Roussillon: 36 whites and rosés worthy of your fridge (but not at the same time).

Hot on the heels of two pieces showcasing 40+ stonking reds from the North and the Centre & South of the Roussillon, it's time to switch the limelight onto some of the region's flavoursome white and rosé wines. There's a blurb about the wineries mentioned here in those two previous posts: tap the links to discover more including which outlets stock their wines. So this time then, less blah blah and more wine. Photo: old vines in Les Aspres zone.

Grenache: white rosé and red.

Lo Cometa Garnatxa Blanca 2020 Terra Alta, Catalunya (organic, 13.5% abv): Which is Catalan for Grenache blanc, this unusual full-bodied dry white is more about flavour and texture than aroma. Subtle honeyed notes with yeast-lees, white peach and pears edged with aniseed and blanched nuts; quite powerful while juicy and concentrated with lingering mineral freshness. £7.25 The Wine Society (out of stock, wait for the 2021), €6-€7 Germany (Lidl has some 2019 left), Netherlands €9.

Four whites and a Pinot Noir

Santa Tresa Rina Ianca Grillo Viognier 2020 Sicilia (organic, 13.5% abv): Another delicious Grillo-based bottle from Sicily - click here and here for more of those - this time with 30% Viognier added, which ups the exotic apricot and peach flavours with full palate weight, yeast-lees edges and appealing amount of freshness. Wine Society £8.25.

A dozen more winter wines of the mo

Muga Reserva Rioja 2016 (14% abv) is a splendid oak-aged blend of 75% Tempranillo with Garnacha, Mazuelo (= Carignan) and Graciano. Smoky spicy oak aromas in that traditional Rioja fashion but with lots of rich dark berry fruit and beginning to show enticing balsamic maturing notes, quite dense powerful and structured with concentrated savoury fruit, a little firmness still on the finish but with lovely silky tannins too. Good with lamb shank; should benefit from another few years' bottle age. Half-bottle £9.25 (image = the Wine Society).

Bubbly and white wines of the moment

Photo from saint-chinian.pro

Château Viranel Intuition blanc 2020 Saint-Chinian Languedoc (60% Grenache blanc, 15% Roussanne, 20% Vermentino, 5% Bourboulenc, 13.5% abv): This delicious mix of southern French grape varieties undergoes a modest 15% of the blend fermented in barrels (and all the better for it) with the completed wine stored and stirred on the yeast-lees for three months to maximise flavour and texture.

South of France: IGP and Vin de France

www.paysdoc-wines.com

Many wine producers in southern France make wines labelled as Indication Géographique Protégée or IGP, which replaced Vin de Pays over ten years ago as part of a Europe-wide rationalisation of wine laws and 'trademarking' of specified wine areas. Hence in Italy, it's Indicazione Geografica Protetta or Indicación Geográfica Protegida in Spain, although confusingly they still also use the term Vino de la Tierra ('country wine') whereas the French have dropped Vin de Pays.

White wines of the cosmos

'Here we are in the ship of the imagination...' Remember that awe-inspiring space travel programme 'Cosmos' back in the 80s by Carl Sagan (paraphrasing one of his most cosmological lines)? Don't know why I thought of that though: stellar white wines of the split-atom millisecond perhaps? Sounds more out-there than international or global, especially as these words are usually stranded with media-nouns like crisis, conflict or pandemic; or similar marketing babble (e.g. brand, product).

Photo from amazon.co.uk

More 'white grapes of the moment'

For 'serious' white wine fans out there, here are a few more, quirkier bottles worth trying made mostly from lesser-known grape varieties. Warning: this is a Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc FREE zone (no Chardonnay either, but, hey, I like Chardy)... Prices stated are all £UK.

Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain (Palomino Fino, 15% abv). Classic very dry style sherry with intense yeasty notes, chamomile and apple too with tangy almond finish. £8 (50cl) Sainsbury's / widely available.

Domaine La Toupie 2014 ‘Fine Fleur’ - Roussillon, France (Grenache gris 49%, Grenache blanc 25%, Macabeu 25%, Carignan blanc 1%). Obviously that 1% white Carignan makes all the difference! Nicely aromatic and zesty with aniseed notes, then lightly ‘oily’ and nutty palate. £12.50 Joie de Vin.

