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09 September 2011

Languedoc: Domaine Ledogar, Corbières

From dynamicvines.com/producer/domaine-ledogar
Xavier Ledogar took over running this 22 hectare (55 acre) estate in 1997, which gently sprawls around the rather quiet village of Ferrals-les-Corbières. He's now working entirely with back-breaking, and very time-consuming, biodynamic techniques focusing particularly on organic fertilizers (bullshit, obviously, or sheep or donkey even as he does use a handsome couple as vineyard workers: follow the link under the pic above then click on "more photos"...), herbal and plant ‘teas’ (used as natural insecticide sprays), while closely watching those lunar cycles, man... These three wines are available via their UK importer Dynamic Vines priced from approx £6 to £15. Usual comment applies to mysterious 1, 2, 3...

2008 “Tout Nature” red vin de table (Mourvèdre, Carignan, Grenache, Syrah; no SO2) - meaty baked edges, rich vs crunchy fruit, lovely intense mouth-feel with subtle grip and lively finish. 2
2006 Corbières-Boutenac red (Carignan, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre) - herby edges vs maturing and liquorice tones, still grippy palate with hints of cedary oak, lush vs tight profile; not so sure, lacks charm perhaps. 1
2010 white Corbières (Chenin Blanc, Macabeu, Grenache Blanc & Gris) - honey vs apple aromas, intense and concentrated vs rounded and oily texture. Yum. 2

05 September 2011

Languedoc: Clos Fantine, Faugères

The Andrieu family is the brains and brawn behind Clos Fantine, one of several high-quality estates dotted around the ‘village’ of Cabrerolles in the generally exciting Faugères appellation lying to the north of Béziers. They say their red wines see very "natural" handling as they're made with wild yeasts, no added sulphur dioxide and not fined or filtered, which can be a bit risky but the result speaks for itself here. Their extraordinary white is fashioned from the disappearing Terret variety, which you find here and there in isolated spots in the Languedoc and can make eyebrow-raising full-flavoured dry white wines, as you can see from my glowing note below. The downside of rarity and lovely quirkiness is a hefty price tag: this white goes for about £15-£20 from importer Les Caves de Pyrène, among one or two other wine merchants in London, while their enticing red is nearer £10…
2009 “Valcabrières” white (Terret) - oxidising style vs peach and dried apricot aromas/flavours, ‘sappy’ too; rich intense mouth-feel, concentrated yet elegant, quirky stuff. 2-3
2009 “Tradition” red Faugères (Mourvèdre, Carignan, Grenache) - quite ‘baked’ tones but this has lush ripe liquorice fruit, meaty and concentrated palate with solid yet still rounded tannins, pretty intense finish. 2
As usual, more on "1, 2, 3" on the right...

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