Languedoc: Château l'Euzière, Pic-Saint-Loup

Château L'Euzière

Brother and sister Michel and Marcelle Causse run this charming, old family property found on the main road through Fontanès. Or rather their mini-manor house and winery at least: the 23 ha/55 acres of vineyard spread out around the village, a mixture of older vines and more recent plantings as they continue to improve quality in the field. The top red cuvée, les Escarboucles, is based mostly on Syrah; L'Almandin is an earlier-drinking, 'SGM' blend but still quite serious with aromatic pure fruit; and they also make a very nice white called Grains de Lune. One to watch and relatively reasonably priced (Pic-Saint-Loup commands higher prices than other parts of the Languedoc) at €6 to €12.50 across their range. These wines sampled in their cellar and handsome vaulted stone tasting room in October 2007:

2006 Almandin (tank sample, Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre) – lovely perfumed black cherry with gamey edges developing into liquorice and violets, firm and fresh showing nice elegance with a touch of weight and length too. 89
2006 Escarboucles (barrel sample, more Syrah + Grenache Mourvèdre) – quite a bit of spicy coconut at the moment (12 to 14 months in one year-old casks) but again has that delicious black cherry fruit, more structured with firmer tannins; closed finish with dry texture v underlying 'sweetness'. 89-91
2005 – quite smoky with blackberry and cassis, a little closed up offering light spice and liquorice tones with gamey edges, rounded v soild mouth-feel although again it's quite elegant. 90+
More of their wines here (Vinisud 2006).

Ancien Chemin d’Anduze, 34270 Fontanès. Tel: 04 67 55 21 41, leuziere@chateauleuziere.fr, www.chateauleuziere.fr