Roussillon: Le Scarabée, Sorède

This bijou-scale vineyard lies a couple of kilometres from the sea in different spots along the sometimes brooding sometimes radiant Albères hills, which draw the Fauviste border with Spain in the southeastern chunk of the Pyrénées Orientales. Treated organically since the beginning of her adventure in 2007, which owner-grower-winemaker Isabelle Frère admits is time-consuming “intensive” work, since certain of her plots of mostly old vines were “virtually abandoned” and “knew only (synthetic) herbicides and fertilisers for almost all of their life.” This is why she's made a “difficult choice” to focus on one parcel each year to “do the full works on,” as it's very labour-intensive. Good to see there are some EU grants available though to encourage growers to go the extra kilometre required to convert to organics, around 350 Euros per hectare apparently, even if this “doesn't help much.”

As for varieties planted, two-thirds of the Carignan in Le Scarabée (a kind of beetle by the way), or about 2000 vines, is 80 years old, which is tilled by horse and Isabelle says she has “a bit of a soft spot for.” This is used for the Murmûre label, while the other 0.5 hectares, 20 to 70 years old, tops up Volubile, Le P’tit Scarabée red and Sur un nuage. These are found near the village of St André between Argelès and Sorède, where the cellar is. There's also 1 ha (2.47 acres incidentally) of 10 year-old Grenache rubbing trunks with the Carignan here, as well as a small 40 year-old parcel to the west near Laroque–des-Albères, “on loan from a retired grower... this has always been ploughed.” This helps beef up Isabelle's Sur un nuage and Murmûre cuvées.

You'll find about 1 hectare of the 'grey' Grenache variety too, some of it mixed in with the Carignan (that's how they originally planted in the old VDN field-blend days), which livens up Le P’tit Scarabée rosé. There's a small amount more 70 year-old gris in the sandy St André area, which goes into red P’tit Scarabée and La folie Juvénile, as well as some 40 year-old found just west of here near St. Genis des Fontaines, which lurks around in a little Macabeu vineyard destined for Isabelle's Pied’nez white wine.

The Syrah is similarly parcelled into three plots in the St. André zone: one is the source for P’tit scarabée rosé and red, another - also 20 years old but "less vigorous" - for Volubile and Murmûre; and the third, and largest, a "big problem" parcel of young vines that "came with the lot", which Isabelle green-harvests severely to make La Folie Juvénile, although she hopes it will eventually produce very good grapes. I didn't like all her wines though, but that's life I guess. Les Caves de Pyrène (London area) sells this range for about £10 to £20 a bottle; the wines are available in Canada (Quebec) too hence the CA$ prices. And Isabelle is a friendly person to call in on if you're touring this area: Moli d’en Cassanyes, 66690 Sorède. Mobile 06 14 73 34 80, isabellefrere@hotmail.fr, www.laremise.fr (photo taken from there).

2010 Le Petit Scarabée – nice and easy fruity style with funky smoky and liquorice notes, soft palate with just a hint of dry grip. CA$22

2010 Sur un Nuage – similar profile although shows more depth with lusher vs firmer palate and still has attractive tannins though. CA$25

2011 Murmure – pretty intense, grippy with crunchy blueberry vs lusher darker fruit, savoury rustic edges with nice length though. €16 (France)

2010 Murmure – more developed savoury smoky notes vs concentrated lush cherry fruit underneath, firm and tight mouth-feel still; more closed up than the 11 actually, powerful with good depth and attractive rounded tannins.

Roussillon: Domaine du Possible, Lansac

Loïc Roure acquired 6½ hectares of vines (16 acres) while taking over the abandoned co-op winery building in Lansac back in 2003, which needed a thorough clean-up and refit with new equipment and now also houses a top-floor apartment and art studio. The first plots he found were/are in Latour-de-France followed by a few more in neighbouring Rasiguères, Bélesta, Cassagnes and Lesquerde; and another four ha were purchased more recently in Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes a dozen kilometres to the wild west on the Aude 'frontier'. Which must be a handful to manage spread out over a fairly wide area, and especially perhaps since these vineyards have been certified organic since 2007. The varietal breakdown is 4.5 ha of Carignan (some over 100 years old), 2.6 ha Grenache, 1.3 ha Syrah and some Mourvèdre too; and for whites (coming to just one ha although averaging 50+ years), mostly Macabeu with a little Carignan gris, Grenache blanc and Grenache gris.

Loïc's background is both atypical and typical, in the sense of how some young winegrowers who've settled in the Roussillon over the past five to ten years don't have the 'classic' wine industry CV. After a long stint at Amnesty International in Lyon, he decided he'd like to open a wine bar so started by working in a restaurant, which led him to doing a sommelier course including a work-placement at Thierry Allemand's winery in Cornas (northern Rhone Valley), which convinced him this was what he really wanted to do. Jump forwards through time to those aforementioned treasured vine parcels and disused cellar in deepest Fenouillèdes country, where he was also “inspired by Cyril Fhal (Clos du Rouge Gorge) and Jean Louis Tribouley(both in Latour-de-France),” who'd established their own estates just before he did.

