Languedoc: Château Maylandie, Corbières-Boutenac

Maylandie lies unobtrusively on the outskirts of the village of Ferrals, to the south of Lézignan and not far from the A61 (Narbonne-Toulouse) motorway. It's owned and run by Jean (whose father Jacques started the ball rolling in the 50s by buying a few vineyard parcels in the area), Anne-Marie and their daughter Delphine Maymil. There's a little shop at the entrance to the estate, where you can try their range: my favourites are the tasty concentrated Villa Ferrae and tobacco-tinged Carnache, aka ‘petites vendanges entre amis’ as the corresponding bunches were apparently picked by a few close friends. If you're planning a trip to get to know this wine region better, Maylandie is kitted out with two holiday gîtes across the yard from the château, which look out onto fetching vines. Delphine also organises walks around different vineyards within Corbières-Boutenac with a few other growers, if booked in advance.
I tried these wines in late October 2008, at a tasting laid on by the appellation people at Château Boutenac:

2007 Le Cabanon Corbières (Grenache Carignan Syrah Cinsault) - a touch 'reduced' on the nose,otherwise this wine has nice tangy cassis, cherry and liquorice fruit; fruity v crunchy v grippy finish. 85

2005 Cuvée Prestige Corbières (Grenache Carignan Syrah Mourvèdre) - attractive maturing resiny fruit with wild herb, 'tar' and wood undertones; dry texture v smoky fruit and good weight. 87+

2005 Villa Ferrae Corbières-Boutenac (Grenache Syrah Carignan) - resiny v savoury with appealing depth of rich 'tar' fruit; quite firm tannins at first v tasty and concentrated, worked well with the beef dish at lunch. 89+

2005 Carnache Corbières-Boutenac (50-50 Carignan Grenache) - fruitier style with tobacco and leather edges; again pretty firm mouth-feel but has that enticingly tasty, savoury maturing fruit on its long finish. 90+

Tasted in March 2010 at home:

2007 Carnache Corbières-Boutenac (Carignan/Grenache 13.5%) - black cherry, damson and cassis with smoky spicy tones, hints of tobacco and light vanilla/coconut too; attractive thick coating of dark chocolate, berries, liquorice and chunky dry tannins; quite concentrated and powerful with dense fruit, sweet vs meaty finish and lively, light coconut grip. Needs a few months in bottle to round out a little, yet pretty promising. 89-91

UPDATE! Latest vintages here  (Corbières & Boutenac report May 2011).

Ferrals-les-Corbières Tel: 04 68 43 66 50, www.maylandie.fr.

Waitrose Mediterranean "showcase"

I can't usually be bothered wasting time plugging British supermarket wine promotions - as if you need a so-called "expert" to help pick a bottle (or three "for a tenner" as is often the case) of something viciously discounted - but this forthcoming one at Waitrose seems a little more exciting than on average. Ok, perhaps it's my slight bias towards Med wine styles, but the Waitrose team has selected quite a few interesting-sounding bottles that could well be worth taking a punt on. Such as: Cune Monopole Blanco 2007 Rioja down from £8.49 to £6.36, although make sure it is 2007 as I recently tried the 2008 and found it disappointing; Cuvée Royale Brut Crémant de Limoux, Languedoc fizz at £6.74; Fruits of France Grenache 2007, Vin de Pays d'Oc, at £4.49; Inycon Fiano 2008 from Sicily £4.86; Duc de Vendome white 2008 from Saint-Mont, in southwest France, £5.24; Araldica Brachetto d'Acqui 2009, a lightly obscure red from northern Italy at £4.66; or Domaine Marie 2008 Faugères in the Languedoc for £5.99.

