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Languedoc 1: Coteaux du
Languedoc & sub-zones
Languedoc 2: Corbières & Fitou
Languedoc 3:
Faugères, Saint-Chinian
& Minervois
Languedoc 4: Limoux
Malepère & Cabardès
Languedoc 5: vin de pays d'Oc
First, a touch of
geography to set the scene for this new section in my swelling
Languedoc series. The pleasant village of Sommières forms the heart
of one of those recently created sub-zones in the far (north)eastern
corner of the "old" Coteaux du Languedoc appellation (the
"Coteaux" bit is supposedly going to be dropped although still
widely used...), lying roughly inbetween Montpellier and Alès and to the west of Nîmes.
You're probably more familiar with the latter city, being a popular
tourist destination standing at the crossroads between Languedoc and
Provence.
 The Costières de Nîmes wine appellation spreads
out across a
quite broad area south of Nîmes and, although technically in the
Languedoc region, growers here have always aligned themselves wine-wise
more closely to producers in the Rhone Valley (that famous river
does indeed flow past not too far from here on its way into the
Med). "Confused? You will be..." Anyway, all that really
matters is that
there are several very good producers in this elongated area, who appear to
have enough in common for me to shove them together under "Languedoc
6: just when you thought it was over..."
Domaine Mas Mouriès
Solange and Eric Bouet are the affable couple behind
off-the-beaten-track Mas Mouriès (see picture above), made up of a
few pretty old farmhouse buildings surrounded by about 30 hectares
(75 acres) of vineyards lying on gentle hills just outside the
miniature village of Vic le Fesq. As well as making arguably one of
the Languedoc's best red wines fit for ageing (Les Myrthes, see my
notes below), they're also trying to preserve the estate's diverse
natural environment of green trees and wild flowers, herbs and
brambles by farming organically. I called in on Eric in June 2009,
had a pleasant stroll around the vineyard and tasted the following
wines (and re-tasted some of them in July 09):
2008 Coteaux du Languedoc rosé (Cinsault
Grenache Syrah 13%) - aromatic floral red cherry notes, fresh
and crisp vs lightly creamy mouthfeel with simple tasty redcurrant
finish. €5 80-85
2007 Vin de Pays white (Grenache blanc
Ugni blanc Sauvignon blanc) - gummy and mineral vs quite rich
and oily, attractive texture and weight balancing its underlying
freshness vs exotic "fat" characters. Very nice white and great
value at €6. 87-89
2003 Vin de Pays white
(13.5%) - developed, rounded, nutty and oily vs dried apricot notes;
quite a kick to it and full-bodied mouthful, interesting old white
style although beginning to fade a bit.
2007 "M" Coteaux du Languedoc (Syrah
Grenache Cinsault) - lovely perfumed
dark cherries and ripe blueberries / cassis, turning more liquorice
with light smoky wild herb tones; lively and tasty with a tad of
fresh bite, supple vs dry tannins and a bit of weight; aromatic
crunchy juicy vs "sweet" fruit, turning more savoury and spicy on
the finish. €7 87-89
2004 Les Myrthes Coteaux du Languedoc (two-thirds
Syrah plus Grenache) - smoky
forest floor and leather maturing notes, complex turning more "tar"
like vs wild herbs vs subtle sweet oak; fine dry tannins, a bit of
power but very well balanced with cassis vs liquorice vs savoury
fruit and lovely coating and texture, elegant stylish finish.
Drinking now although will keep for another 5 years easily with its
impeccable balance of fruit, oak, tannins and alcohol. €15
92-94
2003 Les Myrthes - actually a bit closed up to start
with light cedar vs ripe cassis on the nose; much chunkier with
bigger tannins and maturing leather notes, surprisingly tight and
closed on the finish with grip and concentration. In the end, it's a
tad unbalanced towards alcohol and tannins but still has very
seductive savoury fruit finish. €15 89-91
2001 Les Myrthes - maturing leather, liquorice and
dried fruits/herbs with rich cassis vs savoury undertones, delicious
and complex; sumptuous dark tasty and lush vs elegant and quite
mature, attractive texture still with a hint of fine dry tannins;
there's still life in it yet. €20 92-94
2000 Amarante (precursor to above) - tobacco/leather and
mature unpasteurised cheese (!), dried cassis and wild herbs vs
liquorice and "tar"; sweet & savoury style with fine balance, again
well developed with less structured, more melted-in tannins but
still delicious maturing minty vs liquorice fruit and lovely length.