Loïc's views on a 'natural' approach to vineyards and winemaking seem level-headed enough. He says he was “more militant about this (not using 'chemicals') in the beginning,” and being “completely opposed to using any sulphur. But you evolve: I wanted to make wine, and I wanted it to be good! So now I use a bit of sulphur if I have to... The more experienced you are, the better you get at things... I've become less of a fundamentalist but also have got better at using less sulphur!” If SO2 is added at bottling, he uses less than 10mg/l for reds and 20mg for the white (which is in-line with other 'naturalists', about less than 10% of what is/was traditionally used). He applies certain plant-based preparations as well, claiming to be “very open minded in experimenting in the vines... I like the idea of biodynamics but in no way claim to be part of it.”

Loïc prefers to label his wines as Côtes du Roussillon, as he believes it fits them, and the area he finds himself in, better than the 'Cotes Catalanes' designation for example. Their names show a friendly play on words, such as the Franco-Shakespearean 'Tout Bu or Not Tout Bu' (ho ho). I met him at last year's Real Wine Fair in London, where his wines are sold by Roberson Wine (prices cited below in £: photo above from www.robersonwine.com/blog). And Louis/Dressner Selections is his New York City agent (see louisdressner.comwhere I borrowed a few choice quotes from an interview with him). Our tasting paths also crossed back in 2005, on my first proper visit to the Fenouillèdes wine-lands when I tried what must have been his first or second vintage, a vat sample of the pretty decent and wild fruity 2004. To go and see Loïc at the winery: the address is the same as Edouard Laffitte below; phone 04 68 92 52 78 and loic.roure@laposte.net.

2010 Cours Toujours white (Macabeu, Carignan gris) – appley nutty and intense nose, creamier more rounded palate with lovely hazelnut flavours vs crisp mineral bite. £16.95

2011 Le Fruit du Hasard (Carignan and Syrah from Caudiès) – lively spicy fruity Nouveau-styled red, tasty quaffer with a bit of length and depth too. £14.95

2011 Tout Bu or Not Tout Bu (“mostly Syrah I buy from friends...”) - minty dark cherry, more structured and powerful wine with delicious fruit and length. £14.95, €10 (France on-line).

2011 C'est Pas La Mer à Boire (majority Grenache + Syrah, Carignan) – juicy spicy berry with liquorice, fuller punchier style with smoky rich fruit vs tight and firm; nice wine, needs food. £17.95

2011 L'Herbe Tendre Pet Nat rosé (Grenache & Syrah, lightly sparkling from second fermentation in bottle without being disgorged = it's cloudy too!) - delicious light red fruits with intense yeasty/toasty flavours and crisp lively finish. Different! £13.80, €11

2011 Charivari (Carignan) – quite rustic nose but has lively berry fruit too lending a little bite, a tad 'soupy' and rustic but it just about works. £12.50, €11.50

2010 Couma Acò (mostly Syrah) – light coconut flavour and texture underlined by lush dark fruit with smoky edges, powerful grippier and more 'serious' finish.

2004 Domaine du Possible (vat sample) - Pretty forward on the nose showing ripe and rustic liquorice fruit, nice grip and length on the palate. From my first trip to Fenouillèdes country in 2005 (link goes to report on that)...

Roussillon: Le Bout du Monde, Lansac

Edouard Laffitte was a co-op winemaker in Estézargues (a wee town between Avignon and Nimes) before he bought six or seven disparate hectares of vines at “the end of the world” as he calls it - the name of the estate that is, rather than some mythical spot evoked by Wim Wenders' movie or U2's title song from it - near Lansac, which is found a few kilometres southwest of Maury down the meandering little road heading towards Trilla or Caramany. Edouard has three granite-laden plots here in Lansac in fact - where he shares the former co-op cellar bought by Loïc Roure of Domaine du Possible (profile to follow) - two nestling on that much talked-about flaky schist characteristic of the Rasiguères area (and said to work especially well for Syrah), and nearly two more near Cassagnes a little further south peppered with trickier to pronounce 'gneiss' (“gn...” rather than “nice” I believe: it's a kind of striped metamorphic rock, man). These plots lie at from 150 to 400 metres (500 to 1300 feet) altitude, which helps lend a slightly cooler edge to those hot summer days and nights and hence “limit the alcohol,” as Edouard states is his aim on his website domaineleboutdumonde.sitew.com (where I took the photo from); and the vineyards are organically farmed. Apparently the wines aren't fined or filtered, as is fashionable perhaps in 'natural' circles, but this non-technique doesn't appear to have done any harm to the wines I've tried.