Eschenhof Holzer 2014 'Haide' Roter Veltliner - Wagram, Austria. Despite its name, the RV variety isn't red (although does have a pink hue) and probably isn't related to Gruner Veltliner. Enticingly wild and yeasty nose vs creamy 'oily' notes, concentrated and rich vs steely bite; very nice and different too. £13.99 Red Squirrel Wine.

Marqués de Alella 2012 'Galactica' Pansa Blanca (= Xarello) - Catalonia, Spain. Nutty lightly oxidised and savoury nose yet still fresh and lively on the palate, very good unusual white although expensive (it's rare apparently). £21.99 Red Squirrel Wine.

Villa Maria 2014 Gewurztraminer - East Coast, New Zealand (13.5% abv). Surprisingly elegant with subtle hallmark 'Turkish delight' and lychee flavours, full bodied though yet with a lighter touch too. Drink now with Malaysian or Thai food (I did). £10.99 WineMark.

Alta Luna 2015 Gewurztraminer, CaVit - Trentino, Italy (13% abv). A little less in-ya-face and drier perhaps than most Alsace Gewurz, this is nevertheless still characteristically aromatic with rose water and peach, again quite elegant. M&S £9.

Chenin Blanc 2015, Adi Badenhorst - Swartland, South Africa (13.5% abv). Bargain compared to some of the wines reviewed here, considering the real mouthful of rich flavour you get for the money: honeyed melon fruit, 'oily' rounded and full-bodied with fresher side. Tesco Finest £6.

World Grenache Competition part 2: Roussillon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape

"Part one" posted on WineWriting.com ran a bit like this, just to regurgitate a bit of background and my thoughts: The first of its kind, I/they believe (? and set to become a regular event I hope), an international wine competition in celebration of one of my fav varieties, Grenache / Garnacha / Garnatxa / Cannonau: red, white, rosé and fortified wines. And absolutely why not, I hear you say. Ah, yes, Cannonau: it took me a while too to remember that Sardinia's Cannonau di Sardegna (click for Part 3...) red is made from what they call Grenache!

Old terraced Grenache, Banyuls-sur-mer

By Vi Erickson

I was on one of the tasting panels in Perpignan on 24th January; my table of tasters (two Spanish - erm, one Valencian, one Catalan - three French and yours truly) sampled and marked about 30 wines: one flight of Spanish rosés, one of Cannonau (my pick of those appear on my other blog - click on the link at top of page) and one of Roussillon 'table' reds. Being held in Perpignan, there were naturally a lot of local entries, which is probably reflected in the amount of medal winners from this region (and some good wines of course). Then again, most of the world's Grenache is planted in France - split between the Rhone valley, Roussillon and Languedoc - and Spain, Garnacha's spiritual home (I have/found contradictory info disagreeing over whether Spain or France has the most!). There were also some entries from Australia (probably not as many as there could/should have been?) and South Africa (again, medal winners and my favs will appear on WW.com), accompanied by surprise samples from Brasil and Republic of Macedonia! But what about California? I believe the main criterion applied for the contest was for large-majority Grenache (red, white, grey or 'furry'...) wines, which perhaps also explains the dominance of the Roussillon and lack of Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Languedoc in the 'French category', although you'd still have expected more Rhone wines in the medal line-up.