92-94
Aster (2007 sweet white "vin de
table", 14.5% and 104 gr/litre residual sugar) - intriguing floral
wild honey nose plus super ripe apricots and marmalade, rich oily
and spicy fruit with "mushroom" botrytis notes; good balance with
refreshing acidity, rhubarb jam vs waxy and spicy texture, quite
subtle despite its sweetness; attractive odd-ball kind-of Sauternes/Montbazillac
style with a bit less acidity.
Mas Mouriès, 30260 Vic Le Fesq. Tel/fax: 04 66 77 87 13,
bouet.eric@wanadoo.fr,
www.mas-mouries.com.
 Domaine Pastouret
Jeanne and Michel Pastouret have been working to organic standards
since 1980, so you certainly can't say they've jumped on the "bio"
(as the French call it) bandwagon! After taking that initial step, they
became fully certified organic in 1993 following a period of
"remodelling the estate," as Michel explained to me, with the "first
new wines" released in 2000. Their 30 hectares (75 acres) of
vineyard lie on gently south-facing slopes along the Nîmes "Costières"
itself. I first came across one their reds as a
tasting judge at the 2006
Signature Bio organic wine competition and finally had the
chance to visit them in June 2009 while in the area. These are the
latest vintages available, all reasonably priced between €5 and
€6.50:
2008 Costières de Nîmes rosé (50/50 Syrah/Grenache)
- nice elegant Provence vs Languedoc style with attractive light
fruit vs crisp, lively and mouth-watering finish.
85-87
2008 Costières de Nîmes white (Clairette "de Bellegarde"/Grenache blanc) - aromatic and mineral to start, turning more exotic
and gummy;
attractive gentle fruit and crisp dry bite showing good length and
mouth-watering finish again. 87
2008 Costières de Nîmes red (Syrah/Grenache)
- lovely spicy black cherry fruit, perfumed and upfront; juicy
mouthfeel and more concentrated than expected vs dry yet rounded
tannins, nice and ripe vs a bit of bite with good balance of juicy
spicy flavours and firmer texture. 87
2007 Cuvée Spéciale Costières de Nîmes (Syrah/Grenache
remaining after the rosé is "bled" off with malolactic fermentation
in barriques) - again shows enticing fruit although more powerful
and full-bodied with bigger structure and grip; quite concentrated
and chunky vs background fruit and very light cedar / chocolate
notes. Needs a year to open up fully. 89+
Route de Jonquières, 30127 Bellegarde.
Tel: 04 66 01 62 29,
contact@domaine-pastouret.com,
www.domaine-pastouret.com.
 Château de Campuget
Campuget is a much larger property than Pastouret and actually
borders it on one side, although you have to go quite a long way
round country lanes to get from one to the other. Anyway, there is a
genuine and rather cute old Château in classic French bourgeois
style, which you can rent out for functions apparently! Owned by the
Dalle family, who makes quite a big range of appellation wines and
vins de pays also including the ones from their other nearby estate
Château de L'Amarine. They can all be tasted in their comfy, former
old barn of a tasting room & shop next to the chateau, which is
found more or less in the middle of a forest although well
signposted from approaching roads. I visited and tasted these in
June 2009 with son Franck-Lin Dalle (approx retail prices €5 to
€12):
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes white (Roussanne/Grenache blanc/Viognier)
- aromatic oily and zesty, turning more exotic in the mouth with a
bit of weight then crisp and mouth-watering.
80+
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes rosé
(13%) - zingy and crisp palate, tasty light-ish style, nice quaffer.
80+
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes red
(13.5%) - peppery bright black cherry style, ripe and juicy vs touch
of grip then darker "sweeter" liquorice flavours; again tasty and
quite easy-going although has a bit of oomph too.
85-87
2005 La Sommelière Costières de Nîmes red (100%
Syrah) - a bit more austere and
serious, spicy with a touch of chocolate/coconut oak; firmer
framework vs maturing tobacco notes and attractive textured tannins.
87+
Campuget's wines are available from
www.wineman.co.uk in the UK (Kevin O'Rourke) and
www.dreyfusashby.com in New York City.
Update summer 2010: I recently
bought their 2009 white and
rosé from a supermarket (€3.50 each),
which were both enjoyable, well-made and easy-drinking in line with
my reviews of the 08s.
30129 Manduel. Tel: 04 66 202
015, campuget@wanadoo.fr,
www.campuget.com /
www.chateaulamarine.com. |
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A to Z
all Languedoc profiles 1 - 6
More Languedoc
& Roussillon:
Wine words
Millésime Bio
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
Roussillon:
Maury
Saint-Bacchus
2009
vintage
2008
vintage
Languedoc &
Roussillon top reds
Winegrowers Revolt
100 years on
Vinisud
Millésime Bio
More Paul Mas
Wines of the
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