1907 Revolt 2007 Roussillon

From Jean Clavel's

1907larevoltevigneronne.midiblogs.com

1907 Winegrowers' Revolt
The Roussillon 100 years on!

"An evening event orchestrated by Roussillon Wines and the Mayor of Saint-Estève November 2007... informative and commemorative, as we shouldn't forget that people died in that tragic historic year..." Plus: my pick of a tasting of award-winning wines selected for the annual Saint-Bacchus competition 1997-2007...

Eyebrow-raising title perhaps: this evening event was orchestrated by Roussillon Wines and the Mayor of Saint-Estève, the host, in November 2007. It was both informative and commemorative, as we shouldn't forget that people died in that tragic historic year. To find out more, read the feature I wrote for Decanter magazine (page down to "100 Years of Protest"), which summarises what happened and discusses its lingering relevance today. They screened a fascinating film about the 1907 crisis called 'Vendanges Amères' (bitter harvest) followed by commentary from a panel of specialists on the subject: Jean-Louis Roure, Jean Sagnes, Pierre Dauga, Thérèse Tarrieux and Jean Clavel (actually he couldn't make it but was a great source for my article). Afterwards we were treated to a tasting of award-winning wines selected for the annual Saint-Bacchus competition from 1997-2007; enhanced by delicious tit-bits created by leading caterer Christian Segui and other locally starred chefs (called Les Toques Blanches du Roussillon). Here are my notes and comments on a few of these wines, some of them now quite rare I'd imagine. I focused on reds and sweet Vins Doux Naturels (listed separately, youngest to oldest); not sure why they decided to put ten year-old rosés out for tasting...

2005 Domaine Fontanel 'Prieuré', Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel – quite oaky and wood spicy yet it shows intense fruit too, closes up a bit with a structured finish v supple tannins. A little youthful and unrevealing at the moment. 87-89

2002 Cave Abbé Rous? 'Cyrcée', Collioure – sweet herbs tinged with liquorice and leather, very ripe and floral even with a rich coating, maturing yet still chunky. 90-92

2001 Coume del Mas 'Schistes', Collioure – oily tarry maturing fruit; I think it's a bit corked as it's rather stripped and bitter on the finish? Having tried recent vintages of this great wine, difficult to believe it's knackered especially 2001, a superb year in general in the region.

2000 Domaine Piquemal 'cuvée Justin Piquemal', Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes – smoky and spicy with rich tar and meaty edges, concentrated v maturing finish. 90-92

1999 Domaine Gardiès, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel – quite dense and structured v maturing savoury fruit, fresh tannins still keeping it very alive. Yum. 92-94

1999 Château Aymerich 'Général Joseph Aymerich', Côtes du Roussillon Villages – perfumed red pepper with spicy cherry and pepper tones, elegant and long again showing some freshness. 92-94

1998 Domaine Mounié, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel – liquorice leather and garrigue notes, resiny fruit v still firm tannins although not hard. 88

1996 Terrassous (Cave de Terrats) 'Les Pierres Plates', Côtes du Roussillon – interesting mature 'sweet & savoury' fruit with a vanilla oak coating, attractive and elegant. 87

1996 Domaine Cazes 'Credo', Vin de Pays d'Oc (Cabernet sauvignon Merlot) - herbal v meaty tones, complex 'sweet & savoury' characters on the palate, mature and intriguing. 89

Vins Doux Naturels

1999 Domaine Rossignol, Rivesaltes ambré – walnut and orange aromas, lively palate although the alcohol's still a bit strong and obvious, quite complex nevertheless. 87+

1996 Domaine Pouderoux, Maury – lovely liquorice and tar with leather tones, lush v lively palate showing intricate 'sweet & savoury' fruit; fantastic with strawberries dipped in melted chocolate sauce! 93-95

1994 Cave Abbé Rous? 'Christian Reynal', Banyuls Grand Cru – stimulating although a bit too old style for me, nevertheless it's quite complex with nutty length; Tawny-like in fact. 87-89

1990 Mas Amiel, Maury – toffee plum and coffee notes proceed cooked cherries, mature v solid palate with complex fruit development; nice with foie gras de canard! 92-94

1982 Arnaud de Villeneuve (Caves de Rivesaltes/Salses) 'Hors d'Age', Rivesaltes ambré – perfumed v lush offering plenty of dried apricot, intense fruit v mature and mellow, delicious finish. 94

1976 Domaine Cazes 'cuvée Aimé Cazes', Rivesaltes ambré – extraordinary length and complex rich fruit, can't believe it's over 30 years old; lingering tangy roasted pecan nut finish. Difficult to give it a silly score – 95 I guess.

Find profiles and more wines reviewed from many of these wineries by following the red links in the Roussillon A to Z, on the right (down a bit).

Languedoc: Château La Roque, Pic-Saint-Loup

Updated Dec 2012 - see below.

The elegantly imposing country château is the first thing that hits you coming up the dusty gravelly drive: it is indeed made from rock, although the estate's actually named after an eponymous 13th Century noble family. Old rock too: the tasting cellar vault is part of a restored, former Medieval post-house, I'm told. La Roque is a long-standing ambassador for the Pic-Saint-Loup appellation, which is found not far north of Montpellier scattered around its namesake peak (650 metres/2000 feet high), although the Languedoc capital feels a long way off given how quickly the terrain transforms into untamed scrub-land and pointy cliff-faces.

