Languedoc: Château La Liquière, Faugères

Château La Liquière

La Liquière, all 60 ha/150 acres of it, occupies a rather picturesque spot up on the undulating hills around Cabrerolles, the rustic Cévennes foothills, in the northwest corner of the increasingly exciting Faugères appellation. The Vidal-Dumoulin family's vines, quivering across trim wavy terraces at 150-350m altitude (500-1000+ feet) and embedded in schist, stones and clay, are in the process of being converted over to certified organic growing. Meaning they already are practising it, and have been for a while I believe, but have to wait another couple of years to get the official bit of paper (recycled no doubt). These wines were tasted in situ (in the refurbished old-stone caveau, open usual office hours for tastings and sales: see website below for more info) with Francois Vidal in November 2009:

2008 Les Amandiers white Coteaux du Languedoc (Grenache blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Terret, Vermentino 13%) - floral and slightly exotic with yeast-lees edges; quite rich and oily mouthfeel vs nice crisp bite, balance and length. €6 85+
2008 Cistus white Faugères (Grenache blanc, Roussanne,Vermentino 14%) - lightly toasty and spicy wood notes on the nose but still has plenty of lovely aromatic honeyed fruit; juicy and crisp vs weighty, good depth and balance too. €10 87-89
2008 Les Amandiers rosé (Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Grenache 13%) - elegant floral cherry blossom aromas; juicier and creamier red-fruit palate with strawberry vs crisp and refreshing finish. €6 85+
2008 Les Amandiers red (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre13.5%) - lightly smoky while very fruity with dried fruits, black cherry and liquorice plus a touch of black olive even; very attractive juicy fruity mouthfeel more serious finish showing grip, crunchy fruits and bite and a bit of weight. €6 87
2007 "Vieilles Vignes" Faugères (Grenache, Carignan 14%) - smokier and quite complex, very ripe then turning savoury/tobacco-ish; attractive dry texture vs lush maturing fruit, then closes up on the finish. €8.30 88+?
2007 Nos Racines Faugères (oldest Carignan plus splash ofGrenache 14%) - rich "tar"/tobacco, ripe fruit and olive tones; pretty concentrated yet has appealing lively side and subtle tannins, long and quite fine finish. €11 90+
2006 Cistus Faugères (Syrah barrique-aged, Grenache,Mourvèdre, Carignan 14%) - complex maturing fruit on the nose, turning meaty with spicy edges; lush chunky and concentrated but again has nice balance, firmer structure and more powerful than above vs soft dark fruit and understated chocolate oak texture; lovely tasty lingering flavours. €14 92+

Latest Liquière vintages tasted here ("Faugeres Focus" April 2011) and here ("2009 vintage report" June 2010).


Liquière wines are available from the Wine Society in the UK; and via Bonhomie Wine Imports, New Jersey, Ideal Wine, Boston, and also in California.

La Liquière, 34480 Cabrerolles. Tel: 04 67 90 29 20, www.chateaulaliquiere.com.

Bordeaux: Côtes de Bourg and Listrac-Médoc

"Côtes de where? Not the favourite coastal or riverbank hang-out for Jean-Luc Picard's scariest enemy, but a lesser-known 'Right Bank' Bordeaux appellation. Somehow, it's surprisingly easy to get your geography in a twist on this side of the river and forget you're actually opposite Margaux 'just across' the water..."

Read it here.

Roussillon: Domaine des Enfants, Maury

Photo by Ron Scherl

There are more children (see 'Les Enfants Sauvages' too) found a little up the hill in Maury off the Cucugnan road (almost next door to Dept 66): Swiss-owned Domaine des Enfants is another great-potential 'start-up' estate. When I called by in late 2009, Marcel Bühler was brewing up his third vintage in his compact cellar, formerly owned by Serge Rousse (of the sadly defunct Domaine Terre Rousse)...