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01 February 2009

Roussillon: Dom Brial - Château les Pins - Vignerons de Baixas

Church in Baixas
Let me explain: the cooperative cellars in the pretty village of Baixas (west of Perpignan airport, pic.) go under the brand name Dom Brial - some of the wines with bright, sense-of-humour labels (lipstick & fruit) and others more trad - and own Château les Pins, their premium estate a stone's throw away. With this wide grape source "we can adapt to make what sells and what customers want," Claude Sarda told us during an enlightening, late summer visit. He also said there's a surplus of Vins Doux Naturels (sweet fortified whites and reds) but not really dry wines, the production ratio being about one-third to two-thirds. Their preferred solution is to come up with ideas to sell more sweet wines - this used to be a massive market in France - rather than stop making them. Either option is a brave choice...
Grapes from Les Pins are hand-sorted by about half-a-dozen people in the cellar; in general, control and traceability of the grapes' health, quality, sugar levels, provenance etc. are quite strict, as it should be in any big winery. Technical advisers work with the co-op growers (300 of them) in their vineyards, and everything is weighed and analysed on the spot when they deliver the fruit, before they proceed to unload. I'll spare you the chemical analysis but can confirm the little lab has a machine that goes ping. The winery, which takes up half of the village, has been totally refitted over the last ten years; so plenty of stainless steel and other shiny geeky stuff.

2002 Château les Pins Côtes du Roussillon blanc, vinifié en barriques (Grenache Blanc Malvoisie Roussanne) - oily oxidised development, fat-textured quite toasty yet concentrated; not for everyone and definitely needs food. €9 85+
2005 Rozy, vin de pays Côtes Catalanes (Muscat Syrah) - quirky blend for this light, cheekily packaged (bikini clad bottle) rosé: fresh and aromatic with tangy finish, perfumed and easy yet has a bit of weight too. €4.50 82-84
2004 Dom Brial les Terres Rouges, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre Carignan, 13.5%) - nice peppery rustic black cherry and cassis notes, aromatic fruit v light grip and bite. €6 87
2002 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Elevé en fût de chêne (13.5%) - smoky mature liquorice nose, rustic black fruit set on a rounded soft palate; nice for 2002 (difficult vintage here). €6 87-89
2002 Château les Pins Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre Carignan) - similar to above but more complex and liquoricey, smoky perfumed fruit with elegant long finish. They also sell quite a few older vintages in their shop. €8.50 90+

2004 Château les Pins Rivesaltes Primage (Grenache, 15.5%) - attractive mix of sweet blackberry and leathery maturity, sugar-coated mouthful cut by drier tannins. €8 87-89
Above tasted on 5/9/06 - go down to 'France' on wines of the moment ('archive' on WineWriting.com) for reviews of other Brial wines, which are mostly sold in France at the moment although they have plans to increase their presence in the UK and US. More links to updates below.


Tasted summer 2007:
2006 Le Pot rosé (Syrah Cabernet 13%) - quite fat and juicy start with strawberry and redcurrant fruit, more elegant dry fresh finish. €3.50 87

"Wine of the moment" Feb 2009:
2008 Dom Brial Côtes du Roussillon rosé (Syrah Grenache 13%) - classic storming Roussillon rosé style, deep coloured with a light touch of tannin adding dry texture; 'winey' aromatic and crunchy red fruits with rose petal edges, juicy and zingy with chunky fruity mouth-feel and full dry finish. Nice foodie (e.g. hake fillet in Provencal sauce). €4.19 87+


More Brial here (2009 Saint-Bacchus awards) and here, my Oct. 2010 "wotm": 2009 Dom Ici Chardonnay/Macabeu.
Plus the latest medal winner is HERE (World Grenache Competition 2013).

Cave des Vignerons, 66390 Baixas. Tel: 04 68 64 22 37, contact@dom-brial.com, www.dom-brial.com.


Roussillon: Clos de Paulilles, Port-Vendres

UPDATE - the Dauré family sold the property to the Maison Cazes / AdVini group in 2013...

Clos de Paulilles is a 90 hectare (220 acre) estate, the biggest in the area with most of the vines spread around the stone cellar; something you don't often see amid the intricate collage of vineyards running along the coast from Collioure to Cerbère. Vines and winery nestle close to the sea on a picturesque bay between Port Vendres and Banyuls-sur-Mer, and the outdoor restaurant is open throughout the summer. The Dauré family also offers al fresco dining at Château de Jau, their property near Cases de Pène tucked away in the northern Roussillon countryside. They own a Chilean winery as well called Viña las Niñas.

