Roussillon: Clos de Paulilles, Port-Vendres

UPDATE - the Dauré family sold the property to the Maison Cazes / AdVini group in 2013...

Clos de Paulilles is a 90 hectare (220 acre) estate, the biggest in the area with most of the vines spread around the stone cellar; something you don't often see amid the intricate collage of vineyards running along the coast from Collioure to Cerbère. Vines and winery nestle close to the sea on a picturesque bay between Port Vendres and Banyuls-sur-Mer, and the outdoor restaurant is open throughout the summer. The Dauré family also offers al fresco dining at Château de Jau, their property near Cases de Pène tucked away in the northern Roussillon countryside. They own a Chilean winery as well called Viña las Niñas.

Tasted Oct 2006:

2005 Collioure blanc (Grenache blanc & gris part fermented in barriques) - a bit cold for tasting (as opposed to nice temperature for quaffing) but shows floral notes, crisp mineral and aniseed palate with nutty rounded yet fresh finish. 85

2005 Collioure rosé (Grenache Syrah) - lots of vibrant red fruit aromas and flavours, quite chunky mouth-feel, textured and tasty v crisp and long. 87-89

2002 Collioure rouge (70+% Mourvèdre & Syrah) - smoky and ripe, nice grip v mature fruit, still could develop; good for a 2002. 89

2003 Banyuls 'Vintage' (= Rimage, see below. 100% Grenache) - lovely fresh black cherry fruit, solid dry tannins v sweet fruit, attractive style. 90

2002 Banyuls Cap Béar (aged in bonbonnes = glass demijohns. 100% Grenache) - more tawny in style with rich dried fruits, softer tannins and leather & raisin notes, long fine finish. 90-92

By the way, I also tried these Château de Jau wines (a tasting measure of each I hasten to add) with the grilled lunch menu at their idyllic restaurant in September:

2005 Côtes du Roussillon blanc (Vermentino Roussanne Marsanne) - fresh and mineral with crisp citrus fruit v touches of yeast-lees. Served with fougasse aux olives, a Mediterranean flat bread.

2005 Le Jaja de Jau rosé, vin de pays d'Oc (Grenache Syrah) - fun quaffable fruit juice to go with toasted tomato bread & cured ham.

2002 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Syrah Mourvèdre Carignan Grenache) - mature rustic style, nice dried cherry fruit on an easy palate; drinking now, it won't get any better. Grilled lamb cutlets.

2005 Muscat de Rivesaltes - lovely intense lemon and grape aromas, refreshing bite v rich sweetness; works well with the Roquefort.

Wine of the moment February 2009:

2008 Les Clos de Paulilles rosé Collioure (Grenache Syrah 13%) - chunky, red-fruity style with nice 'vinous' style, texture and weight; dry and zingy v creamy and full. A touch pricey though at €7.50. 87+

Clos de Paulilles, 66660 Port-Vendres (signposted off the main road between Port-Vendres and Banyuls-sur-Mer). Tel: 04 68 98 07 58.

Languedoc: Domaine La Sauvageonne, Terrasses du Larzac

The city of Montpellier, or any city or town even, certainly feels very distant from aptly named La Sauvageonne, with its spectacularly rugged hilly vista perched up on the lower edges of the Massif Central range. This face-lifted 32-ha domaine (80 acres), which was bought by businessman Fred Brown in 2001 (and sold in 2011: see update below), is found about 50km northwest of Montpellier in fact; on the Terrasses du Larzac high ground just beyond the little village of St-Jean-de-Blaquière. A sommelier in a past life, English estate manager and winemaker Gavin Crisfield (no longer: see update below) nurtures premium Syrah, Carignan and Grenache from different vineyard parcels (at 150m - 400m altitude = 500-1300 feet), much of it covered in chunks of brownish red schist and rough stones (see pic) making the terroir here all the more tangible and challenging. Hence the names of each wine on the label, such as Pica Broca and Puech de Glen - the latter, curiously Occitan/Scots sounding cuvée made mostly from their best and highest-lying Syrah.

Tasted in situ February 2009:
2007 Sauvignon blanc Vin de Pays du Montbaudille (with a hint of Muscat and, from the 2008 vintage, will have Vermentino and Viognier too) - still quite fresh and zesty actually, nice lively mineral side with light citrus fruit. 80+
2008 rosé (Cinsault, Grenache) - lively and refreshing style, attractive raspberry and cream flavours, very drinkable on its own but would be good with most food too. 85+
2007 Les Ruffes (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault) - smoky v lightly herby with liquorice and leather edges; lovely fruit and 'sweet & savoury' profile with subtle bitter twist and grip in the mouth, nice depth and richness v drinkable refreshing style. €6 87-89
2007 Pica Broca (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - more black cherry and chocolate aromas / flavours; firmer structure as well although again has that attractive balance of lush v tight mouth-feel, long finish too; needs 6+ months in bottle but it's still nice now! 88-90
2005 Pica Broca (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - delicious smoky maturing nose; has more depth and concentration than the 07, chunky with nice coating of tannins layered with 'sweet & savoury' complexity and lovely length. 90-92
2005 Merlot/Cabernet Vin de pays - cassis and tobacco on the nose; pretty rich v very firm and powerful palate, its 14.5% adds a bit of oomph but it's also very concentrated with dry savoury finish. Wow. 90
2005 Puech de Glen (mostly Syrah) - enticing grilled wild black fruit nose with herbal v meaty edges (echoes of maturing Cote Rotie!); concentration and big tannins on the palate, stylish too with nicely developing fruit yet still plenty of life in it. €16 92-94

Previous vintages here (Vinisud 2006).

Latest news: Gavin left and is now doing his own thing called La Traversée; and the estate was recently sold to the Gérard Bertrand group (late 2011): there's a review of one wine in this report.

