route 5 - Leon Stolarski Fine Wines

Transcription

ROUTE 5
Les Terrasses du Larzac
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Montpeyroux & Lodève
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ROUTE 5 Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Montpeyroux & Lodève
SIGHTS
La Couvertoirade (north on A75)
Le Viaduc de Millau (north on A75)
Mont Saint Baudile
Les Gorges de l’Hérault
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert & Le Pont du Diable
La Grotte de Clamouse & La Grotte des Démoiselles
Le Cirque de Navacelles
Pégairolles de l’Escalette
Le Cirque de Mourèze & Lac du Salagou
Lodève: Cathédrale Saint-Fulcran; Musée Fleury
HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & BARS
Lodève: Hôtel du Nord, H La Croix Blanche, H de la Paix
R Entre Terre et Mer
R Le Petit Sommelier
Soubès: R Le Temps de Vivre
Aniane: R le Pavillon
St Guilhem: H/R Guilhaume d’Orange
Saint-Guiraud: R Le Mimosa
Montpeyroux: La Terrasse du Mimosa
Saint-Saturnin: H Ostalaria Cardabela
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Les Terrasses du Larzac & Coteaux du Languedoc
From the foothills of the Cévennes in the west, to the gorges of the Hérault river in the east, this twenty-five square
kilometer route is home to over a dozen world-class wine producers. Drive down the vertiginous A75 autoroute from the
granite and limestone uplands of the Causses du Larzac, over the spectacular, Norman Foster-designed Viaduc de
Millau, and into the amphitheatre of the Languedoc vineyards. Or go west from Montpellier via Aniane, cross the 11th
century stone Pont du Diable and head for the limestone grotto of Clamouse, and Saint-Guilhem with its Benedictine
Abbaye de Gellone. UK wine writer Andrew Jefford said, in a 2009 article written after touring the region, that if anyone
gave him 1m, he’d probably invest it in a Terrasses du Larzac vineyard.
Millau Viaduct
Causses du Larzac nr St Pierre
Abbaye de Gellone, St Guilhem
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Cloisters at Abbaye de Gellone, St Guilhem
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North of Aniane on D32 lies the village of Puéchabon
with three excellent producers:
Domaine de Montcalmès
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p 0613088916
Frédéric Pourtalié
Frédéric Pourtalié trained with maestro Laurent Vaillé at nearby Grange des Pères and did a stage with Alain Graillot of
Crozes-Hermitage in the Rhône valley before taking over his family vineyards and producing his first vintage in 1999.
He makes a superb red - a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend - which has evoked the words “stunning” and “supple”
from one commentator. He vinifies each grape variety from each terroir separately: here Rhône-like galets roulés for
warmth and fullness; there limestone for minerality and freshness.
• Wines: Domaine de Montcalmès Coteaux du Languedoc at £20 up. Wines to hoard.
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Mas des Brousses
34150 Puéchabon
0467573375
email: [email protected]
Géraldine Combes & Xavier Peyraud
The Combes family has lived in the village since 1525, and in 1997, 472 years later, Géraldine and Xavier set up the
Mas des Brousses. There can’t be many families - even in France - with such a heritage. Brousses means bush or
brush - walkers/hikers will talk about the need to débroussailler or clear paths. The couple love the wildness of the
place, the oak copses, the olive trees, the thyme and rosemary of the garrigue, the small parcels of vines. You’ll find
their cave in the village.
• Wines: Two lovely reds. Chasseur des Brousses, a 13% blend, mainly Merlot, with Grenache & Cinsault - Vin de
Pays d’Oc - herby and long - £9. A pretty label with a bee-eater decorously perched.
Mas des Brousses, CduL Terrasses du Larzac - again 13% - Syrah & Mourvèdre in 2007. Raised in old 400litre oak
barrels, and not fined or filtered. Dark purple, smoky notes, savours of blackcurrant - to keep for a while - £14
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Domaine Coston
3 route de Montpellier
34150 Puéchabon
0467574896
f 0467576540
p 0617356480
Marie-Thérèse & Philippe, Joseph & Jean-Marc Coston
The Coston brothers Joseph and Jean-Marc have renovated their grandfather’s cellar in the middle of the village.
Working organically (en bio) they’ve sold wine as far away as Japan.
• Wines: They make an aromatic, full white from Grenache Blanc & Roussanne, raised in oak.
A red VdP de Saint-Guilhem - Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Carignan - peppery and real terroir wine.
A red CdL “Les Garrigues” ‘04 - 14% - a lovely oaked incense and fruit blend - c 16.
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Mas de la Séranne
34150 Aniane
0467573799
p: 0682193656
Isabelle & Jean-Pierre Venture
From Puéchabon down the D32 towards Aniane, and just before the village, turn in left to Jean-Pierre Venture and his
domain, named after the mountains across the Hérault gorges to the north.
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When I met him he told me he hadn’t taken a proper holiday in eight
years. Being a vigneron isn’t to be entered into lightly. And, talking of
marriage, he and Isabelle married in Saint-Guilhem, where Isabelle had a
house. Montpellier is his pays natal. He’d worked 11 years for GrandMet
as a plant manager in south-west France, before - after an absence of
twenty years - he and Isabelle returned to their region in 1998. As an
ingénieur agro-alimentaire he enjoyed his year studying winemaking at
Montpellier under renowned professors Carbonneau, Razungles and
Flanzy. With an initial rented 5 hectares, 2.5 of which were Cinsault, they
started selling their wine from Isabelle’s house. In 2001 they built their
fine subterranean gravity-fed cave. By ‘06 they had 60 barriques in their
chai , and a vineyard of 14ha: Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault
and Carignan, plus some Grenache Blanc and Roussanne for their
white. Grapes are hand-picked. As is common in this corner of
Languedoc, he vinifies his parcels separately, to get the benefit of
different terroirs. Roughly 60,000 bottles, and a team of 3.5! Dynamic
Jean-Pierre has also fitted in six years as the President of the Terrasses
du Larzac. “The Languedociens are only just starting to appreciate - une
prise de conscience - their viticultural inheritance, their wine
architecture”, he told me. Isabelle and J-P’s wines have won medals,
and glowing comment from the Guide Hachette, among others.
• Wines: White CdL tasted from tank - Grenache Blanc-Roussanne - zippy, fragrant with yellow flowers, and a
touch of fennel - now called “Cuvée sous les cannisses” c£9
“Les Griottiers” CdL - a red that spends 1 year in cuve. Deep brown/crimson. Great nose of morello cherries
(griottes) & cocoa. Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault.
“Clos des Immortelles” - CdL - lovely caramelly nose, red and black fruits, flowers like mimosa. The “immortelles”
are apparently the wild flowers helichrysum or strawflowers. Four grape types, without Cinsault. Fût de chêne. £10
“Cuvée Antonin et Louis” - CdL - their top wine, same grapes, oaked, deliciously rich, long & herby. C£15.
Jean Pierre Venture
Down the D32 through the pretty village of Aniane - some
grand houses, a jolly cooperative, and Le Pavillon restaurant
with a good lunch menu - to the D32e2 turning to Grange
des Pères, the long and winding track to Mas de Daumas
Gassac, and on to Château Capion. And over on the east
side of the hill - le Massif de l’Arboussas - sits Mas Laval.
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La Grange des Pères
0467577055
f 0467573204
Laurent Vaillé
Laurent and Bernard Vaillé make possibly the finest wines in
the region. Laurent studied oenology at Montpellier, did
stages with Domaine Trévallon in Provence, and upcountry in
Meursault and Hermitage. In 1989, they bought some garrigue and created their vineyard, which now stands at
around 11ha. Their first vintage was 1992. Under existing
French wine laws, the presence of the Bordeaux grape
Cabernet Sauvignon in their wines (and those of their
famous neighbours at Daumas Gassac) means that they are
tagged “Vin de Pays” rather than the prestigious “Appellation
d’Origine Controlée”.
