Brigitte and Jean-Hubert Verdaguer are real specialists in aged Rivesaltes ambré VDN wines (70% of production), although started making tasty Côtes du Roussillon reds six years ago; 11 out of 17 hectares are old vine Macabeu destined for this purpose. I was lucky enough to try their 1969? Rivesaltes, I think (from memory, I didn't note the vintage down) when visiting La Coume Majou (his personal stock!), which was quite extraordinary. Brigitte and Jean-Hubert have plans to refit part of the cellar into a dining room to do lunches with wine & food matched menus. Despite the fact they sell 80% of their production at the cellar door, very little of this comes from tourists as they are a bit off the beaten track. So hopefully this kind of meal thing will entice people out into the countryside. Believe me, good wines aside, it's definitely worth the trip: the Latour area offers a beautiful backdrop for driving or better still walking. I sampled these wines at the Fenouillèdes wine show in April 2007:
2005 Côtes du Roussillon red – nice juicy black cherry notes set the scene for a quite soft and forward palate v light grip and weight. 85
2005 Latour-de-France Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Carignan Grenache Mourvèdre) – lightly volatile nose (vat sample) gives way to lovely rich blackberry fruit, lively fresh mouth-feel v power, dry grip and delicious length.90-92
2003 Côtes du Roussillon Villages – attractive lush wild fruit cocktail with maturing leather tones, firm palate showing further developing savoury and rustic fruit with underlying 'sweetness' too. 88-90
2003 Latour-de-France Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50% Mourvèdre plus Carignan Grenache) – similar profile to above although more intense, savoury black olive notes and less rustic; more grip and muscle on the finish. 89-91
2001 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Carignan Syrah Grenache) – their first non-fortified red: complex herbal wild fruit with maturing meaty edges, lush rustic yet still perfumed palate with dry bite and a bit of oomph; those tannins finish up a tad firm, however this is good and quite elegant actually. 89-91
Updated February 2013 (goes to 'World Grenache Competition' part two featuring Hervé's delicious Grenache blanc vieilles vignes 2011).
The philosophy behind Hervé Bizeul's cult estate and wines is refreshingly simple, upheld by a quiet-spoken man who claims to have been “surprised by the world fame.” You'll find more notes on three of his wines here, plus the wines below tasted in his cellar in April 2007 during the Fenouillèdes wine show. Hervé “didn't want to have a stand and hog the limelight,” believing there are other exciting discoveries in the Roussillon. Hervé, a restaurateur and wine writer in previous lives (his blog is an interesting read) said: “I'm very attached to the idea of a vigneron working their terrain. AOC doesn't need to develop, we just need to aim to make hand-crafted wines at a very high level.” He tries to “search for and retain the fruit to make rich, Mediterranean, flavoursome wines traditional to this area.” First and foremost, Hervé thinks he “makes wine for myself, then I work out how to manage the different plots and varieties” according to that principle. The ideal is making wines that can be drunk from “5 to 12 years old, except la Petite Sibérie.” He sells about 40% of production in France and spends a lot of time promoting Clos des Fées around the world, where his wines have become very sought-after. Hence those prices: easy to criticise although it's a whole different argument, and who can knock someone who's earned such a reputation?
2005 white (old vine Grenache Blanc) – pretty toasty nose gives way to a honeyed v mineral personality, lightly oxidised creamy and nutty style finishing with subtle freshness v weight too. 87
2005 Les Sorcières, Côtes du Roussillon (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – sort of reduced on the nose showing pungent or herbal black cherry fruit, a touch of chocolatey oak on the palate backed up by ripe fruit, fresh bite and light tannins. It loses that smell after a few minutes (Hervé adds CO2 for some reason). €10 87
2004 Vieilles Vignes, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – quite savoury with liquorice notes, rich and aromatic; fairly firm and tight framework offering power and concentration, yet lively too on its good length. €25 90-92
2004 Le Clos des Fées de Hervé Bizeul, Côtes du Roussillon Villages – rather a lot of coco oak otherwise it's closed up; power and almost chalky texture, it is long and firm v sweet fruit but just too oaky at the moment... €50
2004 La Petite Sibérie, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (100% Grenache, technically not allowed for AOC but who cares) – the best fruit sourced from a “mono-parcel,” as our man calls it, presumably a 'cool' site. Again, it has plenty of smoky oak but it's much richer with liquorice Grenache purity and very ripe black cherry fruit; weighty 15%+ alcohol which doesn't really shout out, surprisingly, with a lovely coating of sweet fruit and coconut to finish. By the way, this wine would cost up to a breathtakingly expensive €200 a bottle, if you can find any. 92-94
2005 red blend vat sample – obviously oaky but has lovely lush fruit too, quite fine actually while commanding and with attractive texture.
2005 Clos des Fées vat sample – similarly, there's lots of coco oak although shows attractive burst of fruit and the trademark power; finishes with fine fresh tannins. Needs a few months at least to round out and let that oak melt in more, which it carries better than the 2004.
