Languedoc: Domaines Paul Mas update

This belated catching-up sees a couple of striking new poking-fun labels, another sizeable vineyard added to the Mas stable, a variety of 2011 and 2012 vintage reds and whites tasted last year and recently, plus a few words on that "road is long" restaurant 'project' mentioned previously which finally opened a year ago...

English sparkling wine supplement

I've put together a 20-page special supplement on English sparkling wines, which is fizzing over with great 'Champagne' lookalikes, and taste-alikes, from a dozen exciting English wine estates, vineyards, wineries and brands featuring Digby, Henners, Hush Heath, Jenkyn Place, Danebury, Gusbourne, Chapel Down, Bolney, Bluebell, Ridgeview, Knightor, Furleigh and many more. Plus a few facts, figures and comments on where the English fizz industry is at... Available as a PDF mini-mag - buy it by card or your own Paypal account (although you don't need one to do this or subscribe). Not free2view!

Click here to read more about subscribing, using PayPal and general T&C.

Languedoc & Roussillon: "wines of the mo"

Picked out from a 'South of France/Sud de France Top 100' (some of these wines were competition winners) tasting I held a few weeks ago for the niwsi.org in Belfast, these wines were probably my favourite half-dozen from an interesting and diverse line-up, just for the pure pleasure of plonking a few tasty words out there in the blogosphere.

Domaine Denois 'Sainte Marie' Limoux blanc 2010 (single site 'high-altitude' Chardonnay, barrel-fermented/aged) - the best of the three whites we tasted, I found it pretty much as I remembered from tasting it a few months before. Touch of class. €15 cellar door.

Château de Cazeneuve 'Cynarah' Pic Saint-Loup 2011 (Cinsault, Syrah, Grenache) - attractive juicy ripe black cherry and liquorice fruit, soft tannins and rounded mouthfeel with a touch of earthy spice and mint. £12.95 the Wine Society.

Domaine Modat 'Comme Avant' Côtes du Roussillon Villages Caramany 2010 (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan from some of the oldest vines; half of it aged in new oak for 16 months) - A popular choice: nice mouthful of Med red, a tad expensive though. James Nicholson £14.95 / €21.80.

Pic by Ros Wilson

Château de Lastours 'Grande Réserve' Corbières 2008 (Syrah, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre: oldest vine selection 30 to 40 y.o; 75% of the blend aged 1 year in French oak) - attractive maturing smoky savoury and dried fruit side vs concentrated and still fairly firm structure, well balanced too. c. €18.

Laurent Miquel 'Bardou' Saint Chinian 2008 Grande Cuvée (mostly Syrah from selected sites on the Cazal Viel estate, 14 months in French oak - 55% new) - Another pretty serious red I'd tasted previously, showing a fair bit of oak but it's concentrated and structured with nice fruit. £16 Excel Wines, €20.99 Dunnes.

Domaine Cazes Rivesaltes ambré 2000 (100% Grenache blanc fortified to 16% abv, aged 7+ years in old tuns, 118 g/l residual sugar) - classic style with enticing oxidized walnut/pecan notes, complex flavours with nice sweet vs tangy and savoury finish and a bit of 'cut'. Liberty Wines approx retail £15 half-bottle.

'Wines of the mo' - Germany, S Africa, Spain, France, Portugal, Argentina

rustenberg.co.za

My favourites - and many of the enthusiastic attendees - from around the globe tasted on a recent Saturday 'wine workshop' I ran in Belfast, which deserve a little more airing:

Germany, Mosel: Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett 2006

Languedoc special: Saint Chinian wine touring

Alexandre Jougla checking
there's a spider in your wine...

I've published an 18-page Languedoc special supplement on lesser-known Saint-Chinian wine country, following an exciting trip there at the end of last year, which is not viewable on this blog! This mini touring guide features winemaker interviews and profiles with plenty of hot wine recommendations focusing on these estate wineries: Canet Valette, Cambis, Jougla, Cazal Viel and Laurent Miquel, La Madura, La Femme Allongée, Boissezon Guiraud, Milhau-Lacugue, Bousquette, Navarre, la Maurerie, Pech Menel...

There's also a spotlight on this year's 'Grand Cru selection' competition winners and my favourites (e.g. La Grange Léon, La Linquière, Borie La Vitarèle, Moulinier, Cave de Roquebrun, Les Eminades, Viranel, Champart among others...). Plus a few tips on good eating and places to stay in the Saint Chinian area, such as Château les Carrasses and Le Faitout restaurant, as well as some serious 'high-altitude' turnip talk (aka navets du Pardailhan)...

