Roussillon: Château Planères, St-Jean-Lasseille

This 60 hectare estate (150 acres) is located just outside the village of Saint-Jean-Lasseille, off the N9 road between Perpignan and Le Boulou, stalked by the Albères mountains which mark the Franco-Spanish border. Their top reds are now classified Côtes du Roussillon Les Aspres. Tasted 26/9/05:

 
2004 Côtes du Roussillon Prestige blanc (Macabeu, Grenache Blanc, Malvoisie & Vermentino) - shows complex yeast-lees notes, much tighter and more concentrated palate than their basic white; good fresh intensity and finish. 85+
2003 La Romanie blanc (mostly Malvoisie) - butter and coconut dominate (10 months in cask with lees stirring) yet it's fresh too, offering nice weight of fruit v toasty character; different, needs food. 87+
2004 Côtes du Roussillon Prestige rosé (Syrah, Cinsault & Grenache) - lots of rose petal and ripe red fruits, particularly straw/raspberry; lovely concentration and depth with a light touch of tannin even. 87+
2003 Côtes du Roussillon Prestige (Mourvèdre, Syrah & Grenache) - nice smoky 'sweet' fruit with background oak, ripe and supple then structured finish with dry grip v appealing fruit. €6 88+
2003 La Coume d'Ars (a lieu dit or specific plot, 50% 100 year old Carignan, 30% 45 yo Grenache & Syrah) - earthier bigger and chunkier with attractive dark fruit background and firm tannins. 88+
2003 La Romanie les Aspres (Syrah, Mourvèdre & Grenache) - spicy coconut overtones lead to a tight palate of peppery black fruits, pretty firm yet elegant and long; needs time to develop. 90
Rivesaltes Grenat - quite oxidised style but has plenty of sweet Grenache fruit v dry tannins, nice finish too. 85+
2004 Muscat de Rivesaltes Excellence (16%) - very floral, grape and orange peel aromas lead on to lots of fresh sweet fruit (65 grams per litre residual sugar) finishing with crisp bite of acidity and alcohol; lovely style. 90

Destination Champagne by Philippe Boucheron

Frustrated by publishers who couldn't handle the concept of a cross-genre book, Philippe set up his own company 'Wine Destination Publications' to get this recommended Champagne travel guide on the shelves. I agree with his comment that "wine tourism publications (is) a market sector that has... been largely ignored." I guess narrow-minded wine specialist or travel guide publishers thought book retailers wouldn't know where to put it in the shop - under wine, travel or restaurant guides? Anyway, who cares: this is rather useful if you're going on a trip to Champagne. Enthusiasm for and years of experience of the region's wines, historical insights, travelling tips and maps, where to eat and stay; it contains plenty of information without being too long and is good read too. Perhaps a little pricey at £18.99 but at least Philippe will be the main beneficiary (after the bank no doubt), rather than a huge indifferent publishing company. He also has plans to release Destination Bordeaux and others in this series. Available "from all good bookshops," as the flyer says: further info from www.destinationchampagne.com