Roussillon: Mas dels Clots, Salses le Château

Michel Piquemal took over this off the beaten track estate in 1982, which is lost in the middle of nowhere almost into the Corbières (you need to take the Opoul road out of Salses under the motorway, keep going and follow the sign to the right until you run out of 'road'). Michel works all his 30 ha/75 acres himself and organically as well, which he says "is good for export but in France most people don't care!" The predominant varieties planted are Grenache and Mourvèdre, and he makes about 60% red wines, 30% VDN and 10 rosé/white.
Like many growers in the region, he despairs at the Roussillon's (unjustifiably) wanting image especially outside France, with the Languedoc usually hogging the limelight: "don't talk to me about the Languedoc, we're Catalan here!" There was some underlying irony there, especially as the Mas is a stone's throw from the 'border' with the Aude region and hence Languedoc. However, he thinks the 'South of France' labelling-idea could be good for some producers, whereas "I'm small small small." Meaning it's better for growers like him to focus on terroir and "micro-cuvées" to keep a point of difference and sharper identity, even if it makes this kind of wines more complicated to understand: "it's also their very charm," as Michel put it. On the entertainment front, he occasionally organises tastings with vineyard barbeque in conjunction with other organic growers. The MDC wines are reasonably priced too: from €4.50 to €6.50 for the reds and €8 to €11.30 for VDNs.

I tasted these two vat/barrel samples in March 2007:
2006 blend of mostly Grenache and Syrah - lovely fruit and spice v grip and power, fresh bite too on its long finish. 87-89
2005 Côtes du Roussillon Villages (after 18 months in oak) - nice spicy coconut backdrop to a tight firm palate; good depth of black fruits, length and again freshness. 87-89

2009 Update: the opera-themed wines below were tasted with Michel at this year's Millésime Bio wine show (Montpellier Jan. 2009). By the way, his prices haven't changed much: €5 to €6.50 for white, rosé and reds; and €7.50 to €11.30 for quite a variety of VDN styles, as you'll see:
2007 cuvée Aïda Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Syrah Grenache Carignan) - nice juicy spicy fruit, soft-ish tannins v punchy finish. 83-85
2005 cuvée Casta Diva Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre) - touch of vanilla oak v juicy black cherry and liquorice, firm v rounded finish. 85+
2006 cuvée Tosca Côtes du Roussillon Villages (50/50 Grenache Syrah) - vibrant black cherry and liquorice notes; gripping dry texture v fruity flavours, quite powerful too (14.5%) but not out of kilter. 87+
Rivesaltes ambré Hors d'Age (Grenache Gris & Macabeu: base wine is 2003 + some much older giving an average age of about 10 years) - beginning to turn toffeed and pecan nutty with shades of very sweet raspberries; nutty caramelised flavours v spicy and lively, complex and long. 89+
1995 Rancio (Grenache Gris & Macabeu: aged using a solera system) - wow, more raisiny and oxidised with rich walnut notes; tastes drier but it isn't, very long and intricate v punchy finish. 92+
2003 Muscat de Rivesaltes (barrique-aged style) - cooked orange peel aromas, vanilla and marmalade on the palate, rounded and sweet v refreshing bite; unusual and very nice. 89+

Mas dels Clots, 66600 Salses le Château. Tel: 04 68 64 20 13, mobile 06 61 20 99 40; michel.piquemal@masdesclots.com, www.masdesclots.com.

Roussillon: Château Monty

"Château" Monty: inverted commas as it's not really a Chateau but the name of writer, biodynamic consultant and now broadcaster-winemaker Monty Waldin's TV programme (shown autumn 2008 on Channel 4 in the UK) and book; as you can see from the picture I stole off his website: click on the link below. So, for those of you who watched and/or read it; you already know the 'trials & tribulations' story about Monty's dream to rent a vineyard (in the northern Roussillon, from friend and mentor Eric Laguerre), farm it and produce grapes using biodynamic principles and methods, make a red wine and sell it to a British wine merchant. All set to a rather nice backdrop, of course, giving you a good feel for what it's like to try to be as natural a winegrower as possible.
For more info on biodynamics etc., again have a look at his site as he knows more about it than me by a long way; also click here for a report I did on a biodynamic growers' tasting three years ago, with a few words from Nicolas Joly. Monty now lives in Tuscany most of the time, when he's not mixing up his witches' brews in St-Martin de Fenouillet. Anyway, I bumped into him at this year's Millésime Bio wine show (Jan 2009, Montpellier), where he had samples of his 2008 wines hidden underneath Eric's stand. He's made a white and rosé too this vintage, by the way; all three are available in the UK in Adnam's wine shops at £8.99. Here's my verdict for what it's worth:

2008 Monty's white (Macabeu) - aromatic and appley v light exotic fruit and a tad of creaminess; fresh and mineral mouth-feel v touch of weight and nice length. 87+

July 2009: I tried the bottled version of the white, blind in fact, and found it more appley and real cider like with nutty, verging on oxidising actually, peach stone edges; lost a bit of its zesty side although it's definitely quite wild and funky, if that's your thing. 85+
2008 Monty's rosé - steely crisp style with elegant rose petal and red fruit notes; again nice dry zesty finish. 87
2008 Monty's red (Carignan + a tad of Syrah) - delicious aromatic crunchy blueberry and cassis fruit; tasty palate turning more savoury on the finish, good mix of nice quaffer v substance and grip. 87+

Update: the 2009 vintage Chateau Monty wines are from and made in Tuscany, as that's where he lives now, so I'll report back if and when I get the chance to try them... And the new edition of Monty's book on biodynamic wines is now available, print-on-demand, from lulu.com. More info @ www.montywaldin.com