La Roque's specialities include their often superb Cuvée Mourvèdre, a challenging variety in this area but rewarding in certain sites in the right hands*; Syrah-based Cupa Numismae and Clos des Bénédictins, an unusual barrel fermented white. The property was taken over by Jacques and Marion Figuette in late 2006 (I didn't have the cheek to ask them how much €...), who sensibly appear happy not to make any major changes and have kept prices fairly reasonable, for such a sought-after name: €7 to €13 a bottle across the range.

*Previous owner Jack Boutin planted 9 ha/22 acres (out of 42) of Mourvèdre, which faces due south on steep pebbly terraces at approx. 200 m/650 ft altitude. Another local Mourvèdre fan is Jean Orliac at Domaine de l’Hortus (Valflaunès), who has 11 ha ("and increasing" as he told me back in 2005) in one similarly elevated vineyard sitting smack-bang between Pic St-Loup and Mont de l’Hortus.*

I tasted these Ch. La Roque wines with Marion Figuette in October 2007:

2005 Tradition blanc (Rolle Roussanne Marsanne) – oily honeysuckle tones, nice texture and maturing fruit v lightly crisp elegant finish. 85-87

2006 Clos des Bénédictins blanc (Rolle Roussanne Marsanne) – toastier and creamier yet very floral with exotic white peach tones; zingy v fat with attractive balance and style. 87-89

2004 Tradition rouge (Syrah Mourvèdre Grenache) – tangy cassis and cherry fruit, lightly creamy palate with firm fresh bite, drinking well now in fact. 85-87

2005 – a touch richer and more concentrated than above with attractive cherry and liquorice fruit, followed by dry grip and good length. 87-89

2003 Cupa Numismae (60% Syrah 40% Mourvèdre) – smoky and slightly animal showing lush dark cherry and blackberry/olive notes, a bit of spicy oak adds texture to a solid firm palate; good balance of ripe v structured and maturing v a few years ahead of it. 89-91

2004 – more fragrant floral and spicy (the Syrah comes out more), more delicate mouth-feel yet still juicy lush and firm with elegant length. 89-91

2005 – closed and chunky, attractive concentration and rounded fruit, powerful tannins at the moment which should unfurl nicely.89-91

2003 Cuvée Mourvèdre (90% plus 10% Grenache) – 'sweet' herbs liquorice and black olive, ripe with resiny development, quite delicate actually (considering the hot vintage) v dry tannins and lovely length. 90-92

2005 – smokier and a tad toastier yet still 'sweet' herbal and liquoricey, delicious fruit concentration and fine tannins on a commanding, mouth-coating finish; yum, give it a couple of years to really shine. 92-94

UPDATE: latest La Roque wines here (PSL report April 2011). 

UPDATE 2012

34 ha (85 acres) of vineyards are now certified organic since vintage 2011, hence these wines below are their first 'official' samples aired and tasted earlier this year at Millésime Bio wine show in Montpellier.

Languedoc Pic Saint Loup

2011 white - nice creamy yeasty edges with exotic fruit notes, aromatic and floral too then crisp fresh finish. Good.

2011 rosé - rose petal aromas with creamy red fruits, quite full and rounded with oily notes and nice fruity vs crisp finish.

2011 red (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) - enticing aromatic spicy minty fruit, fairly rich and fruity with a meatier side too, concentrated vs softer mouth-feel. Should be good.

Older vintages in this post including 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 Cuvée Mourvèdre; from a visit in 2005.

Château La Roque, 34270 Fontanès. Tel: 04 67 55 34 47, contact@chateau-laroque.eu, www.chateau-laroque.fr

Languedoc: Château l'Euzière, Pic-Saint-Loup

Château L'Euzière

Brother and sister Michel and Marcelle Causse run this charming, old family property found on the main road through Fontanès. Or rather their mini-manor house and winery at least: the 23 ha/55 acres of vineyard spread out around the village, a mixture of older vines and more recent plantings as they continue to improve quality in the field. The top red cuvée, les Escarboucles, is based mostly on Syrah; L'Almandin is an earlier-drinking, 'SGM' blend but still quite serious with aromatic pure fruit; and they also make a very nice white called Grains de Lune. One to watch and relatively reasonably priced (Pic-Saint-Loup commands higher prices than other parts of the Languedoc) at €6 to €12.50 across their range. These wines sampled in their cellar and handsome vaulted stone tasting room in October 2007:

2006 Almandin (tank sample, Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre) – lovely perfumed black cherry with gamey edges developing into liquorice and violets, firm and fresh showing nice elegance with a touch of weight and length too. 89
2006 Escarboucles (barrel sample, more Syrah + Grenache Mourvèdre) – quite a bit of spicy coconut at the moment (12 to 14 months in one year-old casks) but again has that delicious black cherry fruit, more structured with firmer tannins; closed finish with dry texture v underlying 'sweetness'. 89-91
2005 – quite smoky with blackberry and cassis, a little closed up offering light spice and liquorice tones with gamey edges, rounded v soild mouth-feel although again it's quite elegant. 90+
More of their wines here (Vinisud 2006).

Ancien Chemin d’Anduze, 34270 Fontanès. Tel: 04 67 55 21 41, leuziere@chateauleuziere.fr, www.chateauleuziere.fr