His London area distributor is Les Caves de Pyrène, and the wines are also available from e.g. Ellis Wharton Wines in Cornwall. A US importer is Selection Massale in California. Where to find him in situ: 13 Avenue des Platanes, 66720 Lansac. Mobile 06 77 50 94 22, edouard.laffitte@laposte.net

2011 L'Echappée Belle (Syrah) – peppery and 'inky' with cherry and liquorice notes, fruity palate with soft tannins, nice pure and spicy style.

2011 Tam Tam Côtes du Roussillon (mostly Syrah from schist + Carignan/Grenache) – richer and more intense with more liquorice than pepper flavours, firmer mouth-feel yet still has attractive tannins and tasty youthful fruit. UK £15

2011 Hop' La (Carignan, Grenache, Syrah) – 'tarter' and tighter profile initially with lively palate and nice fruit showing quite dark vs savoury vs spicy finish. US $18

2011 L'Ecume des Jours (Lladoner Pelut, Carignan) – again it's lively and spicy with sweet vs tart fruit mix, less expressive on the finish mingling lush vs bitter twist. Not so obvious. US $19

2011 Avec le Temps (Carignan) – spicy blueberry fruit, fresh bite and length vs sweeter liquorice side, spicy quite intense finish.

2009 La Luce Côtes du Roussillon (mostly Grenache) – more developed with 'volatile' tones, quite rich and concentrated with peppery punchy mouth-feel, attarctive 'sweet/savoury' finish and length.

Roussillon: Clos du Rouge Gorge, Latour-de-France

Cyril Fhal landed in Latour land over ten years ago, having worked at two small estates in the Anjou and Saumur wine regions, where he became committed to the idea of working organically. He's one of now a dozen organic independent growers in the village (half of them are on this blog) and is known for putting in a good deal of painstaking hours in the vineyard, with the aim of enticing “very pure juice” from his grapes, as he put it. The 'Red Neck' vineyard comes to just six patchwork hectares (15 acres) of old vines (50 to 100 years old) on elevated rocky slopes dotted around Latour-de-France, half of which is senior-citizen Carignan nestling up against Grenache, Cinsault and Maccabeu. Cyril is in the “no or low sulphite” camp, and his wines do have some of those quirky 'natural' winemaking edges; but there's an elegant fresher side to them too with some intriguing tasty flavours. By the way, his 'young vines' red is apparently made from 25 year-old Grenache, which isn't very young in vine terms and perhaps gives you a glimpse of where he's coming from.

These (admittedly rather expensive) wines are available from Vine Trail in the UK - where I borrowed some of this info from, as it seems Cyril is far too busy, or wise perhaps, to have a website, blog or Facebook page; though I did meet him at last year's Real Wine Fair in London. The £GBP prices below are for a mixed case, €uros an average on-line price in France and $ price at Chambers Street Wines, NYC. Going there: 6 place Marcel Vié. Phone: 04 68 29 16 37, cyrilfhal@gmail.com.

2008 white Côtes Catalanes (Macabeu) – nutty appley lightly oxidised style, but this wine is tasty and quite long on the finish with an attractive mix of 'mineral' and rounded sensations. £18.25, €20
2010 Jeunes Vignes red Côtes Catalanes (Grenache) – light rustic-edged red, again has some of those apple/cider tones but is soft elegant and tasty in the end; quite light but it flows, man. Not great value @ £17.85, €18.50.
2007 Vieilles Vignes red Côtes Catalanes (mostly Carignan with Grenache) – similar profile on the nose but more concentrated with lush vs tarter blue fruit characters, grippy fresh palate yet has nice texture and interesting flavours. £23.50, €30, $33

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.

Roussillon: Domaine Les Conques, Fourques/Villemolaque

François Douville started up this not widely known estate in 2004, which encompasses 7 ha/17 acres of vines (tended organically since 2008 by the way) found on a site known as Las Counques in Catalan, reflecting this particular shape of seashell apparently. Besides vines, the pretty rolling slopes around here in Les Aspres country are home to cork oak trees (this area used to be a big production centre), woods and wild bushes with thick hedges hemming in the vineyards, where natural grass cover is left to protect the soil from erosion and help foster wildlife. Man. In 2009, François refitted some old farm buildings with a new cellar and shop, which you'll find on 2 Route de Passa in the village of Villemolaque, down the road from the family home (5 Place de la mairie, 66300 Fourques). Phone 04 6852 8256 or 06 8151 3699. francois.douville@wanadoo.fr, www.lesconques.fr.

2011 Bohême white Côtes du Roussillon (Macabeu, Grenache blanc; part-aged in barrel for a few months) – quite concentrated and nutty, intense mineral notes vs richer texture and flavour. Good+

2009 Vitis red Côtes du Roussillon (mostly Carignan plus Grenache/Syrah) – jammy and spicy nose, firm and taut mouth-feel vs subtle concentration too, attractive crunchy vs dark fruit profile with rustic edges.

