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 f...

Showing posts with label Vingrau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vingrau. Show all posts

22 August 2013

Roussillon: Domaine de Sabbat, Latour de France


Sylvain Lejeune (pic. taken from www.domainedesabbat.fr) founded his own 10 ha (25 acre) estate in 2008, having worked at several wineries in France from Bordeaux to Burgundy to Provence. The vineyards lie in different spots on very varied terrain - schist, marl and clay-chalk soils - near the brooding villages of Maury, Tautavel and Vingrau across the wildly pretty Agly Valley; Sylvain's winery/cellar and home are in nearby Latour de France though. He claims to follow organic regulations but isn't certified (time yet to put on that straight-jacket), and he makes a red Rivesaltes Grenat VDN style and a rosé too. The 'Spring 1900' label refers to a small plot of senior citizen LLadoner Pelut, a Catalan variety closely related to black Grenache, used for this particular red blend. And let's not forget helping-hand Pilou the dog, aka 'Doudou', who's apparently "priceless when it comes to making decisions..." € prices are online for delivery in France.

2011 white Côtes du Roussillon (mostly Grenache gris, Grenache blanc & Macabeu; fermented and aged in cask for 12 months) - fairly toasty yet has exotic fruit too, rounded nutty palate, quite rich and juicy with creamier side then an elegant 'mineral' touch to finish. €14
2010 red Côtes du Roussillon Villages (80% old-vine Carignan, 20% Syrah; aged in cask for 8 months plus six in tank) - nice dark 'tar' and liquorice vs crunchy berry, fresh and lively mouth-feel with light grip and a little power too. Attractive style drinking now. €12
2010 Printemps 1900 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (2/3 Grenache & LLadoner Pelut, Syrah & Carignan; 12 months in cask + 6 in tank) - more blackberry/cherry, dark and peppery; chunkier lusher and firmer too, concentrated with attractive tannins; closes up on its promising finish. €16
2009 Printemps '1900' - savoury hints with wild herby/floral character vs dried black fruits, a touch more chocolate oak texture, more powerful; still quite firm and tight with similar concentration. Typical 09 perhaps, less obvious. €16

02 April 2007

Roussillon: Clos des Fées, Vingrau


Updated February 2013 (goes to 'World Grenache Competition' part two featuring Hervé's delicious Grenache blanc vieilles vignes 2011).

The philosophy behind Hervé Bizeul's cult estate and wines is refreshingly simple, upheld by a quiet-spoken man who claims to have been “surprised by the world fame.” You'll find more notes on three of his wines here, plus the wines below tasted in his cellar in April 2007 during the Fenouillèdes wine show. Hervé “didn't want to have a stand and hog the limelight,” believing there are other exciting discoveries in the Roussillon. Hervé, a restaurateur and wine writer in previous lives (his blog is an interesting read) said: “I'm very attached to the idea of a vigneron working their terrain. AOC doesn't need to develop, we just need to aim to make hand-crafted wines at a very high level.” He tries to “search for and retain the fruit to make rich, Mediterranean, flavoursome wines traditional to this area.” First and foremost, Hervé thinks he “makes wine for myself, then I work out how to manage the different plots and varieties” according to that principle. The ideal is making wines that can be drunk from “5 to 12 years old, except la Petite Sibérie.” He sells about 40% of production in France and spends a lot of time promoting Clos des Fées around the world, where his wines have become very sought-after. Hence those prices: easy to criticise although it's a whole different argument, and who can knock someone who's earned such a reputation?


2005 white (old vine Grenache Blanc) – pretty toasty nose gives way to a honeyed v mineral personality, lightly oxidised creamy and nutty style finishing with subtle freshness v weight too. 87
2005 Les Sorcières, Côtes du Roussillon (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – sort of reduced on the nose showing pungent or herbal black cherry fruit, a touch of chocolatey oak on the palate backed up by ripe fruit, fresh bite and light tannins. It loses that smell after a few minutes (Hervé adds CO2 for some reason). €10 87
2004 Vieilles Vignes, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – quite savoury with liquorice notes, rich and aromatic; fairly firm and tight framework offering power and concentration, yet lively too on its good length. €25 90-92
2004 Le Clos des Fées de Hervé Bizeul, Côtes du Roussillon Villages – rather a lot of coco oak otherwise it's closed up; power and almost chalky texture, it is long and firm v sweet fruit but just too oaky at the moment... €50
2004 La Petite Sibérie, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (100% Grenache, technically not allowed for AOC but who cares) – the best fruit sourced from a “mono-parcel,” as our man calls it, presumably a 'cool' site. Again, it has plenty of smoky oak but it's much richer with liquorice Grenache purity and very ripe black cherry fruit; weighty 15%+ alcohol which doesn't really shout out, surprisingly, with a lovely coating of sweet fruit and coconut to finish. By the way, this wine would cost up to a breathtakingly expensive €200 a bottle, if you can find any. 92-94
2005 red blend vat sample – obviously oaky but has lovely lush fruit too, quite fine actually while commanding and with attractive texture.
2005 Clos des Fées vat sample – similarly, there's lots of coco oak although shows attractive burst of fruit and the trademark power; finishes with fine fresh tannins. Needs a few months at least to round out and let that oak melt in more, which it carries better than the 2004.
1999 Clos des Fées – developing leather and spice tones, red pepper notes too plus roasted coffee, complex aromas; still quite firm with leather and nice meaty side, long finish. 92-94


69 Rue Maréchal Joffre, 66600 (ominous postcode!) Vingrau. Tel: 04 68 29 40 00, info@closdesfees.com, www.closdesfees.com.

'RED'

'Red is for wine, blood, revolution, colour... Time-warped slices of mystery, history, fantasy, crime, art, cinema and love...' Buy the e-book or paperback novel on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Click here to view the RED blog!