Domaine Cavaillès - Minerve
These two reds have been extracted from my pick of a variety of producers tasted at the end of October 2008, during Les Grands Chemins "Rencontres en Minervois" - an annual wine, food and arts festival centred on the broodingly Mediaeval village of Minerve and surrounding area (that link goes to the website) - over dinner at the excellent Relais Chantovent restaurant in Minerve.
2005 Minervois (Syrah Grenache Carignan 13.5%) - nice ripe rounded red fruits with smoky garrigue notes; attractive depth of spicy fruit v soft tannins and a bit of punch. Good with the three-mushroom nems (Vietnamese style spring rolls). 87(+)
2007 Minervois (Syrah Grenache Carignan 13%) - similar fruit and spice to the 05 but more liquoricey and with tobacco undertones too; firmer mouth-feel v more concentrated, again attractive garrigue style and power on the finish. 89
Anne-Marie and Guilhem Durand bought this cute property twenty years ago, lying in the deepest northern corner of the Corbières appellation; just northwest of Lézignan and a pebble's throw away from Minervois country, actually. Their no-less-than 100 ha (250 acres) feature quite a lot of Syrah, which, looking at the wines, seems to like it here bathing in all that gravel, chalk and slate; with some young Mourvèdre coming on stream as well as less common Pinot Noir and Viognier, for example (and why not?). Anyway, the Durand family exports most of their wines, so good news for those of us in the US, Canada, UK, Belgium, Luxembourg or Germany (according to the printed blurb - see website for more details). I tried these in late October 2008, at a tasting laid on by the appellation people at Château Boutenac:
2007 Viognier Vin de Pays d'Hauterive - nice exotic style with juicy v creamy v lightly crisp mouth-feel. 85
2006 Syrah Vin de Pays d'Hauterive - attractive spicy menthol and cherries on the nose, bit of a chunky framework v fruity with rustic edges. 85
2006 Corbières (Syrah Grenache) - enticing herbal v creamy red and black fruit mix, more concentrated than you think it's going to be with firm texture and a bit of weight too. 87
2006 cuvée Plénitude Vin de Pays d'Hauterive (Pinot Noir Merlot Syrah) - herbal 'sweet & savoury' characters move on to light chocolate texture, a tad over-extracted and firm but it's interesting quand meme...
2006 L'Optimée Corbières (Syrah Grenache) - smokier richer style showing fair concentration v solid tannins, power and savoury v dark fruit on the finish. 89+
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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.
