Roussillon: 'dry' Maury, hooray...

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) subzone 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.
In France, they'll have to put 'sec' (dry) on the label as the 'wine authorities' are needlessly paranoid that consumers won't understand the idea of a regular 'dry' red coming from this area, since the Maury VDN name is much better established over the Channel / Sleeve than in the UK, Ireland or the US, for example. This could have been one reason why this new appellation took such a long time to surface, agreeing on the name etc. as well as all the inevitable rules & regs; but I don't think they need to worry. Rasteau, in the southern Rhone Valley, did the same thing a few years ago and it wasn't a big deal: perhaps producers should leave the 'Roussillon Villages' bit on the label for the time-being so the village-area 'concept' is clearer.

Anyway, does the Roussillon, or France even, need yet another, to non-wine die-hards at least, obscure village name on the label? Well, this one has a certain logic - perhaps more so than e.g. nearby CdRV Rasiguères (will this survive given that the latter village is within the new Maury zone? Confusing or what...) - and doesn't make the same original mistake they made with straight CdRV by telling winegrowers they had to have a certain proportion of Syrah in their wine, even if they didn't have / didn't want any. This one does say you have to have a "minimum of 60% Grenache (Noir)" in the blend, which is after all THE sexy Maury grape variety, but, whoopee, no fascist diktat ordering them to include Syrah.
Nothing against Syrah, but this really does give winemakers the opportunity of crafting distinctive wines that taste a bit different from many from the Languedoc and Roussillon. Lovely rich Mediterranean / Catalan reds. Pity the regs insist on having a blend of "at least two varieties" - why not a 100% Grenache, if the winemaker is clever enough not to make something too overblown, as can happen with pure Grenache - although this does mean growers can make up the balance with good old (being the operative word around these parts) Carignan if they like. Or Syrah, I suppose...
Looking forward to trying some of the new wines next year (goes to my World Grenache Competition 2013 report on Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Roussillon, where you'll find some 2011s), or sooner from barrel / vat in the cellar hopefully. Oh, by the way, dry white Maury might well be next on the cards, which also seems like a good idea as certain wineries are already making some excellent whites from this area (currently called plain old CdR).
Sources: Vins du Roussillon and Vitisphere.com.

A fuller version of this piece (including a few "dry Maury" recommendations drawn from this blog) is viewable on Palate Press Story Bank.

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).