2011 Vitis red - similar warm and spicy character, fruitier and less 'earthy' than the 09, again has concentrated and intense finish with crunchy vs dark fruit mix. Very good.

Roussillon: Domaine Cayrol, Espira/Rivesaltes

Geographically speaking, Cayrol should really be mentioned in the same sentence as Espira de l'Agly neighbours Domaine Joliette et al, as that's where their vineyards are... But you'll find cellar and home in Rivesaltes town, so that's maybe where you're more likely to taste the wines if you're touring the area. Danièle Cayrol made their first certified organic vintage in 2011, by the way, hence this is what I tasted at last year's Millésime Bio show. More info to follow when I find some (the web address I was given doesn't work)... from this year's show perhaps...

Where to find them: 15 rue du 4 Septembre, 66600 Rivesaltes. Phone: 06 86 53 82 71, dancay@hotmail.fr

2011 Cuvée Rebin white (Muscat) – lively aromatic citrus and grapefruit notes, nice and crisp & refreshing.

2011 Cuvée Sébastien rosé (Grenache) – clean and crisp style, a bit baked?

2011 Cayrol rouge (Grenache) – attractive warm fruity style, peppery with liquorice fruit, ripe and soft vs powerful and dry grip, nice lively youthful fruity finish. Good.

2011 Cuvée Anaïs(Carignan, Grenache) – concentrated blue and black fruits, spicy crunchy side vs ripe fruity texture, tasty fresh vs lush finish. Good stuff.

Roussillon: Domaine de Joliette, Espira de l'Agly

Domaine de Joliette

Jean Gardiès' (update to follow soon) neighbours Philippe (pic.) and Laurence Mercier have been based in Espira for some time now – and there's a “...great-grandfather and grandfather after the war... with even older Catalan roots...” story lurking nicely in there somewhere - and Joliette is rightly a well-known name on the northern Roussillon quality circuit. Eleven vine varieties, including more whites than you might imagine in this sometimes very hot and dry microclimate and terrain, and their treasured environment have been looked after using organics since 2000. All in all, around 30 ha/75 acres make up the Joliette estate lying on the spectacular near-lunar (although a touch more wooded!) landscape nestling up near Espira and Vingrau on the edge of the Corbières hills.

Route de Vingrau, 66600 Espira de l'Agly. Phone: 04 68 64 50 60 / 06 80 33 31 44. mercier.joliette@wanadoo.fr & www.joliette-mercier.com.

2010 Côtes du Roussillon white – nutty honeyed nose, toasty and creamy palate with roasted hazelnut notes vs nice crisper 'mineral' side too. Good to very good.

2009 Côtes du Roussillon red – toasted oak tones layered with very ripe dark fruit, concentrated and grippy, closes up a little on its taut finish. Needs time.

2006 Cuvée Montpins (mostly Mourvèdre) – mix of herby, black olive and cooked cassis notes; concentrated and firm mouth-feel with savoury vs dark fruit, powerful and still youthful finish. Wow, very good.

2005 Côtes du Roussillon Villages – savoury leather aromas with minty edges too, structured and concentrated, quite extracted tannins with coconut nuances vs rich and dark texture. Good+

Roussillon: Château de Gaure part 1

This kind-of Roussillon estate kind of in Latour is actually a collection of vineyard plots spread across the varied village sites of Latour, Estagel, Calce and Cassagne; bought by Pierre Fabre who owns the real Château de Gaure (acquired in 2004) over the hills in Aude country between Limoux and Carcassonne. Drawn in by the Roussillon's rugged hypnotic charms, as many new investors and settlers are here, Pierre decided to buy and create a second vineyard bearing his name a couple of years later, to produce primarily red wines (although there's some Macabeu and Carignan blanc mixed in with the 'black' varieties) to supplement the all-white range he makes up in Rouffiac d'Aude. This 'expansion' brought the total area under vine to 32 ha/80 acres, certified organic since 2010. Pierre also works closely with his winemaker Marc Bertrand and consultant JA Bloc.

From www.chateaudegaure.com

Their 'Pour mon Père' cuvée is a slightly different blend each year depending on the vintage, although always based on old Carignan, Grenache, Syrah & Mourvèdre. Which is probably one reason why they use the 'Vin de France' moniker, although, if it's made and bottled in Limoux (there isn't a cellar in the Roussillon), they're probably not allowed to call it Cotes du Roussillon or Latour de France anyway! Pierre's an accomplished artist too, hence his labels feature colourful reproductions of certain of his favourite paintings. He seems keen on showing people around the winery; in the Aude at least, there's nothing but lovely old vines and pretty backdrops in 66 country... Contact him on 04 68 10 63 89 or 06 43 47 36 85 if you're touring the area, or email pierre.fabre@skynet.be.