Talking of which, this is where I might make myself unpopular. I counted 163 Gold and Silver medals including nine Trophy winners: out of only 364 wines tasted, that's nearly 45% of them, which is too high a proportion compared to other international competitions; and in fact OIV regulations, the organisation that dreamed up the frankly stupid 'official' system used, apparently state that "awards are limited to 30% of samples entered..." I've come across this system before, where you have to allocate a set amount of marks to all aspects of each wine, including e.g. colour and clarity as if that really matters when making a quality judgement. Especially since Grenache isn't naturally known as a variety with lots of rich colour (you can if you really extract it), compared to say Syrah or Cabernet. Anyway, this very long-winded methodology does at least add up to 100, but it's more generous - or the opposite - than the 100 point system used by some wine critics. Scoring works as follows: 84 to 87 Silver medal, Gold 87 to 92 and Trophy 92 to 100 (see what I mean). It's too easy to award too many or too few marks to a wine by adding them all up for each 'category' (visual, olfactory, mouth-feel, overall impression and totally subjective 'typicity'), as you're supposed to. So I judged them applying the 'traditional' 100-pointer in my mind while asking myself: "is this really a silver or gold wine?" Then did the silly math afterwards.
Rant over: you have to use some scoring system or other obviously. And I'm certainly not knocking any attempt to promote great wines made from Grenache from around the world. The nine 'trophy' winners were as follows, which include a fair few Vins Doux Naturels fortified reds and 'whites' (red highlight = link to profile on this blog):

Château de Péna Hors d'âge AOP Rivesaltes Tuilé, Roussillon.

Dom Brial 2010 AOP Rivesaltes Grenat, Roussillon.
Domaine Rossignol 2008 AOP Rivesaltes Ambré, Roussillon.

Albera En croisade Hors d'âge AOP Rivesaltes Ambré, Roussillon.

GT-G 2010 LePlan-Vermeersch AOP Côtes du Rhône Villages.

Lafou Els Amelers 2011 Roqueta DO Terra Alta white, Catalonia.

Saint Roch Kerbuccio 2011 Maison Lafage AOP Maury Sec, Roussillon.

Sartiglia 2011 Azienda Vinicola Attilio Contini DOC Cannonau di Sardegna (actually my top wine in our flight from Sardinia: see WW.com link at top).

Sur Grains 2011 Domaine Boudau AOP Rivesaltes Grenat, Roussillon (my note below).

The full results are viewable here: www.grenachesdumonde.com.

My favourites from the Roussillon and Rhone Valley (tasted in the competition blind, that evening at a food & wine tasting bash or the previous night over dinner) were as follows, including the first outing, for me at least, of some exciting Maury Sec dry red wines (the appellation rules were amended from vintage 2011 to embrace 'dry' and fortified sweet reds from the same area based on Grenache). Medals awarded are in brackets and/or my 100-point style score afterwards:

Sans plus attendre 2010, Domaine Modat Côtes du Roussillon Villages Caramany (Gold medal) - attractive white pepper, sweet cherry and liquorice; firm vs rounded with powerful yet balanced finished. 90
Domaine de Bila-Haut 2010 M. Chapoutier, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France (Gold) - young lively fruit, rich black cherry with minty spicy edges, tight fresh finish showing a bit of class too. 87+
Le Clos du Fourat 2011 L'Etoile AOP Collioure Rouge (Gold) - nice peppery style with quite rich dark fruit, rounded oak-tinged palate but has attractive tannins and ripe fruit too. 86

Cuvée Centenaire white 2010 Domaine Lafage (large proportion of Grenache blanc I believe) - shows a touch of wood layered with attractive yeast-lees notes and buttery hazelnut aromas/flavours and floral 'mineral' edges, rounded and quite soft with fair weight and rich exotic fruit vs hint of fresh acidity still; good with creamy porcini soup appetizer.

Nicolas vieilles vignes 2011 Maison Lafage, Côtes Catalanes (15% alc.) - attractive Grenache nose, sweet fruit with peppery edges and punchy mouth-feel, firm and structured with tasty ripe fruit; good (Silver).

Cuvée Léa 2011 Maison Lafage, Côtes du Roussillon Les Aspres (14%) - ripe resin-y and rich vs solid framework, closes up on its long finish; needs a little time to open up (Silver).

Montpin 2011 Domaine Pouderoux, Maury Sec - lovely Grenache fruit with peppery intensity, again tasting a bit austere on the palate at the moment (like many 2011s) but it's promising (Silver).

Légende 2011 Mas Amiel, Maury Sec - delicious juicy ripe Grenache fruit, powerful and peppery palate with tight firm long finish; very nice wine.