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In the warming February sun the family
posed for me. Winter had been bitter since November there’d only been five
nights when the temperature rose above
0°C, so how wonderful to find fields full of
meadow grass, daisies, little blue flowers,
and birdlife, specially buzzards, in
abundance. Against a background of
quacking ducks and clucking chickens, we
talked about avian flu (“Won’t we be able
to eat real poulet de bresse any more?”),
rugby (Laurent had played in the threequarters at Clermont-Ferrand, and on a
frozen pitch he bust his nose), soccer (as a
kid he always supported my club, Arsenal
- les Gunners; the famous French player
Laurent Blanc had gifted the Manchester
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson a bottle
of Grange des Pères, and Sir Alex knew of
the wine already), before turning to the state of the wine world. A global surplus of 12 million hectolitres of wine, he’d
heard. “Life used to be simple, now at least four sets of bureaucrats sit on our shoulders.” I think it’s probably double
that, but it’s not for me to comment! Because they’re so sought after, the Vaillé wines are reserved and allocated well in
advance each year. Every reason to be upbeat, therefore.
Laurent, Alain & Bernard Vaillé
On my first visit, I’d had what amounted to a mystical experience when Laurent let me taste from barrel in his
underground pink chai where the oak barriques are stacked. Low lights, shaded by terracotta rooftiles. Aromas of
spice, vanilla, yellow blossom - the incense of fine wine making, everything taking its time. No fining or filtering, just
lots of time in barrel - two years plus: “Nature does it well”. On my second visit, in the corner of his barn was a stubby
stainless steel tank: “That’s the 2003 white. In the heatwave of ‘03 - la canicule - the pressed grapes turned to mush
and there was scarcely any juice. So we can’t make many bottles of it”. On the other hand, the 2005 vintage had been
a miracle. There had been so much rain, yet it drained away without a problem. The ‘05 Cabernet Sauvignon we tasted
from barrel was wondrous.
• Wines: His two wines, one red, one white, are produced in small quantities - a yield around 22hl/ha, or 4-5
bunches per vine.
Grange des Pères Blanc ‘04 - Vin de Pays de l’Hérault - 13.5% - Roussanne, Chardonnay, and maybe some
Marsanne too. “One of the World’s great whites” says Rob Chase of Adnams UK. Honeyed, delectable, great length
on the palate. Reckon on £40 if you can find a bottle. I’m keeping mine!
Grange des Pères ‘02 Red - 13.5% - Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cab Sav. - this was my bottle, drunk with family in’07.
Layered, complex, velvet in our carafe, and much too quickly drunk. Around £35 at the time.
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Mas de Daumas Gassac
34150 Aniane
0467577128
www.daumas-gassac.com
Aimé, Véronique, Samuel, Ga”l and Roman Guibert
In 2001 Aniane hit the headlines as a change of mayor in the local elections put an end to the hopes the Mondavi
family from California had of buying 50ha on the garrigue of the Arboussas hill. Laurent Vaillé, unsurprisingly, had been
philosophical about this local-v-global dispute: “Le soleil se lève pour tout le monde” - the sun rises for everyone. His
neighbour, Aimé Guibert at Daumas Gassac rather surprisingly led the opposition to the Mondavis. As a businessman
from MiIlau, and a terrific marketer, he might have been expected to see the advantages of having a world wine player
on his Aniane doorstep. Jonathan Nossiter’s 2004 film “Mondovino” (now a DVD) charts the battle, as he sees it,
between the forces of globalisation and the authenticity of local wine producers, and Aimé Guibert is one of its stars.
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Samuel Guibert
The charismatic Aimé and his wife Véronique de la Vaissière have been
at their Moulin de Gassac, next to the stream, for over 30 years. The
full story of their adventure is told by Alistair Mackenzie in “Daumas
Gassac - Birth of a Grand Cru” (Segrave Foulkes 1995). Briefly, the
Guiberts were looking for a country property away from Millau to the
north, where Aimé ran a glove factory. They found an old farmhouse
with a stream and some patches of vines in the midst of 110ha of
forest and garrigue. Legend has it that Saint Benoît of Aniane created
the vineyards in the Gassac valley around 780AD, but it wasn’t until
the 1970s that Henri Enjalbert, a Bordeaux geologist friend of the
Guiberts, visited them and discovered the red terra rossa glaciated
soil, rich in minerals but poor in nutrients, which favoured the growth
of the ‘noble’ Bordeaux grape Cabernet Sauvignon. For Australians, the soil is
reminiscent of Coonawarra.
Now the Guibert family have some 45ha of vines scattered around their garrigue
hillsides. On my first visit ten years ago, in summer heat, an enthusiastic member
of the Gassac team had ferried me, rally style, round the vineyards, each planted
with a different grape type, and extolled the wonders of the micro-climate (hot
days, cold nights) and the refreshing, sometimes chilling, winds that blow down
the valley from the Larzac at 850m (2,800ft).
Samuel Guibert tells me that their ‘botanical garden’ in the Gassac valley now
has 29 grape varieties, with not a clone among them:
Reds: Cab Sav, Cab Franc, Tannat, Merlot, Malbec/Cot, Syrah, Pinot Noir,
Cinsault, Carignan, Petit Verdot, Carmenere, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto
Gassac stream
Whites: Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Chenin Blanc, Petite Arvine,
Marsanne, Roussanne, Muscat de Frontignan (petits grains), Semillon, Petit
Courbu, Sercial, Amigne, Voskeat, Albarino, Datta de Liban, Neherleschol (the biblical grape from Canaan).
The family’s hard work and dedication, and the skill of their team, mean that you can now find the range of Daumas
Gassac wines all over the world: we last drank their Moulin de Gassac red ‘Guilhem’ in Santa Monica, California. The
Guibert sons are now the marketers: Sam targets the USA and Asia, Gaël and Roman look after Europe.
• Wines: two rosés including the delicious fizzy Daumas Gassac Frizant; three whites including a
Clairette/Sauvignon blend; four reds including the Guilhem - a Grenache/Carignan/Cinsault/Syrah/Alicante/Merlot
blend. Reckon to pay between 10-12 per bottle for these. For their top white and red 20 en primeur. For glorious
wines these are excellent value.
Last tasted:
Mas de Daumas Gassac white VdP ‘08 - herby, long, subtle.
MdDG white ‘04 - 13% - Viognier/Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay/Petit Manseng - deep gold colour, lemony undertones,
honeyed notes coming through, a wonderful white, and still developing.
MdDG red ‘04 barrel sample - wonderfully complex, spiciness in mouth, with a tingle.
MdDG red ‘03 - very subtle, soft tannins - 12.86% abv (alcohol by volume)!
At Villeveyrac cooperative 20kms to the south on the D2/D5 junction north of Mèze and the Mediterranean, you’ll also
find Gassac wines, because the winemakers from Gassac have worked with the coop over many years.
The Guiberts have done great things for the Languedoc, and deserve all the success that’s going.
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Les Causses du Larzac near St Pierre
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Mas Laval
26 rue Jean-Castéran
34150 Aniane
0467577923
p 0685319840
Joël & Christine Laval
Despite, or maybe because of, the increasing interest shown by rich outsiders in the magic of the Massif de
l’Arboussas, Joël decided to take over his family vineyard in 1989. His grandfather had been a beekeeper, and his father
was at one time the President of the Aniane coop. He has about 10ha which he works with his brother and father, and is
in the process of creating a brand new winery. He’s in love with his home territory, saying he’s “enchanted” by the hills,
the garrigue, the streams, and his childhood memories. He finds a surprising finesse, an airy quality, and good acidity in
his wines.
