Including: Winery updates on Domaines of the Bee, Roc des Anges and Modat; feature published in Wine Merchant magazine (2021). Top 100 reds, ROUSSILLON ‘French Catalonia’ Wild Wine Country by Richard Mark James (2020). Lavail Carignan (2019). Top 80 white wines, Grenache / Garnacha comparison (2018). Syrah / Shiraz feature (2017). More whites & winery updates (2016). More Grenache (2015). Producer updates (2014). Wines of the moment: Modat, Cazes (2014). Festive sweeties: Amiel, Mas Blanc, Vignerons de Maury, and wine with chocolate tasting (2013). First World Grenache Competition (2013). Dry Maury (2012). Three white wines (2011). Banyuls and Maury: sweet seductive red Roussillon (2010). Relentless Roussillon: strange goings-on in Maury (2010). Saint-Bacchus Awards (2009). Finding Fenouillèdes country (2006).
A (long) summary of selected features on the Roussillon is above and below with links to each post or page - to find individual producer profiles, peruse my handy A to Z winery list, although this has been totally superseded by my new book on the Roussillon (click to that post or on the cover image below for details and links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble to buy the paperback, hardcover or Ebook) published between October 2020 and April 2021. It includes 175 updated and new winery profiles as well as facts & figures on and background to the region's history, wine styles, vineyard areas and opinions, as well as wine touring & sightseeing tips. Not on this blog! Or you can buy the book direct from me in the UK and EU - follow the same link.
Latest vintages from Domaine of the Bee (Maury) September 2021.
Other most recent updates on (some) latest releases from Roussillon wineries:
'Noir, blanc or gris: Grenache is at home in the wild south' - The Wine Merchant magazine (Feb. 2021).
Roussillon: top 100 red wines (December 2020).
(October 2020).
Domaine de Lavail old vine Carignan with Chinese duck... (July 2019).
France, Roussillon: white wines (June 2018) 'Top 80 white wines.'
(April 2018).
Featuring Domaine Bellavista, Chateau de l'Ou and Clos de l'Oum (March 2017).
Featuring Domaine La Toupie (September 2016).
Featuring Domaine des Enfants, Domaine Jones, Dom Brial & Mas Deveze (September 2016).
Domaines des Schistes, Sabbat, Pons Gralet, Soulanes, Terres de Mallyce, Serre Romani, Rombeau, Gilles Trouillier, Tribouley, Balmettes, Sabots d'Hélène, Arcadie, Rivaton, La Toupie, Mas Devèze, Jones and Treloar (January 2016).
(December 2015).
(Both November 2014).
(May 2014).
(Both April 2014).
(Both March 2014).
Roussillon wines of the mo (February 2014) with Domaine Modat 'Comme Avant' 2010 and Domaine Cazes Rivesaltes ambré 2000.
Roussillon festive sweeties and reds with or without chocolate (part 2) (December 2013) with Mas Amiel 1980 Maury, Vignerons de Maury Cuvée Centenaire, Mas Blanc 2000 old vine Banyuls...
World Grenache Competition part 2: Roussillon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape... February 2013.
'Part one' is posted here on WineWriting.com (goes there) and ran a bit like this, just to regurgitate some background and my thoughts: "The first of its kind, I/they believe, and set to become a regular event, an international wine competition in celebration of one of my fav varieties, Grenache / Garnacha / Garnatxa / Cannonau: red, white, rosé and fortified wines. And absolutely why not, I hear you say. Ah, yes, Cannonau: it took me a while too to remember that Sardinia's Cannonau di Sardegna (click for Part 3...) red is made from what they call Grenache!"
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Old terraced Grenache, Banyuls-sur-mer
by Vi Erickson.
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Dry Maury (March 2012)
"So, it comes to pass. A little bit of common sense has arguably prevailed behind the creation of a new Cotes du Roussillon Villages (CdRV) sub-zone for dry red wines, also called Maury. These wines will come (first ones will be vintage 2011 appearing in about a year's time) from the same appellation area (Maury, Tautavel, Saint-Paul de Fenouillet and Rasiguères) as for the already well-known Maury Vins Doux Naturels (sweet fortified reds), so a big advantage on the marketing front from the start then..." CLICK HERE to find out more...
