Roussillon: Gardiès, Terres Fidèles, Jonquères d'Oriola, Madeloc.

The Roussillon wine people in Perpignan (green link goes to the local wine industry website, known as the CIVR for short) held a suitably tasty trade event in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, which showcased a dozen estate wineries and co-op cellars. The last articles I posted about the Roussillon were grouped by geographical area and wine style...

Roussillon: 'Coup de Coeur' winners 2024.

This line-up of ten Coup de Coeur (meaning personal favourite, top pick or 'wine of the moment' to coin my usual jargon) Roussillon champions were chosen by a London-based panel of wine media and educators from an extensive tasting organised by the Roussillon wine association in Perpignan.

Roussillon 'French Catalonia' wine book

"Order my book on the Roussillon region direct to save £4/€4 (UK & EU only) or the Kindle eBook on Amazon UK. Buy it in the USA from Barnes & Noble in hardcover, paperback or eBook; or Amazon.com. For other countries, tap here."

Richard Mark James

Rosé: Languedoc vs Roussillon.

Is there a big difference in rosé from the Languedoc and Roussillon? Winemakers in both regions tend to have the same red grape varieties - mainly Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault (less so in the Roussillon) and Mourvèdre - and production techniques don't vary much from one place to another. Except for the particular style of rosé intended in terms of colour (deeper redder or paler pink), flavour and 'seriousness' (richer fruitier fuller or more aromatic zestier lighter).

Roussillon: Maury focus - red and fortified wines.

Maury vineyards: Maury-aop.fr via uk.winesofroussillon.com.

There's no shortage of awesome chunky vineyard vistas like in the photo above around the town of Maury, dramatically and strategically positioned in the (west-) centre of the Agly Valley in the northern Roussillon, piled up against the Corbières hills facing north, down towards the Pyrenees to the southwest and Spain/Catalonia in the sun-kissed distance to the south.

Languedoc and Roussillon: Terroirs & Millésimes 2023

A series of wine tasting and touring reports from a recent trip to the Languedoc and Roussillon will be published on the site piece by piece over the coming months. In the meantime, I've already posted photos of favourite bottles, smiling winemakers, tasty food, pretty locations and historical sightseeing spots on Facebook.com/WineWriting.

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).

The Wine Society: 3 whites, 3 rosés, 3 reds.

These nine varied wines are available from the Wine Society in the UK (and some of them from other wine stores and in other countries), which I became a member of recently, and represent my favourites from a first mixed case purchased (I picked each wine but you can order from several pre-selected options).

France, Roussillon: Domaine of the Bee

This is the first full update on Roussillon wine producers since I published my book on the region (did I mention it already?! Click there for details), focusing on new vintages and releases from wineries featured in the book, and potentially any new-to-me places that would then be slotted into the winery guide sections for a future edition. Domaine of the Bee was tentatively launched in 2004 (some old vines purchased) by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, wife Amanda and business partner Philippe Sacerdot.

'Noir, blanc or gris: Grenache is at home in the wild south' - The Wine Merchant magazine

Screenshot from the Feb. digital edition:

issuu.com/winemerchantmag

This short paragraph from an article in the February 2021 edition of The Wine Merchant magazine (UK business publication) is a taster of a few combined extracts from my book on the Roussillon region themed around the Grenache variety. Follow the link above to read the feature (full digital issue) or go to winemerchantmag.com to find out more and buy a printed copy.

Roussillon: top 100 red wines

Apart from another excuse to plug my new book on the Roussillon (links to previous post with details, or go straight to Amazon UK or USA or Barnes & Noble to buy it - other formats and countries' stores are also linked in the post above), here are some of my hot red wine tips from the region made by producers featured in the book. Many winemakers have just released their 2018 and 2019 reds, and I look forward to tasting more of these next year (?!) when we're able to travel safely to France again due to the ongoing Covid-19 nightmare.

ROUSSILLON ‘French Catalonia’ Wild Wine Country by Richard Mark James

This detailed book on the Roussillon wine region in deepest south of France, or far western French Mediterranean to be more precise, is available to order on Amazon as a paperback (with colour photos) and eBook (Kindle). Follow the link below to your 'marketplace' to read the blurb, get swept away and purchase a copy!

Or buy it DIRECT FROM THE AUTHOR (UK and EU only):

France, Roussillon: white wines

This is one of a handful of mini-features on the 'French Catalan' region of the Roussillon - the Eastern Pyrenees is the official département name (Perpignan, Rivesaltes, Maury, Collioure, Banyuls-sur-mer, erm... the bit in the middle (called Les Aspres) and way out west/south-west to Font Romeu and skiing country...) - which are divided into simple 'best whites' and 'best reds' type hit lists (with a hint of commentary to set the scene), gleaned from a succinct tour and extensive tastings in situ last month in addition to a couple of trips last year.