Grenache blanc vieilles vignes 2011 Clos des Fées (14.5%) - rich rounded and powerful, concentrated with honeyed vs aniseed flavours, rounded finish vs a touch 'mineral' too. Lovely white wine served by the owner/winemaker, the ironically philosophical and down-to-earth Henri Bizeul himself.

Vins Doux Naturels

As a 'by the way', we discovered from Eric Aracil, the Roussillon Wines' export guy who offered the first two below for tasting, that in terms of labelling "Vintage" style red VDNs, winemakers are moving to a uniform use of 'Grenat' in Rivesaltes and Maury and 'Rimage' for Banyuls.

2011 Rivesaltes Grenat 'sur grains' Domaine Boudau (fortified 'on skins', aged in inert concrete vats) - lovely lively black cherry and liquorice fruit with spicy pepper and violet notes, tasty black fruit palate vs firm tannins and nice cut, delicious style drinking well already although will improve in bottle no doubt (Trophy).

2011 Maury Mas Karolina (similar winemaking although part-aged in demi muids size casks = usually about 450 to 600 litre capacity) - more closed up to start, hints of lush dark blackberry fruit, powerful ripe and sweet with peppery tones, bigger more structured wine than above, less 'fruity' even and beginning to show more savoury characters; good stuff, for keeping.

2008 Maury Domaine Thunevin Calvet - enticing mix of dark fruity and peppery vs savoury meaty development, still has a bit of 'kick' yet is also becoming quite soft on the finish.

2010 Maury Serre Romani (15.5%) - attractive aromatic violet notes, sweet vs grippy palate, nice fresher 'lighter' style. Their 2011 won a Gold by the way.

2003 Rivesaltes ambré 2003 Vignoble de Constance et Terrassous (merger of the Thuir and Terrats co-op wineries) - delicious pecan/walnut aromas with toasted hazelnut and Amontillado-style oxidising maturing notes, well balanced and complex finish; still very much alive actually.

The day after the competition, a group of us visited Coume del Mas and Cave Abbé Rous in Banyuls-sur-mer and Domaine Sarda-Mallet on the outskirts of Perpignan: updates on these estates/wineries to follow.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape including some tit-bits of background presented by Michel Blanc, director of the producers' federation:

The Châteauneuf appellation area comes to about 75% Grenache overall, pruned to old bush vines which are handpicked "forcing them to sort the grapes in the vineyard or cellar." Grenache is planted up to about 150 metres altitude with less of the region's characteristic big pebbles as you go up the slopes. The vineyards are often swept by the powerful Mistral wind and see little but heavy rain when they get it. Lots of Grenache was planted here for the first time in the early 20th Century - only 30% was allowed until the end of the previous century - although "we're now looking again at our other varieties, such as Counoise, in the face of hotter summers to get better balance in the wines."

2010 Cornelia Constanza Domaine de la Solitude (100% Grenache, 10% of it aged in new oak) - aromatic floral dark cherry and liquorice nose with volatile fiery notes, punchy vs soft palate with sweet peppery fruit; attractive style even if a little 'hot'.

2010 Domaine Pierre Usseglio - lovely ripe Grenache style with liquorice and pepper, punchy vs soft and fruity palate, nice dry vs rounded tannins, quite fiery yet concentrated and complex; not over the top in the end.

2010 Grenaches de Pierre Domaine Giraud (15% alc.) - wow, quite 'hot' vs lush and spicy warm Grenache fruit; too powerful and unbalanced though: goes to show that 100% isn't necessarily best.

My pick of the Spanish rosados and Cannonau di Sardegna reds we tasted (will) feature on WW.com (click on highlighted links), along with a few choice cuts from the succinct presentations given in the afternoon on Grenache and pen names in Sardinia, Aragon, Catalonia and Australia.

South Africa part 3: Chenin blanc, Viognier, Grenache blanc, Semillon...