Roussillon: 3 white wines October 2011.
"If you've been kind enough or bothered to read anything else Roussillon on this excitingly focused blog, you'll have noticed a slight enthusiasm for the sometimes superb white wines being made more and more often nowadays in the region. I tried these two below not so long ago, on the South of France stand at the London Wine Fair: both from well-known and well-regarded estates, very different in style, varietal make-up and with three years of age between them too. Ed: I've since added a third..." Featuring: Jean Gardiès - Le Soula - Abbé Rous.
CLICK HERE to find them.
Wine tasting & touring feature: "Banyuls & Maury, sweet seductive red Roussillon..." Featuring Mas Amiel, Coume Mas, La Rectorie, Serrelongue, Soulanes, Tour Vieille, Vinci, Coume Majou, Mudigliza... November 2010.
"My pick of some (25) of these red (and a few white) Vins Doux Naturels or vins mutés, as they're called in French: literally "natural sweet wines" or fortified wines, tasted in early October on a whirlwind tour of leading estates in north and south Roussillon. Plus words on how these delicious Grenache based wines are made and their different styles." Featured wineries: Amiel, Coume Mas, La Rectorie, Serrelongue, Soulanes, Tour Vieille, Vinci, Coume Majou, Mudigliza; and a new-release Maury from Mont Tauch. Click here to read it...
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| Demijohns outside at Mas Amiel, by Vi Erickson. |
Relentless Roussillon: strange goings-on in Maury
Featuring Dept. 66, La Borde Vieille, Domaine des Enfants, Domaine Jones... January 2010.
There's nothing new about a high-profile 'outsider investment' story round these parts: Calvet-Thunevin's stark statement winery fashioned from blocks of orange Gard stone was the boldest testament to this up until now, and has somewhat altered the view on the way into town (I also noticed, by the way, the logo on the facia now runs 'Domaine Thunevin-Calvet': we probably shouldn't read too much into that?!). But the once slightly dull and dour village of Maury has rapidly become the centre of the Roussillon wine universe, maybe even of the Languedoc too. I'm constantly amazed, and pleased I have to say, that the momentum is still going strong; it's getting difficult keeping up with everything that's happening...
Mega-bucks: the Americans are here
Grenache-loving Dave Phinney (pictured) of Napa's Orin Swift fame (the man behind the, I'm told, hugely successful "Prisoner" label, a Zin/Cab/Syrah blend), is the first to put American $$$ behind an even bigger, and arguably bolder, site just up the hill from the village centre (off the Route de Cucugnan).... CLICK HERE to read this article.
The award-winning wines gleaned from this annual French Catalan taste-off were this year (2009) billed as "the finest representation of the Roussillon region," which it probably isn't although for sure there are some good wines to pick from here. As in any competition, the winners are only as good as the wines submitted in the first place and, I assume as I don't know what the original 'pre-selected' line-up was, it appears the majority of the Roussillon's best growers and winemakers didn't/don't actually enter the Saint-Bacchus. Why don't they?
CLICK HERE to read more...
Roussillon: Saint-Bacchus Awards 2009
October 2009
CLICK HERE to read more...
Finding Fenouillèdes country, wild wine touring... Around Calce, Estagel, Tautavel, Caudiès de Fenouillèdes, St-Paul de Fenouillet, Lesquerde, Maury, Caramany, Rasiguères, Latour de France, Bélesta, Vingrau. This article was published in English and French on the wine travel website www.winetourisminfrance.com in December 2006.
Whichever map angle you approach the Fenouillèdes region from, you’ll quickly be invaded by the primal beauty of the unforgiving terrain that cradles its vineyards. Draped across a dramatically wild, elevated valley landscape bridging Corbières and French Catalonia, you can kick off a wine route on its eastern side coming from Perpignan airport, around the villages of Calce, Estagel and Tautavel; or from the west between Caudiès de Fenouillèdes and St-Paul de Fenouillet. The latter choice is recommended, if you’re travelling down from Carcassonne via Limoux and Couiza then winding your way through the scary Gorges de Galamus. Between St-Paul and Estagel, dotted along and south of the D117 valley road, the villages and wines of Lesquerde, Maury, Caramany, Rasiguères and Latour de France all grab your attention... CLICK HERE to read the full works...
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