Pass the Bolly or "If it's the 85, you were expecting me..."

A blast from the past that amused me enough to bring your attention to it again, click on the link below:
Pass the Bolly or "If it's the 85, you were expecting me..."

Languedoc: Syrah, Minervois, La Rouviole & Borie de Maurel

Léonor family lurking among barrels

I suddenly felt a little comparative theme come on when I rediscovered notes on two wines tasted last year from these almost neighbouring wineries in Minervois (well, one in Siran and t'other in Félines-Minervois a couple or so of km away). Both of them are made intriguingly from 100% Syrah, which is 'allowed' in this appellation area but not in any other one in the Languedoc (apart from IGP/vin de pays wines), as far as I can think of off the top of my head. Syrah homogenisation or style/quality statement? And does it really matter, varietal vs blended appellation wine, as long as it tastes good and has character? Mull it over and you decide...

Domaine La Rouviole 2007 Coup de Théatre, Minervois (Syrah) - 100% Syrah in fact, giving nice pure floral spicy cherry fruit; powerful extracted palate yet reasonably well-balanced with it, concentrated vs firm tight finish still for a 07. Very good although quite pricey at £16.99 (Hallgarten Druitt, UK).

DLR is found in the Minervois La Livinière subzone (although this wine isn’t labelled up / 'classified' as such) and has been owned by the Léonor family since the 1950s, who’ve restored its hillside vineyards over the years to become one of the area’s leading estates. The terrain sprawls over 40 ha in total (100 acres) including swathes of wild scrubland and olive trees as well as vines. Their wines are also available in Germany, Belgium, Canada, Poland, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore. More info @ larouviole.fr.

Domaine Borie de Maurel 2008 Sylla, Minervois (100% Syrah) - ‘reductive’ herby notes/style to start with, tight and firm mouth-feel vs concentrated and nicely textured tannins actually, still young and closed up although promising. Another dear wine though at £27.95 (Terroir Languedoc, UK).

Owned by Michel and Sylvie Escande since 1989, who were also leading lights behind the creation of the La Livinière subzone kick-started in the late 90s, and aided and abetted by son Gabriel. BDM’s 35 ha (85 acres) of vineyards lie on the 'Petit Causse' on the edges of the Montagne Noire hills, some of them up to 300m altitude (1000 feet). They opened their own on-site "bar" in 2008 serving wine by the glass or bottle (theirs naturally) with "Occitan tapas" and home-grown vegetables.

More @ boriedemaurel.fr including poetic words, if you read French, and pretty photos such as "the windmill" above. And click here for notes on the latest BdM vintages and news from Michel:
Languedoc: Minervois, red white rosé 2010 and 2011 (tasting and touring report July 2012).

Burgundy: Chablis, Pinot Noir, Crémant de Bourgogne and "organic Burgundy..."

Coming soon: 2010 vintage Chablis 'Grand Cru' tasting (plus a few older vintages).
Recently posted and 'restored':

Posh Chablis @ M&S

Pinot Noir: Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand
Chablis/Crémant de Bourgogne: Maison Simonnet-Febvre
Organic Burgundy: Boyer, Giboulot, Goisot, de Suremain, Tripoz

Bordeaux: Château Fougas, Côtes de Bourg

I 'met' the owner-growers of Ch. Fougas, Jean-Yves and Michele Bechet, across the other side of a nevertheless cosy round table (knights of Côtes de Bourg perhaps, ho ho) at lunch at the recent Millésime Bio wine show in Montpellier (Languedoc). Their 17.5 hectare (43 acre) property, "one of the oldest in the area" (as it says on their site) and lying in Lansac just inland from the town of Bourg and hence the Dordogne River (for more info on the appellation, see link to feature below), is another recent convert over to organics (not many round these parts, I don't think by the way). 2010 was their first "officially certified" organic vintage, hence it was the only one they were allowed to have on tasting at the fair. And hence, being a recent vintage red, had just been bottled in time to bring along and was a little closed up although promising I'd say:

2010 Château Fougas 'Maldoror' (75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon) - quite new-oaky on the nose (but was just bottled and a little awkward because of this, I think) although showing good depth of fairly dark cassis fruit; firm tight and structured palate, concentrated with attractive tannin texture. Needs a year or two to begin to blossom, very good though. www.fougas.com

And here's a snippet from a tasting & touring piece I penned on the Côtes de Bourg region following a great trip back in autumn 2009, including a nice note on the Fougas 2005:

"Côtes de where? Not the favourite coastal or riverbank hang-out for Jean-Luc Picard's scariest enemy, but a lesser-known "Right Bank" appellation... it's surprisingly easy to get your geography in a twist on this side of the river and forget you're actually opposite Margaux..." Notes on 40 wines including these favourites: Fougas, Clos du Piat, Relais de la Poste, Coulée de Bayon, Améthyste de Génibon, Haut-Guiraud, Labadie... plus thoughts on image, tasting grapes, Malbec and wine travel tips..." And "...challenge yourself while savouring the imperial grandeur and wines of these handsome properties in Listrac-Médoc: Fourcas-Dupré, Fonréaud, Lestage, Fourcas-Hosten..." Read on here (goes to "wine words" archive)!

Bordeaux: Château Fougas, Côtes de Bourg

I've moved this post here... (just to annoy you - click again there please).

Bandol: Château Tournier Guilhem

Guilhem, Henri and Genevieve Tournier’s compact and bijou property, lying not far from the cute hilltop village of La Cadière d’Azur a fair trek to the north of Bandol town, has two almost unique characteristics about it in context of the wider Bandol appellation. At six hectares (15 acres), it’s one of the smallest vineyards in an area probably better known for quite large estates (think Ch. Pibarnon at 50 ha or Dom. Tempier at 30, for instance); and it’s now certified organic (from 2011). “We were one of the first to convert to organics,” Genevieve confirmed in fact as I tasted at their stand at ‘Millésime Bio’ organic wine show in Montpellier last week. There was only one other organic estate from Bandol at the show - the ultra ‘natural’ and quirky Château Sainte-Anne (see post directly below) - which got me thinking why aren’t there more in this very French Mediterranean wine region? Not a criticism - people have their reasons and many non-organic growers (or not officially certified but more or less are anyway) are sensible about what they use, how much and why (as I’ve said before, I’ve never aimed to make this blog exclusively organic; it just so happens that an increasing amount of the best ones are, or in the process of) - but a question worth asking.

I digress - back to the Tournier’s wines, which were definitely worth unearthing after deciding it seemed like a good idea to see how many organic Bandol producers were exhibiting! I’ve also just re-published a towards-huge wad of exciting material on Bandol and its kingpin variety, Mourvèdre, originally gathered and scribbled from 2003 to 2006 (I lived in nearby Marseille for two of those years, by the way): click here and here for much more info then (goes to two pages in my “wine words” archive: the former featuring 150+ wines and a few winery touring pieces / profiles, the latter a more academic article called ‘Understanding Mourvèdre’ written for Wine Business, USA).

2011 Bandol rosé (majority Mourvèdre + Cinsault and Grenache, tank sample) - attractive juicy crisp rosé in that more elegant and mineral style, although has a bit of weight as well, showing aromatic citrus fruit with floral rose petal edges, nice structured bite and almost salty tangy finish.

2010 Bandol rosé - hints of yeast-lees, fuller rounder and oilier texture with developing red fruit flavours and still has a fresher side too; good although the 2011 will be better. €15 (that's trendy Bandol for you...)

2008 Bandol rouge (85% Mourvèdre) - light touches of coconut oak aromas and grainy texture, concentrated dark vs savoury fruit with tight grippy mouth-feel, subtle and still a little closed up vs developing meaty edges. Very good, promising too. €18

2009 Bandol rouge - meatier and more powerful with lovely rich black cherry with spicy savoury dark olive notes, firmer bigger palate with weighty finish vs attractively rounded tannins. A slightly more in-your-face vintage maybe but it’s still good stuff.