Roussillon photos (part 2): Les Aspres vineyards and winemakers

Elise and Jean-Baptiste Trilles

Domaine Trilles, Tresserre.

Roussillon photos (part 1): Banyuls-sur-mer vineyards and winemakers

French wine tasting & touring e-magazine updated

This substantial 'digital magazine' is an amalgam of pay-to-view supplements and guides originally written for this blog, with 15 pages of exclusive new material added in September 2016. Wine recommendations, winemaker profiles, regional mini-guides, travelling and eating tips, opinions and news from, extensively, the Languedoc with an extra in-depth Saint-Chinian report, and Cahors; plus Alsace (Grands Crus), Chablis wine touring and independent wine-growers' Champagne mini-guide.

Roussillon winery updates

Wild back-lands around Domaine des Soulanes
Photo: Vi Erickson.

It might look like I've been neglecting one of my favourite wine corners of southern France, the Roussillon, but I'm working on a whole bunch of updates and new winery profiles from the Roussillon (and just over the Corbières hills in a couple of cases) at the moment. This includes these Domaines: Schistes, Sabbat, Pons Gralet, Soulanes, Terres de Mallyce, Serre Romani, Rombeau, Gilles Trouillier, Tribouley, Balmettes, Sabots d'Hélène, Arcadie, Rivaton, La Toupie, Mas Devèze, Jones and Treloar. 

These won't be posted here on my blog though, but will be part of a new book I'm trying to get finished soon-ish covering the whole of French Catalan wine country...

AND HERE IT IS ('Roussillon French Catalonia, wild wine country' available as paperback or ebook).

Grenache reds: Rhône and Roussillon, Rasteau and Amiel

Here's a diverse trio of 'black' Grenache (as the French call the variety) based winter warmers from the southern Rhône Valley and northern Roussillon, which are new releases or vintages from Cave de Rasteau and Mas Amiel (links to some previous words on and recommendations from those two wineries).

Wild boar lurking outside Mas Amiel's shop
Photo by Vi Erickson

2014 Rasteau Tradition (70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and old-vine Carignan) - Actually quite soft and fruity with wild herb/peppery edges, chunky and rich mouth-feel with light bite to finish; a bit too quaffable for a 14% abv red, so food is advised! Cellar door €8.30. Hercules Wine Warehouse in England used to stock these wines, but there were none on their site when I looked. O'Briens off licences in Ireland.

2011 Rasteau Prestige (50 year-old vines: 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre; part of the wine spent one year in oak, 14.5% abv) - Lush spicy black fruits with liquorice and wild herb/mint hints, big and rounded palate yet quite structured still although drinking well too. Yum, delicious hearty red. Cellar door €10.30. O'Briens.

2009 Mas Amiel Origine (sourced from three schist-y hillside plots: Grenache from a spot called Cabirou planted in 1914, Carignan from La Devèze planted in 1952 and young Syrah from the same vineyard; the latter two varieties were aged 14 months in large tuns, not fined or filtered; 14.5% abv) - Maturing meaty and leather edges layered with liquorice and sweet black cherry/berry, complex earthy wild herb notes as well; lush and full-on with savoury vs dark ripe and spicy fruit, punchy and grippy still yet rounded and maturing, dense and concentrated too with lingering liquorice and light bitter twist on the finish. Serious wine and serious price inevitably: cellar door €26.50, The Perfect Cellar (London) £30.

Roussillon: Domaine Vial Magnères, Banyuls

It's that time of year perhaps when sometimes something a little stronger (fortified in the case of these aged "reds") and sweeter does the trick, and you can rely on the Roussillon region to come up with a Grenache-built blockbuster layered with complex flavours. Domaine Vial Magnères specialises in these, a small and very well-known family estate based in Banyuls-sur-mer, whose steep terraced old-vine plots rise up behind the town and neighbouring Port-Vendres, mostly making a good variety of these Banyuls styles including a white which, rumour has it, they were one of the first to produce. Bernard Sapéras has been in charge since the mid 1980s at this winery dating back to the 60s. More @ www.vialmagneres.fr where I copied the photo from.

Gaby Vial 8 year-old Banyuls (Grenache, organic; fortified to 15% abv) - enticing toffee and caramelised raspberry notes, lots of spiced liquorice too with complex baked red fruit and pecan nut combo on its yummy finish. Delicious. Dynamic Vines, London.

Another of their wines mentioned previously on this site:
Cuvée André Magnères 1996 Banyuls 'Grand Cru' - matched with "chocolate gianduja parfait with roasted pear and pecan, Banyuls syrup with pear and cardamom foam," (what?!) by 2007 Roussillon Dessert Trophy (click there for more info) winner Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.