2010 Macabeu white – intriguing Fino-esque 'oxidative' edges and attractive nutty flavours/bite, subtle richness and texture too with aromatic honeyed characters underlined by toasty oak tones and crisp acidity as well. Good+

2009 Pour mon Père red (Latour) – lush ripe dark fruit with 'funky' edges vs crunchier 'mineral' side; nice balance of grip, power and freshness too. Good to very good. €15

2009 Aldérica red (mostly Mourvèdre) – toasted and grainy coconut notes, peppery and structured palate, closes up on a tight firm finish. Needs a bit of time to come out of its shell.

Château de Gaure part 2 with words and white wines from Pierre's Limoux vineyards...

Roussillon winery updates

I've finally updated several of my existing Roussillon winegrower profiles with latest vintages and news, including these hot estates (click on the highlighted link):

Domaine du Traginer, Banyuls-sur-mer (Jean-François Deu, pic. below, hard at it in the field, taken from www.traginer.fr).
Domaine Laguerre, St. Martin de Fenouillet (Eric & Corine Laguerre).
Olivier Pithon, Calce.
Domaine Puig-Parahÿ, Passa (Georges Puig).

Domaine Gardiès, Espira/Vingrau (Jean Gardiès).
Plus a few 'new' ones too: Ch. de Gaure, Dom. Joliette, Dom. Cayrol, Les Conques...

Roussillon: Domaine Nivet-Galinier, Ponteilla

nivet-galinier.over-blog.com

Domaine Nivet-Galinier

David, Lydie and son Boris Nivet tend seven hectares (17 acres) of treasured old vines (some of their Carignan has been around for over 100 years) - split into two distinctly different plots in the central Roussillon flatlands - taking a naturally laid-back grass-roots biodynamic farming view of life (they've been 'Demeter' certified since 2001). You'll find their vineyards, cellar and home off the back-road between Ponteilla and Le Soler in the heart of Les Aspres country, a few kilometres from Perpignan or Thuir (it's signposted). This unashamedly 'natural' approach results in quirky complex or elusive wines even that are perhaps a little on the wild side for some overly technical people. But their intense aged white wines, for instance, do last surprisingly well as testimony. The earthy Nivet-Galinier team sells most of their wines in France, but does export some to Japan too, I was told. These reds and whites were tasted with Boris and David at the Millésime Bio organic wine fair in Montpellier on two occasions, in 2010 and 2012. They also make some interesting cask-matured Rivesaltes Vins Doux Naturels as well as honey, growing spuds, milling maize...

2008 Macabeu white, Côtes Catalanes - attractive 'oxidative' style showing nutty vs honey and banana notes; quite rich mouth-feel actually vs appley and mineral bite, crisp length too. 89

2008 Macabeu tasted two years later: nutty 'Fino' tinged nose and palate, rich and intense vs dry and mineral, still alive and tasty. Wow, very good: see what I mean!

2008 Macabeu/Grenache gris white, Côtes Catalanes - similar although showing more yeast-lees notes and perhaps fuller too; rounded mouth-feel vs again has nice bite and length. 89

2005 Les Aspres Côtes du Roussillon (Carignan, Syrah, Grenache) - lovely maturing savoury tobacco-tinged nose with underlying 'sweet' liquorice; firm and peppery palate with dry coating of tannins vs lush dark fruit. 89+

2006 Les Aspres Côtes du Roussillon (Carignan, Syrah, Grenache) - smokier and more rustic ('bretty' even); 'inky' vs rich and dark with meaty undertones, pity about that 'farmyard' side, as it's got natural intensity. 86+

2006 Les Aspres two years later: 'soupy' rustic and lush, again it's intense with grip vs ripe maturing fruit, power and 'sweet/savoury' flavour combo on the finish; still quite structured actually vs more elegant maturing side.

2006 Côtes du Roussillon (similar blend with more Syrah) - spicier dark cherry aromas, same kind of lush liquorice and 'tar' styling; smoky but not too, grippy mouth-feel although quite well-balanced. 87+

2007 Les Aspres – has more vibrant fruit with meaty edges, (more) powerful and concentrated too with attractive solid vs 'sweet/savoury' finish. Good stuff.

2007 Côtes du Roussillon – a little baked on the nose vs enticing minty character too, has less substance than the above perhaps although still quite intense and long.

Roussillon: Latour de France open-day 11 November

Sounds like a taste-tastic day out, where you can sample wines from and talk to 14 estate winemakers/owners (most of them organically inclined actually) in the picturesque setting of ye olde village of Latour de France on Sunday 11th November (it's not too far from Perpignan). €5 entry fee gets you a special tasting glass (you can keep it) and access to all these cellars; there's an evening meal with wine laid on too for €25, which you have to book in advance. More info on their Facebook page. The gig includes these wineries (highlighted means a link to profile on this blog): Domaine Tribouley, Domaine de Sabbat, Domaine Rivaton, Domaine Respaut, Domaine des Mathouans, Domaine Giocanti, Domaine Fabresse, Domaine Calimas, Domaine de Bila Haut (Michel Chapoutier), Domaine de la Balmière, Domaine de l'Ausseil and Clos du Rouge Gorge. Best done on foot or by bike or on horseback perhaps...