This third blast of "blurb & bottles" in my recent South African mini-series - see Part 2: "unusual" reds (well, some of them) (posted October) and Part 1 Pinot Noir (September) if that grabs you - takes a brief look at a few tasty white wines. And especially perennial favourite Chenin blanc, which I've gone on about before (goes to SA archive page) and no doubt will do again. This French variety has a long track record in the Cape and can make a dazzling array of quality dry to sweet wine styles, including some very sound sparkling wines too; as long as it's not too mass produced, which usually ends up as rather bland and characterless. Viognier is, like in most wine regions outside of France, a relative parvenu in South Africa; and winemakers here are beginning to show us what they can do with this more exotic and powerful grape, as a varietal wine or blended with Chenin and/or others such as Grenache blanc. The latter Catalan / southern French variety is also featuring more and more in the Cape wine-lands and, logically, seems to suit South Africa's warm/hot climate zones well. This merry band of whites was tried and tested on different occasions this year, some of them at the London Wine Fair a few months ago and the rest at home or on wine courses I've been running.

Bellingham 2011 The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc (14%) - tight and steely at first layered with a subtle creamier honeyed side, not very revealing when I tasted it (was too cold) but feels like it's got a bit of class underneath. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone (imported by DGB Europe) or $30-$50 USA.
Adi Badenhorst 2011 Secateurs Chenin Blanc, Swartland (14.5% alc) - lovely exotic honeyed character with cantaloupe melon fruit and oily rounded mouth-feel, fair weight too then steelier and spicier finish nicely counteracting its rich style. UK £9.75 James Nicholson (NI), £11.50 Swig (London). Older Badenhorst here.

Spier 2010 21 Gables Chenin Blanc (14%) - full-on Burgundy-esque buttery style with sweet fruit and creamy hazelnut flavours, nice weight and mouth-feel; good although could be Chardonnay! £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Jean Daneel 2011 Chenin Blanc (14%) - quite rich and toasty with hazelnut undertones, dry and steely palate though with intense long finish; still tasting young needing a few months bottle age probably, but promising. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Ken Forrester 2011 Reserve Chenin Blanc (14%) - Mr. Forrester is 'the daddy' of Chenin blanc (and makes a few own-labels in the UK such as Tesco's Finest CB), and this example shows his usual class. Quite restrained tight and zesty to start vs a weightier honeyed side, crisp long finish; needs time too to come together and open up.

Villiera 2011 Traditional Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc (13.3%) - aromatic juicy honey and melon with greengage edges, turning more buttery on the palate vs good bite and length; nice style. UK £7-£10 Crush Wines, US $14-$30, Eurozone €9-€15.

De Trafford Four V Chenin Blanc (14.68%) - fairly powerful stuff with rich honeyed fruit and texture, attractive nuttier finish too. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Beaumont 2011 Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc (12.5%) - not showing much at first, gets fuller and rounder though with nutty flavours, a hint of sweetness too vs lively yeast-lees notes. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Stellenrust 2010 '46' Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc (14%) - leesy nose, quite toasty and rich too with juicy honeyed melon fruit, nutty and crisp on the finish vs full and ripe. Another attractive style. UK: Bibendum Wines.

Bosman Family Vineyards 2010 Optenhorst Chenin Blanc (13.5%) - fairly lush with toasted hazelnut vs maturing savoury oaty notes, finishing with steely bite; attractive and quite classy. £10-£20 UK (Thierry's), €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Leeuwenkuil Family Reserve white 2011 (50% Chenin blanc, 20% Roussanne, 16% Grenache blanc, 10% Clairette blanche, 4% Verdelho; 13.5% alc.) - juicy honeyed and creamy with aromatic nutty side too, quite punchy vs very crisp (the acidity's a little hard actually) vs toasty rounded finish. Interesting though. UK £7-£10 New Generation Wines, US $14-$30, Eurozone €9-€15.

KWV 2010 The Mentor's Grenache Blanc (14.2%) - interesting quirky wine, big and punchy with enticing hazelnut vs herby notes, rounded and full-on vs crisper nutty finish. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone or $30-$50 USA.

Bellingham 2011 The Bernard Series Whole Bunch 'Grenache Blanc with Viognier' (14%) - rich and toasty with powerful palate, again has surprisingly tight and subtle finish after that full-on start; probably needs a bit of time to express itself. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone (imported by DGB Europe) or $30-$50 USA.