• Wines: A magnum of Joël’s 2004 VdP de l’Hérault had been resting in my small wine rack in London, and, as ever
with something potentially wonderful, fingers were crossed that it wouldn’t disappoint. I’m indebted to Rob Chase
of Adnams UK for telling me what’s in it: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Grenache Gris(!), and a touch of Cabernet
Franc. Aged for 18 months in one-year old barriques, and neither fined nor filtered. Drunk at Christmas with family,
it was rich, savourous, herby, long and luscious.
In the Autumn 2009 edition of the French magazine Terre de Vins Mas Laval ‘06 ( 18) was voted #2 wine of Languedoc
by a distinguished jury. Their quote: “Micro domaine mais maxi cuvée”. Joël’s “everyday wine” is Les Pampres (vine
branches) with Syrah,Mourvèdre,Carignan, and Grenache. C£6
These wines are terrific value for money - le rapport qualité-prix is a top selling point for the Languedoc winemakers.
Real wine at very keen prices. Ironically, Jancis Robinson MW once remarked that the problem for the Languedoc
winemakers on the world market was that their wines weren’t expensive enough!
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Château Capion
34150 Gignac
0467577137
f 0467574739
email: châ[email protected]
Nico van der Merwe
Next door to Daumas Gassac is the imposingly gravelled, turreted 17th century Château Capion. Owned since 1996 by
Adrian and Birgit Bührer, it’s run by Nico van der Merwe, who also makes the wines for the Bührer’s estate at Saxenburg
near Stellenbosch, South Africa. So he manages two vintages a year, one north, one south. Navigate the gravel and the
barking but friendly dogs, and you’ll find yourself in an airy, galleried tasting room and in front of a stained glass window
with scenes of the vendanges. From their 75ha (45ha of vines, all in one block - d’un seul tenant) they produce a wide
range of well-made, good value wines, and are open weekdays.
• Wines: The “Fiona” range - three wines for everyday drinking, white, rosé, red - all VdPs
When last tasted, the red was deep purple, and soft and long. Very nice.
“Le Colombier” VdP de l’Hérault - white - the dovecot symbol of the Château - Chardonnay, Roussanne, Viognier not tasted, but if previous Capion whites are a guide, it should be rounded, long and with a touch of spice,
Two top reds: “Le Juge” CdL - Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre
“Château Capion” - CdL - more Syrah, less of the other two varieties.
For movie fans, Gérard Dépardieu, French star and legendary bon viveur, bought a 2ha vineyard on the Aniane hill in
2002, with his Bordeaux friend and colleague Bernard Magrez.
• Wines: a red CdL wine with the name “Le Bien Décidé” - the 2003 is around 36.
His red VdP “Reférence” ‘04 is 27.
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Le Pont du Diable
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Domaine des Grécaux
4 avenue du Monument
34150 Saint-Jean-de-Fos
Isabelle & Alain Caujolle-Gazet
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Now take the D27 from Aniane the short distance across the Pont du Diable to Saint-Jean-de-Fos with its green-glazed
church spire. As you enter the village, on the right is the cellar of Domaine des Grécaux.
I have drunk their wine, with its striking label, and loved it. I haven’t visited (yet), but note that the American guru Becky
Wasserman adores their red wines, “Hêméra” in particular, and Liz Willette imports “Terra Solis”.
In UK Richards Walford ( www.r-w.co.uk) are the trade importers, and have full details on their website.
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Mas Conscience
34150 Saint-Jean-de-Fos
0467577742
Geneviève & Laurent Vidal
When Laurent Vidal was a kid his grandfather had vines and peach trees at Saint-Jean. Come the time when Laurent
was ready to set up his own domain, the land wasn’t available, so over a period of 12 years he plied his trade in the
Pic-Saint-Loup area.
The lure of Saint-Jean was strong: ancient olive and almond trees, the garrigue and tiny parcels of vines, and, finally, in
2003 he and Geneviève started their winery on the Montpeyroux road (D141). They decided to follow the “biodynamic”
route to viticulture: stemming from Rudolf Steiner’s ideas about agriculture, the natural world, and our place in it. For
example, the natural “system” within which the vines and grapes grow, the health and balance of the soil, and the influence of the lunar cycle on winemaking timetables. Probably very practical theories, given that many date back to Roman
times. But it’s a tough regime to follow, because vines are subject to many diseases, and being “organic” (en bio) can
limit the treatments at your disposal.
The Vidals have some 12ha under vine: clay, limestone, and the big river pebbles called galets roulés.
• Wines: I know of one white and two red wines, all with catchy names:
“L’In” - ‘06 - CdL - Rolle (Vermentino), Roussanne, Grenache Blanc.
“Le Cas” ‘06 - VdP - Carignan (vines 50 years old), with lovely red fruit flavours and some power - c£11
“L’As” ‘05 - CdL - Syrah, Grenache and a touch of Carignan - freshness and finesse - c 16
Mont Saint Baudile & the Jasse’s Vines
Down the D141 a couple of kms to the busy wine village of
Montpeyroux, with four outstanding winemakers, a good cooperative,
and, importantly, a wine bar in the place Horloge with superior food La Terrasse du Mimosa - owned by the Pughs who run the famous
Mimosa Restaurant in nearby Saint-Guiraud.
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La Jasse Castel
18 route Neuve (cave)
3 bis rue des Ecoles (home)
34150 Montpeyroux
t/f 0467886527
www.jasse-castel.com
Pascale Rivière & Laurent Marcillaud
2008 saw the Marcillauds celebrating the tenth anniversary of their
domain named after their 17th century sheepfold.
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In fact, their winery is an old garage on one of the main streets in the
village - delightful Pascale, once a wine journalist, is now a true
“garagiste” winemaker! Laurent is a caviste in Montpellier, and together they’ve succeeded where others wouldn’t have dared. Here’s their
story, as told to me by Pascale when I visited one sunny day in March:
“In 1997 we were trying to find some vines to buy. I was doing my
stage with Laurent Vaillé (qv) and his vineyard had made me dream.
We’d heard that 2.5ha of vines were for sale on the causse de
Montpeyroux, a place no one wanted because it was so exposed to
the wind, pretty run down, and wide open to wild boar (sangliers) and
to hail storms. But when we saw this spot, we immediately fell in love
with it (le coup de foudre a été immediat). The weather was lovely, we could see the sea, the valley of the Hérault, Sète
on the coast... and no one there, and no vines higher up than our plot. We worked hard to get the vines in shape, redid
the trellises, worked the soil. Happily the soil had had sheeps’ manure spread on it over the years, nothing chemical.
The site is alive with earthworms, cicadas, bees, hares and partridges. There’s a sufficient depth of soil to avoid hydric
stress in summer. Nights are cool, so the vendanges up here are the latest of all our parcels of vines. That freshness
comes through in the Grenache, fruity and peppery, and in the Syrah with aromas of the garrigue, violets, camphor and
even a light curry (yes, soft spices!). And then, to make things perfect, we have this 17th century sheepfold - La Jasse
- with only the walls standing, studded with limestone pebbles and black stones made of basalt which had erupted
from a volcano higher up the mountain.”