Roussillon: Domaine Rouaud update, Pézilla

Rivesaltes ageing in demijohns
From www.domaine-rouaud.com 

Previous words and wines from Domaine Rouaud can be viewed HERE (scribbled 2006 to 2008, so I've been following them for six years now). I've updated and tweaked their profile below and added some of the latest releases sampled at this year's Millésime Bio organic wine show in Montpellier a few months ago, where I talked to Sophie Rouaud...

Jérôme Rouaud and his wife Sophie were drawn to the deep south by a hazy wine dream and initially worked nine hectares of vines and grapes, which were picked for the local co-op winery. They established their own estate in 2003 (that year of heatwave after heatwave), which has since expanded to 15 ha (37 acres) lying on the distinctive clay-stoney-schist slopes found to the north of the village of Pézilla (about 10km west of Perpignan). They'd already opted for organic farming since they started out - something they were determined to do - and got full-blown 'certified' status (visions of compulsory wearing of a straight jacket while among those precious mad vines...) from the 2004 vintage. These vineyards are home to a happy mix of senior-citizen Carignan (red, white and 'grey'), born in 1949, and the other usual suspects, some of them relative babies planted ten years ago.

Before this viticultural upheaval, Jérôme worked for years in the car industry in Paris (yawn) then dramatically switched career, having been bitten by the wine bug, first to a Nicolas wine shop followed by Bordeaux university to study winemaking and viticulture. The couple moved to the Roussillon, as a job came up as a winery assistant; and finally they bought, ripped out and rebuilt an old Catalan-brick house cum cellar in sedate Pézilla. Nothing too radical on the winemaking front (which is fine) e.g. what you'd expect from any conscientious organic grower, such as using indigenous yeasts or a low sulphite policy (there's a rational and not overly technical explanation on their site about what Jérôme does and why).

Some of their wines are exported to Germany, Denmark and Sweden: get in touch for details. Where it's all going down: 7 Rue du Portal d’Amont, 66370 Pézilla-la-Rivière. Tel: 04 68 92 46 59, mobile: 06 98 17 22 81; rouaud.vigneron.66@orange.fr, www.domaine-rouaud.com.

2011 Llosawhite Côtes Catalanes(100% Maccabeu) – perfumed honeysuckle with apple notes, quite rich and lees-y vs attractive nutty 'mineral' side, quite intense finish. Good stuff: €8.50 cellar door.

2011 Barbacane Grenache Côtes Catalanes (45 year-old vines) – spicy liquorice aromas / flavours, quite soft and easy-going palate, nice drink-young style. €8.50

2010 Rive Gauche Côtes du Roussillon (80% Syrah, 20% Grenache from 35-45 year-old vines) – new wine: rustic leather edges vs dark sweet berry/cherry fruit, dry vs rich and rounded mouth-feel. Very good. €9.50

2009Têt Pourpre Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50/50 Syrah & Carignan, 45-65 year-old vines) – has a touch more oak layered with ripe black fruits with earthy edges, quite firm still with punchy finish; maybe less charming this vintage (?) in common with other 09s. €13

A few earlier vintages of this wine are HERE.

2009 EssènciaCôtes du Roussillon Villages (85% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache from 15-60 year-old vines) – oakier still but it's rich and intense with nice fruity berry palate and savoury black olive undertones, powerful structured finish; needs a bit of time to open up fully. Very good though: €18.

Roussillon: Domaine Boucabeille, Corneilla de la Rivière / Força Réal

Jean Boucabeille

Domaine Boucabeille

Named after affable owner Jean Boucabeille, who I met, interrogated and tasted with at Millésime Bio organic wine show earlier this year in Montpellier. Which means he has taken the organic wine-growing plunge, as is increasingly the fashion (fashion can be a good thing), with 2011 being his first fully 'certified' vintage. Jean's original vineyard plots hang on to eleven distinct staggered terraces facing southeast up on the Força Réal hill overlooking Millas, Corneilla and surrounding villages. These contoured vines were replanted in the 70s at between 200 to 350 metres altitude, following the lie of the land; and the “black mount” itself (see Jean's last red noted below, whose name evokes the locals' nickname for it) peaks at over 500m, or about 1550 feet, impaled by a giant TV mast. And Jean's been hard at it over the course of 2012 planting another six hectares of white and red Grenache, Mourvèdre and Roussanne in backbreaking stony schist soils, bringing the total to 28 (70 acres). They've deliberately kept the surrounding woodland in its 'natural' state with wild scrub and flowers, olive and fruit trees, honey production and even the odd grazing goat and ewe.
Good range overall, especially their Orris white wine and a rather sexy Rivesaltes Hors d'Agethat sees at least five years barrel ageing. More info @ www.boucabeille.com, and you'll find the winery off the D614 road before you reach Corneilla de la Rivière (coming from Estagel or Millas). Phone no. 04 68 34 75 71. Sold in London by Philglas & Swiggot (see £ prices below)and Firth and Co.(N. Yorks); and also in Germany, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Poland and the US (in civilized Virginia at least).