Bellingham 2011 The Bernard Series Hand-Picked Viognier (13.5%) - steelier more restrained style of Viognier with zesty lees notes vs lightly exotic aromatic fruit, tight and quite crisp finish vs touch of richness. £10-£20 UK, €15-€30 Eurozone (imported by DGB Europe) or $30-$50 USA.
Flagstone 2011 Word of Mouth Viognier (14.2%) - hints of floral apricot, again quite discreet at first yet powerful in the mouth; either a tad lacking or a little more elegant than is good for it?! UK £7-£10 Accolade Wines, US $14-$30, Eurozone €9-€15.

Escapades 2011 Semillon (14.5%) - a bit cold and closed up when I first tried it, develops toasty edges vs 'waxy' honeyed fruit, tight and fresh mouth-feel vs pretty full-on and rounded. Needs a few months?

Cloof 2010 The Very Vivacious Viognier, Darling (12.5%) - well, not very, but this is still an attractive lighter style of Viognier with floral peachy apricot notes and rounded easy-drinking palate. www.winesulike.co.uk £10.99

Roussillon: Château de l'Ou update

Click on this highlighted link to view my earlier profile of Château de l'Ou (2008) plus a few previous vintages tasting-noted.

The Bourrier family's vineyards have happily expanded taking in a couple of plots up near Caudiès and St. Paul in the Fenouillèdes zone, which is found northwest of their Montescot base in the central Roussillon, as Séverine B updated me at this year's Millésime Bio wine fair held in Montpellier. This brings their total surface area to 32 organically farmed hectares (= 80 acres no less); organic since the late 90s in fact. They've launched the 2010s of some top new varietal wines and now have a website too, where I copied the rocky photo from: www.chateau-de-lou.fr.

2011 Côtes du Roussillon white (mostly Grenache blanc + Roussanne) – yeast-lees notes add a little intensity vs roundness to its attractive profile, has nice crisp finish too. €8.50 cellar door.

2010 Infiniment white (Chardonnay) – toasty edges with lees notes vs juicy fruity, quite rich mouth-feel vs refreshing bite too. Good but dear at €16.50.

2009 Côtes du Roussillon red (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre) – fruity and spicy with black cherry, liquorice and pepper vs hints of background oak and light grip on the palate; attractive mix of nice and easy vs a bit more serious as well. €8.50

2010 Infiniment red (Syrah, 14.5% alc) – lush and chocolatey although not too much oak, structured concentrated and powerful vs lovely ripe fruit and balance. Very good. €16.50

Roussillon: Domaine Lavista / Pouderoux update

Photo from domainepouderoux.fr

Click here to find a profile on Domaine Pouderoux and plenty of reds, whites and Maury VDNs to make your mouth water, all tasted on two previous trips to cellar and vineyards (2006 and 2009). The latest news is that Catherine and Robert Pouderoux have caught the organic bug, as I discovered catching up with them at this year's Millésime Bio organic wine show in Montpellier recently. Domaine Lavista consists of a few hectares of organically farmed vineyards officially 'certifed' from 2011, hence just three wines from this vintage so far tasting-noted below. More info to follow on this, which looks like an exciting "project"...

2011 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Mourvèdre & Syrah) – tasty juicy dark-fruited and spicy red with black cherry/berry aromas/flavours, a hint of attractive dry grip vs lush fruity finish. Already promising (not released yet).

2011 Collection white IGP Côtes Catalanes (Grenache blanc, Grenache gris, Macabeu, Malvoisie, Clairette, Carignan blanc) – enticingly crisp and juicy style with lively zingy finish, has a bit of character and weight too. Good.

2011 Muscat sec – clean and crisp grapey Muscat style, zesty dry and nice & easy too.

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)...