Tasted Oct 2006:
2005 Collioure blanc (Grenache blanc & gris part fermented in barriques) - a bit cold for tasting (as opposed to nice temperature for quaffing) but shows floral notes, crisp mineral and aniseed palate with nutty rounded yet fresh finish. 85
2005 Collioure rosé (Grenache Syrah) - lots of vibrant red fruit aromas and flavours, quite chunky mouth-feel, textured and tasty v crisp and long. 87-89
2002 Collioure rouge (70+% Mourvèdre & Syrah) - smoky and ripe, nice grip v mature fruit, still could develop; good for a 2002. 89
2003 Banyuls 'Vintage' (= Rimage, see below. 100% Grenache) - lovely fresh black cherry fruit, solid dry tannins v sweet fruit, attractive style. 90
2002 Banyuls Cap Béar (aged in bonbonnes = glass demijohns. 100% Grenache) - more tawny in style with rich dried fruits, softer tannins and leather & raisin notes, long fine finish. 90-92

By the way, I also tried these Château de Jau wines (a tasting measure of each I hasten to add) with the grilled lunch menu at their idyllic restaurant in September:
2005 Côtes du Roussillon blanc (Vermentino Roussanne Marsanne) - fresh and mineral with crisp citrus fruit v touches of yeast-lees. Served with fougasse aux olives, a Mediterranean flat bread.
2005 Le Jaja de Jau rosé, vin de pays d'Oc (Grenache Syrah) - fun quaffable fruit juice to go with toasted tomato bread & cured ham.
2002 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Syrah Mourvèdre Carignan Grenache) - mature rustic style, nice dried cherry fruit on an easy palate; drinking now, it won't get any better. Grilled lamb cutlets.
2005 Muscat de Rivesaltes - lovely intense lemon and grape aromas, refreshing bite v rich sweetness; works well with the Roquefort.

Wine of the moment February 2009:
2008 Les Clos de Paulilles rosé Collioure (Grenache Syrah 13%) - chunky, red-fruity style with nice 'vinous' style, texture and weight; dry and zingy v creamy and full. A touch pricey though at €7.50. 87+

Clos de Paulilles, 66660 Port-Vendres (signposted off the main road between Port-Vendres and Banyuls-sur-Mer). Tel: 04 68 98 07 58.

Languedoc: Domaine La Sauvageonne, Terrasses du Larzac

The city of Montpellier, or any city or town even, certainly feels very distant from aptly named La Sauvageonne, with its spectacularly rugged hilly vista perched up on the lower edges of the Massif Central range. This face-lifted 32-ha domaine (80 acres), which was bought by businessman Fred Brown in 2001 (and sold in 2011: see update below), is found about 50km northwest of Montpellier in fact; on the Terrasses du Larzac high ground just beyond the little village of St-Jean-de-Blaquière. A sommelier in a past life, English estate manager and winemaker Gavin Crisfield (no longer: see update below) nurtures premium Syrah, Carignan and Grenache from different vineyard parcels (at 150m - 400m altitude = 500-1300 feet), much of it covered in chunks of brownish red schist and rough stones (see pic) making the terroir here all the more tangible and challenging. Hence the names of each wine on the label, such as Pica Broca and Puech de Glen - the latter, curiously Occitan/Scots sounding cuvée made mostly from their best and highest-lying Syrah.

Tasted in situ February 2009:
2007 Sauvignon blanc Vin de Pays du Montbaudille (with a hint of Muscat and, from the 2008 vintage, will have Vermentino and Viognier too) - still quite fresh and zesty actually, nice lively mineral side with light citrus fruit. 80+
2008 rosé (Cinsault, 
Grenache) - lively and refreshing style, attractive raspberry and cream flavours, very drinkable on its own but would be good with most food too. 85+
2007 Les Ruffes (
Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault) - smoky v lightly herby with liquorice and leather edges; lovely fruit and 'sweet & savoury' profile with subtle bitter twist and grip in the mouth, nice depth and richness v drinkable refreshing style. €6 87-89
2007 Pica Broca (
Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - more black cherry and chocolate aromas / flavours; firmer structure as well although again has that attractive balance of lush v tight mouth-feel, long finish too; needs 6+ months in bottle but it's still nice now! 88-90
2005 Pica Broca (
Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - delicious smoky maturing nose; has more depth and concentration than the 07, chunky with nice coating of tannins layered with 'sweet & savoury' complexity and lovely length. 90-92
2005 Merlot/Cabernet Vin de pays - cassis and tobacco on the nose; pretty rich v very firm and powerful palate, its 14.5% adds a bit of oomph but it's also very concentrated with dry savoury finish. Wow. 90
2005 Puech de Glen (mostly Syrah) - enticing grilled wild black fruit nose with herbal v meaty edges (echoes of maturing Cote Rotie!); concentration and big tannins on the palate, stylish too with nicely developing fruit yet still plenty of life in it. €16 92-94


Previous vintages here (Vinisud 2006).

Latest news: Gavin left and is now doing his own thing called La Traversée; and the estate was recently sold to the Gérard Bertrand group (late 2011): there's a review of one wine in this report.

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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.