2011 Le Blanc de Régis Boucabeille(50/50 Grenache blanc / Maccabeu, 13% alc.) – quite rich milky and honeyed nose/palate tinged with spicy floral notes, crisp 'mineral' vs weighty mouth-feel, attractive style and good with it.

2011 Le Rosé de Régis Boucabeille (Grenache gris / noir & Syrah, 13.5%) – juicy and quite delicate start with nice bite and texture, finishing with a bit of oomph and fruity roundness too. Serious rosé.

2011 Les Terrasses de Régis Boucabeille red (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah; 14%) – lovely rich spicy warm and dark fruit with peppery liquorice undertones, nice solid fruity style. £12.50

2010 Les Orris white (70 Maccabeu, Grenache blanc; 13%) – honeyed and toasty edged with floral white peach aromas/flavours, crisp vs weighty palate with developing oily tones on the finish. Very good.

2009Les Orris red (75 Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre; 14%) – hints of coconut oak and grain too vs firm and lush mouth-feel, balancing soft dark fruit with dry grip. Good. £24

2009 Monte Nero Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan; 14%)– more savoury meaty and developed, grainy texture with attractive tannins, quite subtle and accomplished for the dry and hot vintage 2009. £15

Vins Doux Naturels

2007 Rivesaltes ambré (70 Maccabeu, Grenache blanc; residual sugar 98 g/l and 15.5% alc) – nutty Fino vs Madeira type quirky nose, sweet palate with tangy orange peel edges, delicious walnut flavours too and almost a bit of grip of the finish! Very good.

Rivesaltes Hors d'Age (mostly Maccabeu, 15.5% alc, RS 117 g/l) – more complex and 'volatile' aromas with rich vs tangy palate and tasty very long finish. Towards excellent, should slowly get even better with bottle age...

Roussillon: Domaine Jean Louis Tribouley, Latour de France

Jean Louis Tribouley
From Weygandt Wines site

I've bumped into Jean Louis a few times over the years at various tastings and goings-on in the area, but most recently in Montpellier at the 2012 edition of Millésime Bio wine show and the Real Wine Fair in London. These charming encounters reminded me what tireless enthusiasm he has for his wines, what he does to create them and this way of life. Smiley easy-going JL started up his own estate about ten years ago, after a stint working for Gauby as seems to be the fashion as some kind of almost mandatory 'real-wine' apprenticeship for several of the region's best growers, or best-known at least.
Jean Louis decided to farm his vines and grapes organically from the word go – how could you not having spent time with Gérard Gauby, who wouldn't tolerate anything else! - and is also keen on applying biodynamic methods, as well as a 'low-or-no' sulphite rationale. His 14 ha (35 acres) of vineyards are spread out between fairly remote spots in Latour, Maury and Calce. The most recent acquisition was a few mixed plots of elderly Grenache gris and Macabeu used for his white wines; and most of the reds are based on a healthy dollop of sexy old-vine Grenache and/or Carignan. US distributor is Weygandt Wines (Washington DC) or K&D Wines (NYC), and Indigo Wine in London. There's no website/blog, but you could try emailing on jean-louis.tribouley@orange.fr. Or if you want to call in: 9 Place Marcel Vie, 66720 Latour de France; tel. 04 68 29 03 86.

2011 white (Grenache gris, Macabeu; unfinished sample) – a touch of toasted oak underlined by exotic banana and pineapple fruit, yeast lees edges bring out its attractive quite rich vs crisp and tight features. Good stuff.

2010 Marceau white Côtes Catalanes (mostly Macabeu grown on schist soil) – similar profile to above but creamier/buttery and layered with unusual flowery notes, minty even; rich vs crisp palate, very good actually.

2010 Les Copines Côtes du Roussillon (Grenache, Carignan) – intense and 'inky'/rustic nose with rich vs crunchy fruit profile, turning to enticing leather vs liquorice notes, concentrated spicy finish with a touch of dry grip. Good.

2009 L'Alba Côtes du Roussillon (Carignan, Grenache, Syrah) – reduced/awkward nose, moves on to roasted red pepper hints vs very dark fruit and lightly toasty chocolate tones; quite wild and powerful with underlying lush intense finish, again shows a quirky mix of rustic-edged, peppery and charred almost (but it's not the oak)! Exciting though. US $20.

2009 Les 3 Lunes Côtes du Roussillon Villages – a touch 'finer' with the same kind of attractive ripe dark vs spicy and earthy mix, again concentrated and intense on its long finish. Very good+.

