tasting the 01 and 2010 reds my palate memory kicked in and it was the mid 90's once again as the complexity, fruit and spice were present in the reds I tasted and I could only wish that Kermit's team brougy in her white.

Call it a Vinisud ReDiscovery.

Vinisud Discovery Domaine L'Hermas

A new Languedoc discovery from the low hills of Gignac comes Domaine L'Hermas, and youthful winemaker Matthieu Torquebrau.

He's made two wines, a 2010 red from Syrah and Mourvedre that is well balanced, deeply knitted ad full on the mouth with black fruit and blueberry tastes. His 2011 white is a blend of Vermentino, Roussanne and Chenin Blanc. Right out of the cube, the wine is showing a bit of fizz, that will blow off. When it does you get gorgeous fruit with pineapple and nectarine flavors.

Michel Smith Makes Wine

Roussillion wine expert, author and friend Michel Smith has taken a page out of the book of others, and made a stunning all Carignan wine from grapes that come from vineyards that are over 60 years old.

His Cotes des Catalanes wine named Puch, is forward and precocious but loaded with violets, black raspberry, sour cherry and wild cherry flavors. The wine is pie filling in balance and so good you'd want to lick the inside of the glass.

If you find the hat wearing Mr. Smith while wandering Vinisud ask him for a taste.

Aupilhac on a Roll

Domaine d'Aupilhac's Sylvain Fadat is upgrading his winery look along with the ever improving wines.


The 2011 Lou Maset red may be his best ever. Having been tasting it the last week almost every day I can only hold my breath for it to arrive in the USA. Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre are in perfect harmony.



His 2011 Mont Baudile Blanc is Ugni Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay and ready now. It should arrive via Kermit Lynch mid summer just around Sylvain's 50th birthday.



More on Sylvain's wines to come.

At Hauts Les Vines

I'm at one of the so called Offs the day before Vinisud begins in Montpellier France tasting wines well before lunch.

The most interesting wines are coming not from the Languedoc but from Serbia, Portugal and Italy.

Maybe they stand out because they are different, but my palate is telling me that variety is the spice of life. So what's impressing me, a lovely white from Casal Figueira which is found north of Lisbon along with Muxagat from up in the Douro near the Spanish border. Both the whites and reds are perfect fusion cuisine wines and the whites really geared for fish and shellfish. Muxagat is imported by Winebow.









Then there is Francuska Vanariji from Serbia with a stunning Alsatian Riesling and a delightful Gamay.


Last is a Tuscan red, the 2008 Podere il Casino from the Maremma region of Tuscany. Their two 2007's need time but the 08, a blend of Sagiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot is a stunning red I only wish was sold in the USA.


From Limoux I found the Domsine de Mouscaillo, imported by Beaune Imports, to be a fabulous example of Chardonnay that is grown high atop the Pyrenees mountains. The wine is bone dry and would work exceptionally well with Asian spiced cooking from Thailand or Vietnam.



From SW France the Jurancon Sec from Domaine du Bru-Bache 2010 is crisp and dry and screams for sushi and wasabi spice.



Another new producer from Cotes Catelanes, Domaine Matassa showed off some equally impressive whites and very big red wines from old vine Carignan, Syrah and Grenache. The still in barrel 2011 Syrah is a head turner while the whites provide a soft entry.



Clot de l'Origine has a to die for dry Muscat and a second tasty white. These are great by themselves, or before dinner or with cheese.



More to taste and more to come.

Great dinner last night at http://www.restaurant-delauzun.com/ in Gignac. I was very impressed with the wine list and the wine service. The front of house manager used to work at Terrasse de Mimosa in Montpeyroux so we had a nice catch up. Given the crowds for Vinisud will be likely finding their way here. I wanted to check out the new chef and the new style of cooking. It’s modern, and for 100 euros, the same four courses with wine and coffee would easily have been 50 percent more in Paris. This is a find and worth the drive from Montpellier if one is ever in the area.

The 2007 Domaine de Mouscaillo Blanc from Limoux was a stunningly bone dry Chardonnay. It was like springtime harvest apples. Green flavors in a good way, dried limes, pears. Yummy. The second was was made from the rare Carignan Blanc grape, a 2010 Mas Gabriel Clos de Papillons. What an exotic treat. Think Chenin Blanc but with more of everything.

I ended the night, skipping the dessert wine, a Maury, to savor the 2008 La Reserve d'O Rouge, (a wine from just between Gignac and Montpeyroux made from mostly Grenache with some Syrah. It's a bio-dynamic wine, but loaded with fruit that is full of raspberries and blueberry flavor.

Three lovely wines with an equally appealing dinner.

 

 

Tasting 2009 Les Terrasses d'Elise Le Pradel

I love Cinsault and regardless if the grapes are from Provence, the Rhone or the Languedoc, I constantly find that wines made from the obscure grape are always dreamy. I first fell in love with the grape when Bonny Doon's winemaker, Randall Grahm first came out with a DEWN wine made 100 percent from the hardly seen Rhone varietal. I later enjoyed similar 100 percent wines from Santa Barabara's Zaca Mesa, so with Vinisud coming up next week, the opportunity to drink one along with local expert, Bernard Bardou, over lunch near his home in St. Jean de Fos from a local winemaker on the rise was too good of an offer to pass up.

The wine is from La Terreasse de E'lise and is called "La Pradel." It's 100 percent Cinsault from vines that are between 40 and 60 years old in the small town of St. Jean des Fos, not far from Montpeyroux where friend Sylvain Fadat also makes a cinsault wine I enjoy.

The La Terreasse de E'lise is charming. And while young, it has that charm that is found in old vine reds that you yearn for. Spicy, without heat, think Pinot Noir, round and full, but not flabby, rich and long on the palate with a hint of thyme, but mostly blackberry and blackraspberry fruit on the finish.

It's a wine to enjoy and sip. You could drink it alone, but with venison, it was a pefect match at

La Pourpre et les Oliviers, a lovely roadside restuarant with a super list and very good cooking that is all about local with the trapping of so called "farm to table" pretentiousness.

 

 

Vinisud Warm Up-Domaine d'Aupilhac

Image via Wikipedia

Last night over dinner Sylvain Fadat, the winemaker and proprietor of Domaine d'Aupilhac surprised me with two new whites he's just finsihed making, just in time for next week's Vinisud in Lattes, France.

Sylvain popped the corks on his 2010 Vin De Pays Mont Baudile blanc and his 2011 Les Cocalieres Blanc. The Mont Baudile is a blend of one third each Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc and Chardonnay, and for me, is one of those wines that you just want to drink when you're having salad or fresh sushi. It's crisp, without being biting, and it's smooth without being sweet. The wine is much in line with those drinking the crisp wines from the Jura or Savoie in Frances eastern regions, but with a Southern flair. Think of the nice white Italians you find made from Tebbiano and you have the idea.

The surpirse though was the 2011 Les Cocalieres Blanc which has gone completely through malolactic fermentation already. The wine is still in it's evolving stage but well past being a barrel sample and will go through some bottle aging, but is it ever ready. Talk about an early maturing wine. This is one that will be worth hunting down at Vinisud to see how such a regal wine drinks so young. Made from a blend of Rolle, Grenache Blanc, Rousanne and Marsanne (each 25 percent apiece) the wine is something very special already.

Related articles

• Drinking Up Some Aupilhac Wines (andyabramson.blogs.com)