Languedoc: Jean-Louis Denois, Roquetaillade

I posted comments and info back in April about Jean-Louis Denois' 'no added sulphite' wines from his northern Roussillon vineyards HERE, including a little background on the man, how these wines came about and what attracted him to the St-Paul and Caudiès de Fenouillet area.

Beers of the moment: Whitewater vs Whitechapel

Or Dobbin vs Porter, Kilkeel vs Kent, Ireland vs England if you like... Described as a "ruby porter style beer," which does pretty much sum up Clotworthy Dobbin (5.0% abv, £1.79 a bottle I think in Asda Northern Ireland stores and widely available elsewhere over here) brewed by the Whitewater Brewery found a little inland from Kilkeel in the southern Co. Down countryside. Not quite as rich and dark as a full-on stout but definitely in that malty 'porter' ilk, smoother perhaps too. Surprisingly nice with curry actually. I also like that short and sweet ingredient list - malt, barley, hops, water, yeast - i.e no unnecessary rubbish in it for a change. Whitewater produces a good range of various beer styles overall from Belfast Lager to this one to maltier still.

Well-known, and probably much larger Kent brewer Shepherd Neame makes ASDA's 'Extra Special' Whitechapel Porter Ale (5.2% abv, £1.80), which is lush and chocolatey with attractive bitter-sweet finish. More quaffable than say Guinness, and more interesting perhaps with a different array of flavours. Just about works with (dark) chocolate, this is a tasty slow-sipping by-the-radiator ale that would go well with winter stews.

Champagne & Sparkling wine tasting Dec 3 Belfast

WineWriting.com Richard Mark James' wine blog: Champagne & Sparkling wine tasting Dec 3 Belfast: "Don't miss the bubbling-with-excitement Wine Education Service NI Champagne & Sparkling wine tutored tasting..." CLICK ABOVE to view details. Will probably include a fine sparkling Limoux among others...

Champagne & Sparkling wine tasting Dec 3 Belfast

From www.champagne.fr

Don't miss the bubbling-with-excitement Wine Education Service NI Champagne & Sparkling wine tutored tasting evening, rolling out and upwards on Tuesday December 3 (7 to 9 pm) at the Ramada Encore in Belfast City Centre. Your fizzed up host RMJ will take you on "...a fizzy world tour through France with classic Champagne and other fine sparklers, then comparing with the ever popular Cava (something different and better than usual though...), Italian 'new kid on the block' Prosecco, passing through the southern hemisphere e.g. Australia, New Zealand, and ending up in England..." (you'll be surprised if you haven't tried top English fizz). Tickets are just £30 per person and can be booked via the link on this page: wine-education-service.co.uk/wine-tasting-belfast, where you'll also find the detailed program for the first half of next year. Or pay by PayPal using the button below (and for other tastings next year too). And if you're a regular user of Local Wine Events.com, you can get in touch with me from this page: www.localwineevents.com.

Select tasting:

Dec 3 Champagne & Sparkling £30.00 GBP 27 March Wines of France £25.00 GBP 8 May Australia New Zealand £25.00 GBP 5 June Syrah/Shiraz Viognier £25.00 GBP

Next year's scheduled WES NI courses and events include: Essential Wine Tasting five-week course and Grape to Glass one-day workshop (Feb 2014), Tour de France tasting (March), Wines of Italy Sat. workshop (April), Aus & New Zealand tasting (May) and Syrah/Shiraz tasting (June). More info: wine-education-service.co.uk/wine-tasting-belfast.

More Roussillon winery updates

On these three 'out there' one-man band estates (more or less):

Domaine des Balmettes (Cases-de-Pène) featuring Lucien "Lulu" Salani's (pic.) intense 2011 Les Figuiers Syrah...

Domaine Rivaton (Latour-de-France) with Fred Rivaton's Rage against the Machine white...

Domaine des Trois Orris (Tarérach) by Joep Graler - know anyone else who does a Chenanson aged in acacia and chestnut barrels?!

Buy my 'Roussillon wild wine country' book (2020/21): updated, rewritten, restructured and repackaged; available as an e-book or print-on-demand paperback.

Roussillon: Domaine Modat, Cassagnes

Overseen/run by father/son Henri and Philippe Modat, who are originally from the Roussillon and "came back to the old country and took over some old family vines," after various high-profile legal and business careers in Paris. The estate was thus established in 2007, which comes to 20-something hectares (50+acres) in the Cassagnes area (circled by the villages of Montner, Latour, Rasiguères and Bélesta) lying on a "200 to 300 metre altitude plateau."