• Wines: Le Rosé ‘08 “Tutti Frutti” - Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah - called a ‘bleeding’ rosé on their website - a
mistranslation of saignée, running off free-run juice from a brief maceration of red grapes. My notes on the’05 :
lovely spritzy light and fruity - 9
“Le Montpeyroux”, raised in tank, is their Grenache/Syrah/Carignan starter red - herby, succulent - 9
“La Jasse” ‘06 - 80%Syrah/20%Grenache and barrel aged 18 months - fruity, minty red - 16.50
“Les Combariolles” ‘06 - reverses the blend above, with a proportion raised in tank and the majority in
barrique - 26
Stylish labels, stylish wines, and a domain with great spirit. Jasse wine is on the UK Wine Society’s list as at
November ‘09, and with www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk
The Jasse by Pascale & Laurent
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Domaine Saint-Andrieu
La Dysse
34150 Montpeyroux
0467966137
f 0467966320
www.saint-andrieu.com
Charles & Renée-Marie Giner
Down the road from Jasse Castel, and at the back of L’Aiguelière (see below) you’ll find the family property of
the Giners.
The Jasse
The Saint-Andrieu domain dates from around 1850, but their home base is a composite of four houses. Their vaulted
cellar is 5th century, and has blue traces of the copper treatment used to combat phylloxera in the 1920s: oxide de
cuivre. In the 1960s Charles’ father-in-law was taking his grapes to the Montpeyroux coop. By 1992 Charles, working
with IBM in Paris, found himself in what the French discreetly call “pré-retraite”, and started to sort out his new life in
the country, reviving the domain. “You have to be tètu” to do this - stubborn as a mule! He repatriated 6ha from the
coop, and trial vinifications in 1993/4 produced 5000 bottles. 1996 was the first proper millesime when he bought a
crusher-destemmer and made 15000 bottles. By 1997 Saint-Andrieu had won 2 stars from the Guide Hachette and
found a Belgian agent. In 2000 in another leap forward he opened up Domaine Boisantin with his daughter Anne, a
Professor of Design; and then in 2003 Mas Félix. They have little “artisanal” parcels of vines, vinified separately to allow
them to create balance, typicity, and what Sylvain Fadat (see below) calls “tonality” in their wines. No chemical fertilizers or herbicides used. Their grapes are Carignan, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre. They make a white and a rosé too.
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Charles & Anne at Saint-Andrieu
• Wines: Domaine Saint-Andrieu - “Cuvée Vallongue” è04 CdL Montpeyroux - 13% - fruity, chewy blend of
Carignan/Grenache/Syrah - 7
“La Séranne” ‘02 - light and lovely with hints of leather - 10
“Les Marnes Bleues” ‘02 - 13.5% - Mourvèdre/Grenache Buzzard over Le Castellas
gorgeously long - 14
“L’Yeuse Noire” (the black holm oak, or ilex) 2000- 13.5% rich, fruity, touch of thyme and mint - 16
Domaine Boisantin “Le Grand Champ” ‘01 - Grenache/Syrah at 1000ft/300m - notes of cocoa, long and luscious -
14.
Shuttle back up the narrow main street (D9) towards Arboras and Le Castellas, and on the right you’ll see Sylvain
Fadat’s family home and cellar.
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Domaine d”Aupilhac
Domaine d’Aupilhac
28 rue du Plô
34150 Montpeyroux
0467966119
f 0467966724
www.aupilhac.net
Sylvain & Désirée Fadat
There’s a carpark further up the street on the right. I mention this
because, if you visit Sylvain, you will definitely want to stay a while!
He’s the man who has made Montpeyroux’s reputation as a Cru,
even managing to cajole the indigenous Carignan grape into wine
which experts appreciate. The tasting session he gave me ten
years ago is still vivid in my memory: from tank and from barrique,
Sylvain wielding the pipette, critiquing each developing wine. After
wine 7 my notes became somewhat incoherent...
Five generations of the Fadat family have been vignerons in
Montpeyroux, Aupilhac’s name coming from a patch of terraced
vineyard to the south-west. In 1989 he pitched up as vigneron/fruit
and veg. man, as we Brits would say. Melons, peaches, asparagus. But within three years the grapes were his sole passion. His website shows how his domain has developed from
roofless cave with wines reared in tankers (yes, the tanks of trucks) to the present well-equipped and roofed buildings.
His credo is that wines are made in the vineyard more than in the cave. True. However, like the fine winemaker he is, he
takes infinite pains tending his wines in the cellar, over many months, to achieve the quality he’s seeking. He uses big
old oak vats - foudres - as well as barriques of Tronçais oak, alongside stainless steel tanks.
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• Wines: To illustrate my point about Sylvain’s careful winemaking, his entry-level white wine is kept eleven months
in barriques and foudres: VdP Blanc - Ugni Blanc (another indigenous Languedoc grape revival), Grenache Blanc
& Chardonnay - 8
Aupilhac “Les Cocalières” CdL white’07 - Roussanne, Marsanne, Rolle, Grenache Blanc - fermented in old barrels - 16
Aupilhac <<Lou Maset>> CdL - a favourite (budget) red that spends 6 months in foudre - Grenache, Cinsault,
Carignan, Syrah, & a drop of the teinturier grape Alicante Bouschet - all for just 6.30
Aupilhac “Authentique” CdL ‘03 (shades of Pagnol’s ´Jean de Florette’)- 30 months in old barrels for this equal
blend of Mourvèdre & Carignan - 12.50
Aupilhac “Le Carignan” VdP red ‘07 - 60 year-old vines, Carignan reared for 18 months in little foudres - 14
Aupilhac “La Boda” CdL red Montpeyroux - Sylvain’s top wine - Mourvèdre/Syrah 40/40, with Carignan & Grenache
- 25 months of élevage in 300 litre barriques - 23.
Sylvain’s wines are organic, or going through the approval period to become certified organic.
Back at the entrance to the village, near to Charles Giner’s place, is
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Domaine de l’Aiguelière
2 place du Square
34150 Montpeyroux
0467966178
www.wine-in-france.com
Aimé Commeyras
M. Commeyras and his oenologist Pierre-Louis Teissedre started L’Aigulière in 1987. Previously M. Commeyras had
been President of the village coop, but decided to take the opportunity to make wines his way. His wines are very well
regarded in France, and sell throughout Europe. Robert Parker spotted l’Aiguelière a while back. When I last called in,
M. Commeyras’ daughter gave me a tasting of his Tradition red, all other wines being sold out.
• Wines: His present range runs from a white Viognier/Sauvignon blend at 12, through his L’Aigulière “Grenat”
Grenache ( 10) to two Syrahs - “Côte Rousse” and “Côte Dorée” made from 60 year-old vines at 22.
Finally in Montpeyroux, to the cheerful cooperative:
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15.
Coop de Montpeyroux
5 place F. Villon
0467966108
www.montpeyroux.org
In its time, it has provided wine for the UK’s Wine Society. See the coop’s website, though, because it has very good
value wines: reds between 4.30 and 13 (CdL Montpeyroux), and a 30 litre cubi(tainer) of special red for 96, or
3.20 a litre. And you can still get the traditional wine from the pump at 11 or 12 to fill your plastic bidon and
do your own bottling.
Should you fancy a trip up-country from Montpeyroux towards the Grotte des Demoiselles or the spectacular Cirque
de Navacelles, take the D122 north-east past Arboras... and you’ll find another good coop on the way, at St-Jean-de-Buèges.
16
16.
Coop de Saint-Jean-de-Buèges
route de Graves
34380 St-Jean-de-Buèges
0467731007
f 0467731238
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Go south-east from Montpeyroux on the D9 to Lagamas and, to the south of the village, you’ll find Alain Chabanon.
Originally named Domaine Font Caude, he rebranded his winery in 2001.
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17.