Roussillon: Domaine Pouderoux, Maury

Catherine and Robert Pouderoux (pictured) coax a pretty impeccable range of Côtes du Roussillon Villages and Maury (all styles) from their 18 ha (45 acres), it has to be said. The vineyards are split between the latter village and Latour-de-France, about 10 km southeast, planted mostly with red grapes - Grenache for AOC Maury, the latter plus Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre for CdRV - and one parcel of white Grenache. Robert took us out for a drive up above Maury (taking the Cucugnan road), where you get a great view of the whole appellation and very much beyond: buttressed between the Corbières hills and a loosely parallel coupled ridge that form the valley here. This particular spot is "too exposed" (it hit 35°C = 95+F that 4th Sept. 2006 day by the way) according to Robert; his vineyard is over the other side, where there's some 100+ year-old Grenache. Very dry looking, handsomely gnarled bush vines, difficult to believe they're still alive.
In the cellar, there are several different sizes and materials of vat to enable them to "vinify all parcels separately, even the same varieties." Hence the names on the labels reflect specific plots. The good news for readers of my vinous drivel is that Pouderoux is very export-orientated - 70% and increasing - and their Maury 'mise tardive' (late bottled) is now listed in 100 Waitrose stores (£9.49, see note below); for other wines available in the UK contact Thorman Hunt, London SE11. Read on for 2009 and 2012 updates.

2004 Roc de Plane, white vin de pays (it has to be by law, as if anyone outside of France cares: AOC requires 3 grapes and this is 100% lovely Grenache blanc. Bureaucrats you know where you can stick your paperwork!) - barrel fermented and aged (12 months total) giving nice fatness set against floral peach and aniseed notes, celery and mineral freshness on the finish too. 87-89
2003 Latour de Grés Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Carignan plus old Mourvèdre and Syrah, 13.5%) - complex and delicious nose, liquorice & spicy garrigue notes turning into leather & chocolate; concentrated and weighty with very light spicy choco oak tones, firm and fresh length. 90-92
2003 Terre Brune Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Grenache plus old Mourvèdre and Syrah, 14%) - more perfumed than above showing black cherry & olive with earthy undertones, ripe juicy black fruit palate with depth and style, light coating of choco oak and textured tannins, 'sweet' v savoury profile; more powerful than above yet still has finesse and freshness. 92-94
2003 La Mouriane (Grenache Syrah, 14.5%) - barrel fermented with hand plunging (they take the top off): toasty dark fruit, quite oaky yet perfumed and fresh too, 'sweet' choco coating v very rich, tangy black olive savoury fruit; powerful finish, out of kilter at the moment and difficult to read, should be good though (only 200 cases made, €30 a bottle)!
2004 Maury - lovely cassis and black cherry aromas, concentrated rich mouth-feel v dry bite and freshness, very lively fruit v firm tannins and dark choco finish. 90-92
2002 Maury 'late bottled' (2 years in barrel) - perfumed cinnamon and jam notes developing intricate coffee edges, black cherry fruit seems sweeter and lighter than above, but this also has attractive coating and bite of tannins v alcohol; very nice now. 90+
Maury Hors d'Age (15 years' average age) - developing leather and dried fruit notes, soft sweet raspberry palate, seems fierier and more Port like; lingering coating of fruit and tannins. 90
Maury Grande Réserve (part aged in demijohns outside) - more developed still in an old tawny fashion, bitter choco v dried fruits, fatter and sweeter mouth-feel; attractive although less interesting style perhaps (in my opinion anyway).
2004 Muscat de Rivesaltes - all the 05 is already sold out, so this was an indicative sample: still retains charming freshness and citrus edges, sweet & concentrated yet nice cut adds elegance. 88