Argentina: Cabernet & Tempranillo (plus a sparkling wine)

"'Malbec from Argentina' is hogging the fashion limelight nowadays, and a good deal of this sizeable country's vineyard area on the simplest level; and Syrah has also now invaded the varietal catwalk here. But we shouldn't forget another better-known mainstay red variety, and often more successful in quality, consistency and style terms; good old Cabernet Sauvignon..."

Read the full-works HERE on my amalgamated Argentina wine words and reports page, including wines from and comments on: Zuccardi, Trapiche, Schroeder, Toso, Fournier, Bosca, Lurton, Alpamanta, Bousquet, Dona Paula, Catena, Andeluna; and Alta Vista, Salentein, Callia, Sophenia, La Riojana, Torino, Sta Anna, Trivento, Masi, Sta Julia, Viñalta, Las Moras also featured in recent articles on Malbec and Torrontés as well.

Roussillon: Domaine de l'Encantade, Trévillach

The view's not bad too, from www.encantade.com

Antonin and Laure Moisan describe themselves as making "natural wines" from organic "country" or "peasant" farming, in the old 'positive' sense of the word (paysanne in French) rather than in a nob-y condescending way, going back to how it used to be done growing fruit and veg as well as grapes and producing honey too. They started "four or five years ago" with some hillside vineyards lying at 500 metres above sea level, being fully converted to organics as we speak (his white vines already are 'certified'), in the back of north-central Roussillon beyond between Montalba-le-Chateau and Sournia, which were supplemented by a few plots purchased in early 2012. The wines were being made at not-so-far-away neighbour Trois Orris' cellar in Tarerach (click on that link to see profile and wines, which will be updated soon) while the finishing touches were put to their new winery/warehouse cum honey factory going operational end of last year. Antonin commented: "I've enough (fruit) now to start up my own label... The idea is to be able to make wine as naturally as possible using simple equipment, minimal electricity and healthy materials..." The results so far are promising with better things to come perhaps.

2012 Songe d'Auguste white (Macabeu, Muscat) - aromatic grapey peachy nose, juicy and zingy vs a touch of roundness too, nice style. €9

2012 Rosé (Carignan) - quite elegant and crisp with light red fruit flavours, dry crisp finish, nice enough rosé. €7

2011 Tram'Montagne (Syrah) - ripe dark black cherry with minty spicy notes, lively and rich with grippy 'chalky' tannins, tasty with tight long finish. €11

2012 Roc d'en Manas (I think? This was a new wine, and I can't read my scribbled notes too well, a barrel sample made from Grenache, Syrah, Carignan...) - Firmer drier mouth-feel vs subtle dark and peppery fruit; was a little closed up and awkward when I tried it (not a finished wine) but looks promising. €15

Roussillon: Domaine La Bòria, Trilla

Stoned in the Fenouillèdes
from laboria.fr

Vincent Balansa set sail on this “participative estate” project – there are several 'partners' or 'investors' who also muck in in vineyard, winery and beyond apparently – in 2009 when some old co-op vineyards in the Trilla, Caramany and Trévillach area, due to be ripped up or abandoned as the local co-operative had sadly closed down, came up for sale as a take-it-or-leave-it opportunity.

Spain: a couple of Riojas of the moment

Further to A trio of Rioja posted a few months ago, and mucho mas outlined on the Spain archive page here, my terminal fascination with one of the world's favourite red wines continues featuring a couple of Riojas available in the UK in Co-op and Lidl stores (the ones equipped with their 'wine cellar' range, so not all of them). By coincidence, they're both 2008 vintage, which is 'officially' rated as 'very good' and with a touch of elegance too by my reckoning...

Soligamar Reserva 2008 Ortega Ezquerro (80% Tempranillo with Garnacha and Mazuelo from two 600 metre altitude vineyards, 24 months in new French oak; 14% abv) - smoky vanilla notes with sweet berry and cassis fruits, intricate maturing savoury touches vs still quite solid and firm, concentrated and rich vs nice dry texture, fairly big mouthful vs a certain freshness and elegance. The second day open saw more savoury, balsamic and 'cheesy' notes developing, smoother too with attractive sweet fruit/oak combo, still structured and alive as well. Very nice Rioja. £9.99 Lidl

Marqués de Válido Reserva 2008 Bodegas Muriel (Tempranillo, 13% abv) - similar in some ways to above with its smoked vanilla oak notes (although less oaky) and maturing sweet berry fruits, a touch lighter perhaps (maybe it doesn't have any Garnacha in it...) though has subtle concentration and balance, pretty classic style with mature savoury balsamic finish layered with sweet vs smoky fruit/oak. Surprisingly good with the chilli beef & veg stew thing I made (up as I went along), thanks to those generally soft tannins, smooth texture and sweet/smoky taste combo. Real bargain at the moment at the Co-op - £5.49 instead of 'usual' price of £10.99!