Domaine Alain Chabanon
chemin de Saint-Etienne
34150 Lagamas
0467578464
f 0467578465
www.domainechabanon.com
On his website Alain tells of his Aubrac roots (the high country past Millau, all volcanoes and cattle - great beef and
traditional puréed potato aligot ), his viticultural and oenology studies at Bordeaux and Montpellier, his two years with
Alain Brumont of Madiran in south-west France, and then his purchase of some vines in Jonquières and Montpeyroux.
1992 was his first vintage, but clearly the next two years were tough, solo work. We can get dewy-eyed about the glories of vineyard landscapes, the nobility of the winemaker’s art, the beauty of fine wines, but, as Sylvain Fadat says, the
hard yards in the vineyard in all weathers determine what happens in the cellar. Alain’s breakthrough came in May ‘95: a
star 18.5/20 rating for his red ‘93 from the French wine guide Gault-Millau. This was his tipping point: wine merchants
and distributors beat a path to his door.
• Wines: Alain has eight wines listed:
“Rosé Trémier” (a nice pun on hollyhocks which are rose trémières).
Two whites: I have drunk “Trélans”, a rich golden Rolle/Chenin Blanc blend - delicious. His other white is “Le Villard”
- 13.5% - a Chenin Moëlleux Vin de Table cropped at a miniscule 12hl/ha and kept for a total 48 months. Very special.
Five reds include another that I’ve tasted - “Campredon” CdL ‘06 - Syrah/Grenache/Mourvèdre/Carignan - classy,
vivacious,14%.
His “Merle aux Alouettes” continues his wry sense of humour: it’s mainly Merlot, and, allegedly thrushes (merles) are
often found pecking Merlot grapes, hence the grape name. Where the lark is, I’m not sure.
His top red “L’Esprit de Font Caude” spends 36 months maturing - a Syrah & Mourvèdre blend. Cherry colour in
glass. A wonderful wine. Prices around the £20+ mark upwards.
Five kms west via D130 to the village of Saint-Saturnin-deLucian, with the 1800ft/550m Rocher des Deux Vierges and
its 11th century castle. In the place de la Fontaine is the
delightful hotel Ostalaria Cardabela owned by the Pughs of Le
Mimosa restaurant in Saint-Guiraud, and round the corner,
you’ll find the celebrated Virgile Joly’s place.
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Domaine Virgile Joly
22 rue du Portail
34725 Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian
0467445221
p 0660916893
email:[email protected]
www.domaine-virgile-joly.com
“Virgile’s Vineyard” written by Patrick Moon (John Murray 2003) has spread the Joly name round the world. His website
Charles & Anne at Saint-Andrieu
brings us up-to-date with life on his domain. His background includes working ten vintages in France and Chile as an
oenologist before buying a one hectare vineyard in 2000. Bit by bit he’s added parcels of vines, until the domain extends
to 8.5ha. His three-person team works the vineyards organically - read Patrick Moon’s book for detail. Surprisingly they
have a new basketpress, the old way of crushing small quantities of grapes. Historically interesting too, because
Gutenberg’s printing press in 15th century Mainz is thought to have been modelled on just such a basket press.
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Grenache Noir and Blanc, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault are the grapes he works with. No added yeasts, no fining, manual
pressing - to produce, as he says “vins à boire, à la fois sains et authentiques”. As we’ve seen earlier, authenticity “real wines” - is a fixation of the region’s top producers.
• Wines: Virgile’s white - from Grenache Blanc - is a Vin de Pays, 12 months in cuve, 18 months in barriques.
His three reds are CdLs - Le Joly Rouge, Saturne Rouge, & Virgile Rouge.
Prices for his handmade wines range from 28 for two Joly Rouges, to a boxed Virgile Rouge at 42.
A little history: first the Romans and then the Benedictine monks from Saint-Guilhem culitivated vines around SaintSaturnin-de-Lucian [France has 12 villages named after the saint, seven of which were smart enough to add an extra
geographic identifier]. The unfortunate Saint Saturnin was martyred in Toulouse in the 3rd century. An archaeological dig
in between Saint-Saturnin and Jonquières unearthed a gallo-roman villa and the owner’s name - Lucianus.
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19.
Domaine d’Archimbaud
12 avenue du Quai
0467966535
Jean-Pierre Cabanes
In the Middle Ages one “Archimbaldus” was recorded as a wine producer in Saint-Saturnin. In 1313 Pierre, followed in
1629 by Raymond Archimbaud were in the village records. The family has tended the vineyards ever since, almost 700
years and counting. The roots of Jean-Benoît Cavalier’s Château de Lascaux property in Vacquières north of
Montpellier ( Route 3) have an even longer pedigree: back to 1200! Isabelle and François de Cabissole’s Château at
Jonquières (below) has also been in their extended family since the 13th century.
Jean-Pierre Cabanes had been a longtime member of the local coop, but in 2001 decided to make his own wine,
assisted by his daughter Marie-Pierre. I’m indebted to my friend Leon Stolarski of www.lsfinewines.co.uk for
introducing me to Archimbaud.
• Wines: 2004 red CdL Domaine d’Archimbaud - Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre - 13% - chockfull of red fruit and
spices, dark, luscious and long.
They also make a rosé de pressurage, and their top red “Robe de Pourpre” is starred by Guide Hachette. Prices
around £10-13.
Last stop in Saint-Saturnin is the colourful cooperative. Founded by M Jean Calmel, it has about 150 members.
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Coop de Saint-Saturnin
Avenue Noël Calmel
0467966152
f 0467886013
www.vins-saint-saturnin.com
M. Cordier or M. Béyran
• Wines: They have a wide range of good value wines, including
one of my favourites, an oaked CdL white called Seigneur des
Deux Vierges, beautifully aromatic, long, and very drinkable. Just
what the French mean when they call a wine “facile à boire”. Now
at 8.50. Smart bottles, embossed with the village crest.
A selection of other wines tasted:
Vin de Lucian white CdL ‘04 - includes the Languedoc grape Bourboulenc - 13% - quite dry, excellent for an apéro.
Le Vin d’Une Nuit - I thought Beaujolais led the way with this great marketing idea, but the lady on the counter
maintained that Saint-Saturnin had the idea first. Tasted in May, this red was soft, spicy and long. 3.36.
Le Lucian red - a medal from Paris 2004 show - Syrah/Grenache/Mourvèdre - nose of plums and prunes, plenty of
good tannins and length - excellent and 6.26.
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A final historical note: the Rocher des Deux Vierges above the village is so called, it is said, because this is where the
two sisters of Fulcran, Bishop of Lodève chose to live out their chaste lives. We’ll come to two Fulcrans towards the end
of this route.
Next on to the village of Jonquières, and five more
outstanding wineries.
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Mas de l’Ecriture
rue de la Font du Loup
34725 Jonquières
0499576154
f 0499576155
p 0680155772
www.masdelecriture.com
Pascal Fulla
I tasted Pascal Fulla’s wines a while back, and the
Mas de l’Ecriture
names have now changed, but clearly the quality
remains high: Robert Parker, Andrew Jefford and
Jamie Goode are all fans. His wines were, I think, spotted by the pioneering wine merchant couple Mike and Liz Berry
MW, based in Provence. Like my artist wife, Pascal is an ex-lawyer. Unlike her, he always wanted to make wine. And the
name of his domain? “To reflect my ambition to create something as beautiful as fine words, I christened my estate ‘The
Writing Lodge’ ”. His mission is “to make wine for my friends and to soften the passage of time”.
• Wines: My notes on two that I’ve tasted:
Mas de l’Ecriture ‘04 -CdL- Terrasses du Languedoc red - 13% - Carignan, Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah - very soft,
rather blurry.
‘Message Personnel’ ‘05 - A gorgeous Syrah.
Prices from £13 - £30.
22.