Update spring/summer 2009: a long overdue visit had me tasting all around Robert Pouderoux's cellar and most of his 2008s from vat or barrel, as well as more or less all the latest vintages of their range.
2008 Grenache gris & Grenache blanc (40 years old at 300m altitude) - exotic apricot, peach and spices; quite rich and concentrated vs mineral / salty twist, subtle coconut oak spice and texture with nice lively finish. 88+
2008 Grenache blanc & Macabeu (50 years old, same spot) - more citrus and floral notes with gummy lees too, intense and fresh vs delicious juicy texture. 88+
Robert will blend both of these into one white wine.
2008 Grenache - gorgeous vibrant "sweet" and spicy black fruits; dry yet attractively textured with juicy vs firm finish. He's going to do a 100% Grenache cuvée this vintage.
2008 Mourvèdre - peppery and powerful with gripping although fine tannins, punchy and structured vs ripe and rounded.
2008 Carignan - violets, blueberries and black cherries; refreshing and intense wine, very promising.
2008 Syrah - more closed up and has taken up more wood at this stage, very firm framework vs spicy and "sweet" fruit.
2007 Roc de Plane vin de pays des Côtes Catalanes white (13.5%) - lively citrus and orange peel vs exotic fruit and yeast-lees bite; a touch of dry salty mineral texture vs oily weight and exotic fruit, nice balance and style. 87+
2006 Terre Brune Côtes du Roussillon Villages (mostly Grenache plus Mourvèdre Syrah 14.5%) - not very revealing at that moment: "sweet & savoury" in style with rich and chunky vs tight dry mouthfeel, a bit of grainy wood lingers on its structured finish. Not showing brilliantly although the building blocks are in place...
2005 Latour de Grés Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Carignan plus Mourvèdre Syrah 14.5%) - a bit baked/oxidised (already open); quite big liquorice vs savoury flavours, solid long finish with leather and ripe "tar" notes.
2004 La Mouriane Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Syrah from north-facing "colder" soils) - more savoury still with very firm framework, attractive leather tones vs lush and peppery fruit vs mouth-coating tannins. Wow. 90+
2007 Maury vendange ("sur grains," early bottled "vintage" style) - aromatic dark cherries and cassis with leather and tobacco edges; sweet vs firm mouthfeel showing attractive balance of fruit, tannin, alcohol and residual sugar. 88+
2004 Maury mise tardive ("late bottled" with 2 years in barrel then 2 in bottle before release) - more baked and "oxidative" in style showing cooked fruit, more complex and peppery too; dry vs sweet vs meaty palate, touch more powerful on the finish. 89
Maury Hors d'Age (longer cask ageing, blend of 12 to 15 year-old wines) - browner colour and more liqueur like in style, much more toffee and pecan nut nose / flavours; spicy, firm and sweet in the mouth, complex and long. 92+
Maury Grande Réserve (less cask ageing than above but some left in demijohns outside) - more oxidised on the nose with lots of toffee and cooked raspberry; again firm and punchy mouthfeel with leather tones, grippy vs sweet texture. Interesting style for sure although I prefer the previous one. 89

2012 UPDATE HERE: Pouderoux launches new organic Roussillon range called Domaine Lavista...

2 Rue Emile Zola, 66460 Maury. Tel: 04 68 57 22 02, domainepouderoux@orange.fr / www.domainepouderoux.fr.

Roussillon: Château de l'Ou, Montescot

Château de l'Ou

Philippe Bourrier has 24 organically farmed (for ten years) hectares (60 acres) of vines with two more close to being officially certified. L'Ou's wines, which I think means egg in Catalan (which does feature on some of their labels so could be a good guess), are sold about 50-50 in France and abroad - email them for more details if you're interested in trying them in your neck of the woods. Yet another Roussillon estate I haven't got around to visiting, but I've tried their wines and met the people on a few occasions (wines below gleaned from two Millésime Bio events: click here for more on the 2006 edition) and find them pretty good overall. You'll find the Bourriers in-situ just out of the quiet village (like most of them around here) of Montescot, off the main road heading for Elne or Argeles.

This first one was gleaned from this year's Millésime Bio wine fair (Perpignan Jan. 2008):

2006 Côtes du Roussillon rouge (mostly Syrah Grenache) - nice tart black cherry fruit with spicy liquorice edges; grippy coating of tannins with powerful finish, closes up a little but shows promise. 88-90

And in 2006:

2002 L'Harmonie (Syrah, Grenache & Carignan) - soft and forward, mature fruit set against more structured finish; good for 2002. 85+
2005 Côtes du Roussillon (from barrique) (Syrah & Grenache) - shows lovely depth of black fruits and spices, long elegant finish; promising. 87-90

LATEST L'OU HERE (updated May 2012)


Domaine du Lac, 66200 Montescot.
Tel: 04 68 54 68 67, chateaudelou66@orange.fr.