2009 Cuvée 1901 – quite rustic, wild and/or 'bretty' but has lovely intense roasted 'garrigue' characters too; not so sure this one's for me but...

Tribouley tasted and talked about previously on this blog:

Roussillon trip 2005 (including his 2003 Alba).

Probably more to follow...

Roussillon: Fenouillèdes "winemaker mugshot" competition

That's my best guess / translation of the Fenouillèdes wine association's second annual "Gueule de vigneron" photo competition. If you already have a nice shot of a northern Roussillon winemaker doing their thing or just chilling out or whatever (within reason obviously...), then you've got until 25 August to send it in by email or post. Alternatively, why not pop over to feral Fenouillèdes wine country with your digi cam and meet the guys and girls on the ground. Photos received by that date will be displayed around a few different Perpignan wine bars and shops during the Visa photo festival; and a jury of pros will pick the winning pics. The prize is... wine, of course, and an evening out tasting wines from the area with a few nibbles thrown in.
The Fenouillèdes is roughly those lovely wine-lands stretching from around St-Paul and Caudiès along the Agly Valley, and a bit either side (especially south), taking in Maury, Tautavel, Latour, Estagel etc. Look for those village names in my Roussillon A to Z (right) to view lots of winemaker profiles and wine recommendations. More info and entries: contact@vins-fenouilledes.com, or check out their site vins-fenouilledes.com (only in French though by the looks).

Roussillon: Domaine Cazes update, Rivesaltes

Lionel Lavail and Emmanuel Cazes

Click here to read what I've said about Cazes and their wines on various occasions over the past six years. The most recent catch-up session with Emmanuel Cazes (vineyard manager & winemaker) and Lionel Lavail (sales director) was at Millésime Bio organic wine show earlier this year, where I had the chance to try some of their 2010 and 2011 vintages. These were my favourite two for entirely different reasons...

Canon du Maréchal 2011 Muscat/Viognier - grapey aromas with exotic touches, apricot vs orange notes; crisp and 'mineral' with light bitter twist, nice and easy style. €6.60 cellar door.
2010 Ego Côtes du Roussillon Villages (still roughly the same Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre blend) – attractive dark fruit with savoury edges and towards chocolate notes/texture although it's quite subtle, nice ripe mouthful offset by herby edges, grippy vs rounded mouth-feel. Good stuff, possibly better than previous vintages. €10 cellar door (comparatively much better value than the above).

LATEST vintage VDN released by Cazes tasted here: Rivesaltes ambré 2000 (February 2014).

More @ www.cazes-rivesaltes.com.

Roussillon: Domaine de l'Ausseil update, Latour de France

Latour de France watching over old Grenache gris vines
Domaine de L'Ausseil

Previous wines and words on Domaine de l'Ausseil can be found here (April 2007 and April 2009). Owner/grower/winemaker Jacques de Chancel was, as sure as flowering follows budding, at the 2012 vintage version of Millésime Bio wine fair (held in Montpellier earlier this year) with the latest vintages gleaned from about 10 organic ha (25 acres) of mostly old vines scattered around the handsome timeless village of Latour de France (photo). Among other things, Jacques told me that, in addition to organic-only treatments in their vineyards, he's also focusing on using "very little - less than 10 milligrams per litre - or no SO2" (sulphites in winemaking: without wanting to get too chemical, 10mg/l is roughly 10% or less of what could be in a 'regular' bottle, depending on the wine/winemaker). €uro prices below are cellar door (in France obviously) to give you an indication: more info @ www.lausseil.com.

2011 P'tit Piaf white - very Muscaty with orange peel vs floral grapey notes, ripe and rounded vs crisp and juicy. Nice easy style. €6.50
2011 P'tit Piaf rosé (Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah) - zingy 'mineral' touches with yeast-lees undertones, crisp dry finish. Nice style again. €6.50
2010 Papillon (Grenache gris/blanc, Macabeu, Muscat) - rich nose with complex 'volatile' edges, lovely spicy vs honeyed palate with lush and lees-y vs intense 'mineral' finish. Very good dry white. €13
2008 La Capitelle Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France (Carignan, Syrah, Grenache) – lush vs savoury style red, again has that intriguing wilder side and lovely concentrated fruit; developing quite fast but it's still very good. €9.50

2007 Les Trois Pierres Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France – reductive/herby vs ripe and aromatic Syrah dominant profile (?), meaty and concentrated with chunky tannins, developing complex flavours with powerful finish. Lovely red. €14

2011 Prise de Bec red (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre) – lively black cherry/berry and cassis to start, soft vs dry texture, attractive quaffer finishing with peppery liquorice notes.

2011 Du Vent dans les Plumes(Carignan based) – quite rustic / bretty even (?) and spicy, although the former works here thanks to its rich vs crunchy mix of flavours and textures; concentrated too with thick yet supple tannins. Very good actually despite that initial nose.