22 Château de Jonquières
34725 Jonquières
0467966258
f 0467966258
www.chateau-jonquieres.com
François & Isabelle de Cabissole
When I last called in on Isabelle and François de Cabissole
at their lovely 17th century château, they were in ebullient
mood.
The dynamic Isabelle was brought up in Singapore and
Australia. The couple moved into the Château around 30
years ago, and first marketed their wines in 1994. Now,
with 14ha under vine, they produce 25,000 bottles a year.
• Wines: My late February afternoon tasting with them
was a revelation, as indeed was a vertical selection of
their “La Baronnie” reds. Their 1997 Ch de J “La
Baronnie” CdL - 13% - drunk in September ‘09: almost
orange at the rim, mauve in the bowl of the glass, a
Château de Jonquières
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fragrance of wild thyme and
flowers, and as smooth as
velvet. A great wine! Demonstrably they
make
sophisticated, long-lasting wines.
Domaine de Jonquières ‘04 VdP white 14% - lipsmacking honey & brioche.
D. de J. ‘05 VdP white - Chenin/Grenache
Blanc - very fresh and a slight prickle on
tongue.
D. de J. ‘03 VdP red - 13.5% terrific fruit & spice in mouth - a hard hot
year to vinify, but very well made.
Ch. de J. “La Baronnie” red ‘04 - big and
powerful - gorgeous, but tannins obvious,
so keep a while (ten years?).
“La Risée de Blanc” ‘98 - a late-harvested Chenin, kept for 5 years - extraordinary.
Isabelle & François at Jonquières
The couple also offer gîte and chambres d’hôtes accommodation, and in August 2008 staged a series of shows at their
château - “Les Musicales d’Eté” - with Molière’s play “L’Avare”, Gounod’s opera “Mireille”, and libations from their
neighbouring winemakers. With three now grown-up children, they feel that they’ve found the right balance in their
lives. And, because they own a château, they joked that the pool they were building will be called a “ bassin de
baignade” !
La Pèira en la Damasièla
34725 Jonquières
www.lapeira.wordpress.com
Rob Dougan
Musician and now vigneron Rob Douganís first bottling was in 2008, and has won rave reviews from UK wine writer
Andrew Jefford. Jérémie Depierre is the winemaker. The domain name is in Occitan, the regional language, and
translates as ‘place the stone with its best face forward’ i.e. like a lady. Dry stone walls and cone-shaped huts
(capitelles) dot the Languedoc landscape, as the local masons use their fractured terroir to demarcate vineyard parcels,
to shelter from storms, or to store tools. I tasted their La Pèira red in ‘09 - deep dark red, earthy nose, rich and
caramelly, and will mature. Very low yields and very condensed flavours.
Berry Brothers UK list Rob’s wines (11.09):
Las Flors de la Pèira red CdL 14.5% at £23
La Pèira en Damasièla red CdL 14.5% at £50.
I’m told he also has a white, Deusyls; and a third red, Obriers.
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24
Mas Cal Demoura
route de Saint-André-de-Sangonis
34725 Jonquières
0467447082
p 0685093874
www.caldemoura.com
Isabelle & Vincent Goumard
Down the road from Jonquières, on the way to St Brigitte, are two domains
right next door to each other. From one Occitan name to another. Cal
Demoura means “you must stay”, and was the winery of Jean-Pierre Jullien
until he decided to retire. His son, the distinguished winemaker Olivier
Jullien, is the next door neighbour. I’ve been told that there’s been a Jullien
in this corner of the region for 450 years.
Mas Jullien sign
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In June 2004 Isabelle and Vincent
Goumard became the proud owners
of Cal Demoura. Both come from a
management consulting background:
Vincent was with Andersens (now
Accenture) and has an MBA from
top French business school INSEAD
at Fontainebleau. Living in Le
Marais district of Paris with their
two children, they had their own
cellar. Wine enthusiasts, both
wanted to “do something to get
them up in the morning”. They
searched for a vineyard via SAFER,
the French non-profit organization
which controls land sales, and
Vincent, Isabelle & their children
Vincent studied viticulture in Dijon
and in Beaune, Burgundy. Then,
down south, they met Jean-Pierre Jullien and got on well together. His son Olivier didn’t want to increase the size of his
vineyard, et voilà, the deal was done. The Goumards have two groups of vineyards, including one parcel bought from
Olivier to make their white, giving them a total 11ha.
Vincent at Cal Demoura
Vincent showed me round the vineyards: the old Carignan vines, the deep well-drained cailloutis calcaires - limestone
gravel, the olive trees which froze in 1956, yet regrew, the wind from the mountains and the Plateau du Larzac which
keeps summer nights cool. His excitement is palpable - he says that with his wines he’s selling an emotion: “ça me fait
vibrer!” : that gives him a real buzz. Young children, a change of career, a change of location, a search for a balanced
life, for breathing space: these themes echo round the Languedoc vineyards.
Vincent and Isabelle both work in the vines with Claude (trained by Jean-Pierre); both do the vendanges; Vincent deals
with the commercial side, and he and Isabelle share the inevitable (French) admin burden. No problems other than
getting suppliers to turn up on time, and, of course, cashflow!
• Wines: Mas Cal Demoura VdP “L’Etincelle” - Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Muscat, Viognier, and 35% Chenin
Blanc - this white shines out for its balance, minerality plus fruit, freshness and length. £15 from Gemma Crangle at
www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk
MCD CdL Rosé “Qu’es Aquo” - Cinsault/Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan - named “Best Languedoc
Rosé” by Revue du Vin de France - c£9
MCD CdL ´L’Infidèle’ - 13% - the signature blend from the Mas - all the red grapes: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre,
Carignan, Cinsault - vivid colour, fresh, expressive of the garrigue, mouth-filling - £15
“Les Combariolles” CdL is their top red - Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre - quite strict, yet succulent, promises to be
very long.
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25.
Mas Jullien
34725 Jonquières
04679604
f 0467966050
Olivier Jullien
And, next door, artist/artisan-vigneron Olivier Jullien, renowned for his jumpers, or pulls.
Olivier is one of the gang of independent-minded, quality-obsessed philosopher-winemakers who have revolutionised the
Languedoc region over the past 20-30 years. He’s been known to use the label on his “Etats d’Ame” red wine to
comment on his own state of mind (or soul, indeed). He works his vineyards biodynamically, but can’t be bothered with
all the certification guff. Lunar cycles and paperwork just don’t go together. But, he does have a splendid new cellar,
designed by Béziers architect Alain Fraisse, made of golden limestone blocks carved from the same quarry that provided
the Romans with stone for Le Pont du Gard (see earlier route 2).
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Jean-Paul and Rémy Soulié’s cellar in Assignan (route 8) is also a Fraisse design.
The wines he makes will vary from year to year. A white Mas Jullien, a rosè and two reds would be optimum.
Roy Richards and Mark Walford (www.r-w.co.uk) have exemplary technical literature (fiches techniques) on Olivier’s wines.
• Wines: Mas Jullien CdL Blanc - Carignan Blanc/Grenache Blanc mostly, cropped at 30hl/ha, fermented in oak
demi-muids - 300 or 600l barrels - then aged a year in lightly toasted barriques. This is a distinctive white, with
finesse and tautness.
MJ CdL Rosé - from five grape types: Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre
MJ CdL “Etats d’Ame” red - 60% Grenache, with Syrah,Mourvèdre, Carignan, spends a year ageing in demi-muid £15 on www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk
Distinctive, very stylish wines.
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26.