1999 Clos des Fées – developing leather and spice tones, red pepper notes too plus roasted coffee, complex aromas; still quite firm with leather and nice meaty side, long finish. 92-94
Originally from Burgundy, Catherine Jeannin's beautiful hillside Mas was established (and replanted) 17 years ago, complete with charming old Catalan farmhouse buildings; and is found down a signposted, vine-en
closed track between the villages of Espira and Cases-de-Pène. You catch a glimpse of it while driving along the main road; but you have to carry on towards Espira, turn left at the roundabout up a hill and then left off this road. Now that her son and daughters have returned after various studies and work experience to help run the estate, Catherine wants to develop the wine tourism side by offering accommodation and lunches to small groups of wine lovers, as well as regular events such as their 'open day' in June. Watch this space...
In addition to all the usual red suspects, they have 10 ha/25 acres of white varieties including the less common Vermentino and Carignan blanc, plus both Muscats. "I'd like to increase plantings of red," she explained, implying she'll remove some of these white grape vines. "But it's important to have a good mix of vins de pays and dearer wines. We find people buy either the cheapest or the dearest, not so much the mid-price ones." Their 'entry level' red is indeed great value (see below) and sensibly Catherine believes that "we don't want to price our top wines too high."
Tried and tested back in March 2007:
2005 Grenache vieilles vignes, vin de pays Côtes Catalanes white (70+ year-old Grenache blanc & gris 14%) - subtle toasty notes mingle with apricot, peach and floral tones; elegant soft mouth-feel, attractive but lacks a bit of zing perhaps. €12 85+
2006 Tamarius red, vin de pays Côtes Catalanes (Syrah Grenache Carignan) - delicious vibrant black cherry/currant fruit with light cedar tones, fresh and easy palate with a touch of grip to finish. €4.30 85-87
2005 Côtes du Roussillon red (Grenache Syrah Carignan Mourvèdre) - still quite fruity although savoury too with rustic edges; more structured and firmer with nice backdrop of fruit, quite elegant and long. 87-89
2003 Cuvée Bastien, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre 14%) - smoky and peppery showing lovely fruit with liquorice notes; concentrated and firm v spicy and lush with very light chocolate oak coating, again good balance grip and length. 90-92
Updated Dec 2012 - see below.
This much talked-about domaine (although I'm still not 100% convinced why...) is found on the 'high' street in sleepy Calce: to find it, look for a clue outside on the pavement such as the odd winery hose or empty palette. Olivier started doing his own thing in 2001, having worked for Gérard Gauby among others, and thinks the Roussillon "has a big future in quality wines" thanks to its "rich variety of very different terroirs and old vines." He now has 15 ha / 37 acres spread out around the village and up towards the Col de la Dona (a lovely spot for a drive or walking), planted with about 60% red varieties. He also believes that "the best white wines in the Languedoc and Roussillon are from around here! The region has everything going for it, you can do lots of different styles – simple, big, elegant, less heavy... We just need to build up its image, new growers are arriving all the time hoping to follow in the footsteps of people like Gauby." And, like many, feels the Roussillon's main advantage over parts of the Languedoc is that "people kept their old vines and it's cooler (relatively) and windier here, favouring the production of finer wines."
Here are a few wines I tasted from vat in Olivier's garage cellar (in the sense of compact premises rather than home to overblown styles) back in March 2007 (read on for latest vintages):
2006 Cuvée Laïs white (Macabeu Grenache blanc) – quite rich and toasty v perfumed and exotic apricot fruit, fresh and long with nice poise on the finish. 87-89
2006 La D18 (named after the road!) white (100% Grenache blanc) – very different from above, more mineral and appley with lightly creamy and spicy edges, again fresh acidity to finish.
2006 red (mostly young Carignan) – shows nice floral cherry fruit with light grip, peppery and fruity. 85+
2005 Saturne (Grenache Carignan Syrah) – about to be bottled: complex wild flowers and ripe cherry fruit, liquorice palate with a tight, dry and fresh finish. 89-91
I've tried one or two others since, I'll add them to this blurb when i've relocated them.
UPDATE 2012 live from Millésime Bio wine show, Montpellier!
2011 Mon P'tit Pithon blanc (Macabeu, Grenache blanc/gris) – appley nutty and leesy, perhaps lacks a bit of character in the end. €8.20 cellar door.
2011 Laïsblanc (Macabeu, Grenache blanc/gris: barrel sample) – quite rich and toasty with apricot fruit tones, concentrated with nice yeast-lees bite, long finish balancing power and fresh acidity. Very good. €15.50
2011 Mon P'tit Pithonred (mostly young vine Grenache) – attractive fruity and minty style, fairly simple though. €8.20
2009 Le Pilou (very old Carignan) – intense and concentrated with lush vs crunchy blueberry, black cherry and cassis fruit; has freshness vs weight too on its tasty long finish. Very good although rather dear at €33.
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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.