It's all now part of a massive French wine e-magazine HERE.

More St-Chinian on this blog: Languedoc special supplement 2015.
Languedoc: Saint-Chinian 2010 vintage report.
Or peruse the Languedoc winery A to Z in the right-hand column to find more wine estates.

Wine Education Service NI tastings and courses

... Can be viewed on WineWriting.com: Wine Education Service NI tastings and courses: "The wine-tastic WES NI  courses and tastings being poured over the next few months, at the  Ramada Encore in Belfast city centre and tutored by RMJ..." Click there.

Wine Education Service NI tastings and courses UPDATE

Updated February 26

The wine-tastic WES NI courses and tastings being poured over the next few months, at the Ramada Encore in Belfast city centre and tutored by RMJ, are outlined below. All events run on Thursdays 7 pm to 9 pm, apart from the Saturday workshop (doh!).
Essential Wine Tasting five-week course - 3 April to 1 May £125 per person. More details here: wine-education-service.co.uk/introductory
Tour de France tutored wine tasting - 27 March £25.
Australia and New Zealand tutored tasting - 8 May £25.
Wines of Italy Saturday workshop - 31 May £90 including two-course lunch. More info here: wine-education-service.co.uk/workshop
More details about the two evening events above and online booking: wine-education-service.co.uk/wine-tasting-belfast. You can also pay for these tastings by PayPal using the button below. 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:

27 March Wines of France £25.00 GBP 8 May Australia New Zealand £25.00 GBP 31 May Italy workshop £90.00 GBP

S Africa, Italy, France, Chile: 'whites of the mo' Chenin, Fiano, Sauvignon.

Following in the red-tinted wake of my previous New Year-y Italians of the mo type posting, here are a few gratuitous and varied white recommendations sampled recently hailing from the deep Italian south (Puglia, Sicily), South Africa, Chile and France...

The Garden Route Chenin blanc 2013 Western Cape (13% abv) –

Italian "reds of the moment"

Featuring a couple of well-known names from northeastern Italy and a slightly more senior one from Tuscany (another Tuscan will follow too), all suitably red, full-flavoured and New Year-y...

Le Tobele Valpolicella Ripasso 2011 (13.5% abv) – 'volatile' balsamic notes on the nose, turns to very Italian morello cherry and almond aromas/flavours, floral and fruity with peppery edges; nice ripe cherry fruit with dry yet soft tannins vs fair acidity adding freshness, kirsch notes and perfumed crunchy fruit with attractive bite vs maturing savoury flavours. Nice 'sweet and sour' thing going on, fruity vs savoury balsamic, has good depth too. Went well with a creamy mushroom risotto. €10.99 Lidl Wine Cellar (Ireland, will confirm £ price in UK).

Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2010 (15.5% abv) – the initial nose is a little heady/porty, chunky and austere when first opened too; turning to dried plum with balsamic meaty gravy notes even, thick tannins with a touch of oak texture/flavour, that alcohol's quite punchy vs lush cherry and olive fruit; it's still pretty firm powerful and 'porty' vs attractive sweet/savoury fruit. Quite good, the other dearer Amarone (links to note on that) Lidl 'wine cellar' has is better and finer (and dearer of course); this one's more in your face but is still attractive. Good with chocolate pudding. £15.99, €17.99

Casato dei Medici Riccardi 2008 Brunello di Montalcino (14% abv) – surprisingly herby/earthy tones at first (for its age, this went with airing though) vs mature smoky notes, dried fruits (morello/kirsch) with savoury 'cheesy' edges, balsamic and black pudding too! Smooth mature palate with dried cherries and meaty flavours, melted-in tannins although still has a bitter twist of grip and structure too, a bit of oomph vs balanced finish. Nice old-fashioned red, not 'top top' but reasonable quality and authentic style for £19.99 – Brunello can be mega expensive.

Roussillon and Languedoc: "festive sweeties and reds, with or without chocolate" (part 2)

Further to these recent words of wisdom on WineWriting.com: Spain v Australia: festive sweeties and reds, with or without chocolate (goes there), which also includes a little insight into fine chocolate making and the different types... Here are some more "festive sweeties and reds, with or without chocolate," this time sourced from the Languedoc and the Roussillon. When talking about wine with chocolate many people - okay, wino people rather than normal people at least - think of rugged Roussillon country