Domaine de Familongue
3 rue Familongue
34725 Saint-André-de-Sangonis
0467575971
f 0467572632
p 0610295218
email:[email protected]
www.domainedefamilongue.fr
Martine & Jean-Luc Quincarlet
My first taste of the wines from Familongue at Saint-André was at the new Maison du Languedoc-Roussillon in
Cavendish Square, London. The Region, under dynamic President Georges Frèche, has decided to take the battle to
the professional customers, and has opened showrooms in London, Shanghai and New York, where bright young
marketers promote tourism, food and wine.
I should have got acquainted with Familongue earlier, because their wines are super. You’ll find Martine’s and
Jean-Luc’s domain at the southern exit of Saint-André on the D4 to Brignac and Canet. Martine worked for over 20
years for La Poste while sending their family grapes to the coop. Then in 2002 she went solo, and by 2005 was winning
awards for her Vins de Pays, and even a Trophy in 2009 for her “Mas des Vignals”. Total medals as at ‘09 = 12. The
Quincarlets target their wines carefully at different markets.
• Wines: Twelve wines in all - eight under the Domaine label for cellar-door customers, restaurants and wine
merchants; four, labelled “La Bastide aux Oliviers”, aimed at supermarkets. A pretty parrot perches on the
Familongue “F”.
Their top red is called “3 Naissances” after the births of their three children - CdL ‘05 Terrasses du Larzac
Mourvèdre/Syrah blend - a lovely, grippy, considerable wine.
“L’Envol” white (the flight of the parrot) is a gorgeous CdL blend of Grenache Blanc, Carignan Blanc, Viognier and
local grape Clairette.
“Le Carignan” ‘07 VdP du Mont St Baudile - lush garrigue aroma, fruity.
“ L’Ame de Familongue ” ‘06 CdL - the 5-grape blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault - the
whole palette, giving a fresh, lively, layered wine.
Prices are very competitive.
Turning to head back north towards the mountains, at Saint-Félix-de-Lodèz you may spot a modern building with a tall
square tower and a “Vignerons & Passions” sign.
Vignerons de Saint-Félix-de-Lodèz
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0467884575
f 0467884579
www.vignerons-passions.fr
Thierry Vergnes
22
Stop by, because this is the HQ of the most successful négociant family in the region, the Jeanjeans. Their website
www.jeanjean.com tells their story. When I drove up to investigate, knowing none of the above, it was lunchtime
(between midday and 2pm). Languedoc is closed for lunch, and further south in Roussillon in summer you can extend
siesta time to 3pm at least. So I thought there was no chance of a visit. Wrong! Seeing me prowling the showroom
windows, a gentleman opened up the store - Thierry Vergnes, thank you! There’s the old saying ‘best be open when the
customers are around’. Unlike many in France, M. Vergnes and the Jeanjean family didn’t get where they are today by
ignoring their customers.
• Wines: I had a very congenial visit to their splendid showroom with its vast range of wines - VdPs and AOCs from all over the region and beyond, to Provence, the Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage and Cahors. Sweet, luscious Vins
Doux Naturels from near Montpellier and from Roussillon are here too. Prices for regional wines don’t go much
above 12, and most are in single figures.
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Mas Plan de l’Om
Le Viala
34700 Saint Jean de la Blaquière
04671091
p 0620992276
Joël & Monique Foucou
Head towards the high hills, and to Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière, Pégairolles de l’Escalette and Lodève. Take the A75
autoroute (Millau direction) a few kms to junction 56, through Sallèles du Bosc to the hamlet of Le Viala. Through the
hamlet, over a little bridge, and on the right there’s the sign to Mas Plan de l’Om, the talented Joël Foucou’s cave. L’Om
is Occitan for orme/elm.
Joël Foucou at Mas Plan de l’Om
He makes true terroir wines, not what he disparages as ‘ un vin oenologue’.
And he has quite a biography: pharmacist for a couple of weeks; skippered a
boat in the Whitbread Round-the-World Race; was a dishwasher/plongeur in
Sydney; loves fly fishing, hence his nickname “Mouche”. His grandfather had
been a vigneron in Cournonsec, nearer Montpellier. Joël took up an agricultural life and bought this property in 1987. He and his teacher wife Monique a great cook - sent their grapes to the coop at the start, then went independent in 2000.
15ha of schistous soil - grey and red - giving freshness to the wines, terres
rouges of sandstone/grès, volcanic remnants and galets roulés. They’ve
planted 3ha of the aromatic Rhône grape Roussanne (12-13000 vines/pieds).
Their parcels of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault are an average
40 years old.
Joël took me out to his vineyards, where he reckons he has 900 olive trees
scattered about. Smoke was rising in the early Spring air from some burning
off someone nearby was doing. Flames, not just smoke, on a bank of red
soil. Expletives from my host, implying the guy didn’t know what he was doing! Eventually, all was well, and Joël talked
about his winemaking: low average yields of 15-25hl/ha, lots of manual labour, everything destemmed (égrappés), gentle
pigeage (treading down the cap of fermenting grapes), little extraction... His wines have great originality, and guts - real
wines for conviviality amongst friends. Blending his wines is a “test-tube/éprouvette” moment, when he says he’s
insupportable (a bear with a sore head).
• Wines: We tasted four red wines, all Coteaux du Languedoc, and each highlighting one grape type:
“Oeillade” [wink - the conviviality theme again!] mainly Cinsault, with Grenache, Carignan, Syrah added, an
enormous nose and volumes of fruit. Sumptuous.
“Miéjour” - Grenache, plus Syrah & Carignan - a more restrained nose, delicate red fruit, but very rich and long.
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“Roucan” - Syrah, with Grenache & Carignan - distinctive garrigue and leather aroma, again long and rich.
“Automne” - Carignan mainly - fruit galore, and a tannic finish - to keep.
His white Roussanne plus Grenache Blanc is called ‘Feuillage’.
Very original, authentic wines at moderate prices.
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Domaine de la Sauvageonne
0467447174
f 0467447102
p 0618138147
www.lasauvageonne.net
Gavin & Amanda Crisfield
Into Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière and by the bakery is a sign to St Privat and La Sauvageonne [The Little Wild Girl].
It’s run by a Brit, Gavin Crisfield. From the top of his hill he can survey his 30ha of hillside vineyards, and the extinct
volcano to the south.
Aged 12, Gavin went for a meal with his Great Aunt,
and was bewitched by his plate of coquilles SaintJacques. He reckons his career in food and wine started then. By age 19 he had become a sommelier and
did the WSET exams (UK Wine Educational Trust for
the Trade), then set off on his bike to Australia, USA,
Spain and Portugal. On his return to UK, more sommeliering, and then another career signpost - a stay with
his grandfather’s uncle at La Clape near Narbonne
(Route 10). He had choices: to study winemaking in
Montpellier, or at Plumpton College, Brighton, England
Gavin Crisfield at La Sauvageonne
www.plumpton.ac.uk, and that’s what he chose. At
age 26 he did a stage with another Brit, Robert Cripps
at Domaine de Poujol (Route 4) west of Montpellier,
married, moved to France with Amanda, worked in different places. Then in 1999 he was contacted for projects in Argentina and in the South of France - an
investor wanted to discover a special terroir. Two years
on, with the help of Scot Adam Dakin and Michel
Ferrier of Investissements Vignobles, they’d found and
bought La Sauvageonne from M. Poncé, Mayor of
Saint-Jean. Diverse terroirs of ruffes - red volcanic soil
at 100 meters giving toasty notes; grès - grit, schist
and sandstone at 150-250m, notes of garrigue; schist
at 250-400m giving richness and minerality. His first
vintage was 2001: “a nice one to start with” said
Gavin. Now the domain has cut its yield to a third of
the previous owner’s volume, through rigorous work in
the vineyards and an absolute emphasis on quality. The downside is that he isn’t using all the space available, so he’ll
become a négociant too, buying in grapes to vinify. Gavin does all his winemaking by taste (“why do people need to
use oenologues?”), and gentleness is everything: cement tanks allow the wine to breathe, wines worked as much as
possible by gravity, little pumping over, use of big oak foudres. Harvesting by hand starts with the whites one day at the
end of August (they start early!) and may finish with the top red in late October.