And lots of other lesser-known Italian, Greek, Croatian, Slovenian and Lebanese wines, for example. Mind you, a white from Savoy (on the way to the French Alps!) slipped onto the list somehow, which couldn't be less Mediterranean if it tried (although still nice though). They've also highlighted a few food-friendly combo suggestions under useful headings like "wines to drink with tomato based dishes," which can be a tricky match for a wine picked to go with the main ingredient ahead of the sauce. The "showcase," as they call it, will be running from 7th April to 11th May 2010. Lights, music, camera and action!

Waitrose Mediterranean "showcase"

I can't usually be bothered wasting time plugging British supermarket wine promotions - as if you need a so-called "expert" to help pick a bottle (or three "for a tenner" as is often the case) of something viciously discounted - but this forthcoming one at Waitrose seems a little more exciting than on average. Ok, perhaps it's my slight bias towards Med wine styles, but the Waitrose team has selected quite a few interesting-sounding bottles that could well be worth taking a punt on. Such as: Cune Monopole Blanco 2007 Rioja down from £8.49 to £6.36, although make sure it is 2007 as I recently tried the 2008 and found it disappointing; Cuvée Royale Brut Crémant de Limoux, Languedoc fizz at £6.74; Fruits of France Grenache 2007, Vin de Pays d'Oc, at £4.49; Inycon Fiano 2008 from Sicily £4.86; Duc de Vendome white 2008 from Saint-Mont, in southwest France, £5.24; Araldica Brachetto d'Acqui 2009, a lightly obscure red from northern Italy at £4.66; or Domaine Marie 2008 Faugères in the Languedoc for £5.99.

And lots of other lesser-known Italian, Greek, Croatian, Slovenian and Lebanese wines, for example. Mind you, a white from Savoy (on the way to the French Alps!) slipped onto the list somehow, which couldn't be less Mediterranean if it tried (although still nice though). They've also highlighted a few food-friendly combo suggestions under useful headings like "wines to drink with tomato based dishes," which can be a tricky match for a wine picked to go with the main ingredient ahead of the sauce. The "showcase," as they call it, will be running from 7th April to 11th May 2010. Lights, music, camera and action!

Languedoc: Clos Marie, Pic Saint Loup

2006 cuvée l'olivette from this "cult-ish" Pic Saint Loup winery (Grenache Syrah and Mourvèdre). Cut to my full review (winter 2009/2010):

"Smoky and lush showing nice depth and weight, pretty chunky tannins adding dry texture and bitter twist/bite; fair oomph and grip vs dark cherry liquorice and tobacco, needs 6-12 months to come together fully. Turns a tad rustic and leather-tinged with very firm framework, but its solid trad Languedoc style seduces you in the end..."

Clos Marie

2006 cuvée l'olivette from Pic Saint Loup (Grenache Syrah and Mourvèdre). Cut to full review.

"Smoky and lush showing nice depth and weight, pretty chunky tannins adding dry texture and bitter twist/bite; fair oomph and grip vs dark cherry liquorice and tobacco, needs 6-12 months to come together fully. Turns a tad rustic and leather-tinged with very firm framework, but its solid trad Languedoc style seduces you in the end..."

Marie-Jean of Sète

Not a sexually confused Frenchwo/man but a rather nice restau, where I ate last week in the company of lots of Languedoc winemakers and fellow international journos on a trail of discovery. Sete, so to speak (doh!), right on the canal calmly watched over by rusty yet sturdy fishing boats. The raw shellfish platter to start was a feast for the eyes, if you're into something that fresh out of water, although I had a different dish (quite, although not very, tasty goats' cheese and sun-dried tom tart) as I find oysters, well, degusting, for want of a better word. Close to excellent fillet steak to follow "tasted" with a variety of Corbières and Minervois La Livinière reds. A wee bit of each one I mean... I quite like Sète, actually, fairly horrible all around the town (the industrial porty bits, I mean, rather than the sea and hills) but cute in the centre with its lively canals and bridges. Anyway, if you're ever in town: Restaurant Le Marie-Jean, 26 Quai du Général Durand, 34200 Sète. Tel: +33 (0)4 67 46 02 01 but I couldn't find a website.