They have their own bottling line, so “mis en bouteille au Domaine” means exactly what it says on the label.
• Wines: I tasted the white La Sauvageonne Vdp de Mont Baudile - Sauvignon Blanc with a touch of Muscat - 13%
- greenish hue, fruit, minerality, very aromatic and interesting.
Red VdP du Mont Baudile - Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc - 14% - cocoa and toasty flavours, long, and needed
more time.
24
“Les Ruffes” red CdL - Cinsault/Syrah with Grenache & Carignan - soft, generous, herby.
“Pica Broca” red CdL - 14% - gamey on nose, fruity, fresh and mineral in mouth. Top class.
“Puech de Glen” [Glen’s Peak?] - red CdL - deep ruby red, Syrah 70/Grenache 30 - layered and complex, rich
and long - will keep for ages. Gavin said there’s a precipice on the Puech, and it’s 400m/1300ft up, so not for the
faint-hearted. Both the vines and the vignerons have to suffer to make great wine, and this is.
La Sauvageonne wines are available in the UK, Belgium and USA, at least.
Three wineries to mention en passant and en route to our final trio:
30
Château Vaillé
34700 Salèlles du Bosc
0467447198
f 0467447311
Fulcran Vaillé
Laurent Vaillé’s (Grange des Pères) family came originally from Salèlles-du-Bosc, and he told me the splendidly named
Fulcran is a super guy.
• Wines: His Cuvée Victorine CdL ‘03 13% at
and excellent with the steak!
31
31.
11 which I drank with a good restaurant meal was chewy, tannic,
Domaine Jordy
Le Bosc
34700 Loiras
0467447030
f 0467447654
Frédéric Jordy
At Loiras, on the corner of D140, near the 11th century church is this family domain, making wines grown on the red
“ruffes” soil around Lac Salagou. For the red wines, the usual local grapes, for the whites Viognier and Chenin Blanc.
Stop by the cave, with its traditional “cardabéla”. Jordy is a good Catalan name, too.
• Wines: At a Lodève restaurant, I drank his ‘03 Tradition (12.5%) red - beautiful.
Cardabéla at Jordy
Now head north up the A75
towards the Pas de
l’Escalette, but exit at junction 51 to Pégairolles-del’Escalette. Very hot in summer, with mountains up to
2500ft/800m beyond. The
“escalette” ? Before roads
pierced the mountain range,
people were brought up by
horse or donkey to the far
side, and then lowered
down in a basket-cum-ladder... or so they say. The
Pass is the border between
the Larzac plateau and the
Mediterranean. After a trip
like that, a visit to the coop
would be essential.
25
Mountains at Le Pas-de-l’Escalette
32.
32
Coop de Pégairolles de l’Escalette
34700 Pégairolles
0467440993
f 0467441583
• Wines: A range of good CdL wines, rosé and red. Nice people.
Coop at Pégairolles de l’Escalette
For our last lap, down the hill to Poujols, and then to Lodève, Octon and red-shored Lake Salagou to cool off.
33.
32
Domaine Pas de l’Escalette
place de la Mairie
34700 Poujols
0467961342
p 0673843589
www.pasdelescalette.com
Julien Zernott & Delphine Rousseau
Vineyards at Pas de l’Escalette
Photo by Zernott & Rousseau
I’ve been in touch with
Julien and Delphine, but
we’ve never met. The
Wine Society UK
discovered their
outstanding white
wine - Les Clapas Blanc
- a sumptuous blend of
almost forgotten grapes
- Carignan Blanc and
Terret Bourret. Since
2002 the couple have
tended 10ha on these
rocky slopes, with dry
stone walls (“clapas”
in Occitan), and
“capitelles”, conical
stone huts.
• Wines: The white,
“Ze Rosé”, red “Le
Premier Pas”, “Les
Clapas Rouge”, and red
“Le Grand Pas” are the
memorable names for their wines.
“Pas”, meaning small step/pace,
and also the Pass at the top of the mountain.
I really must meet them, and their (two) kids.
26
Lodéve has a busy cultural life, especially in the
summer. Apart from the gothic 13th century Cathedral
with its glass-cased effigy of Saint-Fulcran (at least I
hope it’s an effigy) and its magnificent crystal chandelier
given by Queen Victoria to Napoléon III in 1860, do see
the Musée Fleury. On my visit, there was one of those
art shows the French excel at, when great masters go
on tour: Courbets, Dufys, Braques, Vlamincks and
Légers, and I had the luxury of being the only viewer.
Steles at Musée Fleury
Queen Victoria’s gift to Lodéve
These steles were unearthed at nearby Usclas-du-Bosc.
34
34.
Mas des Chimères
route de Salasc
34800 Octon
0467962270
f 0467880700
Guilhem Dardé
Take the back roads or drive down the A75 (come off at junctions 54 or 55) to reach Lac du Salagou, a man-made lake
set in deep brown and rust-red hills overlooked on the south side by Mont Mars and Mont Liausson. Octon lies at the
west end of the lake, where, since 1993, Guilhem Dardé’s wild (or pipe) dream has been.
When we last met, he was fulminating against the “grandes surfaces” (supermarkets) and their buying clout. How could
he get onto shelves, when he had to go through one of just five wholesalers for the whole of France? He complained of
“homogenization”, that people were losing the taste for real wines, and thought them “bitter”. He works his 13ha or so
according to the good old ways, with great attention to the vines, to picking at exactly the right moment for each grape
type, and to letting the wine “make itself”. Admire the Chimères lion-serpent-goat design on the labels of this proud
paysan vigneron, and drink his wines, immoderately!
• Wines: Mas des Chimères white VdP ‘06 - 14% - unique blend of Chasan, Terret & Viognier - manages to be
fresh yet rich, aromatic yet complex. Completely seductive - c£11
Mas des Chimères red CdL Terrasses du Larzac - his signature wine, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre - deep, dark red,
lots of fruit flavours, very smooth and again excellent value - c£11
In UK Guilhem’s wines are available from www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk
27
35
Domaine des Trois Terres
Mas de la Vialle
34800 Octon
0467447122
Graeme Angus
Graeme Angus lives only 50m away from Guilhem, and bought his first parcelle of vines from him. ”We continue to
cooperate widely, luckily for me” says Graeme. Les 3 Terres is in conversion to organic, and currently have nine vineyards scattered over Cabrières (ten kms south), Octon and St-Jean-de-la-Blaquière (the three terres) all stoney hillsides,
all Coteaux du Languedoc or Terrasses du Larzac. Their vines are mainly Syrah and Grenache on schist, alluvial calcaire
or volcanic soils. His prize-winning red was a Vin de Pays Grenache/Syrah.
They have some lovely AOC ‘08s in barrel, says Graeme, and in 2010 he’ll have half of his wine as CdL and half as
Terrasses. 2009 is a tricky vintage but he’s got some good wines that will need thoughful barrel élevage. Graeme’s
punchline is “We have very small yields and unreasonably low prices”!
Don’t miss the Cirque de Mourèze on the south shore of Salagou - a wild circus of dolomite outcrops - and, in
Mourèze, the sign commemorating the liberation of the village in 1944 by the Communist Party Bir Hakeim brigade of
the Free French army.
28

route 5 - Leon Stolarski Fine Wines

Transcription

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