Madchester rosé - Hauts de Llaro Roussillon

Nothing much to do with wine, apart from the corresponding rosé tip below (although they might occasionally indulge too), but I just had an old-fart nostalgic listen to "the best of" CD by this band, which re-confirmed there really only was one truly mad 80s/90s Manchester band: the Inspiral Carpets (their very name speaks volumes). Lots of great poppy / punky tunes and interestingly enigmatic lyrics, bordering on plain and wonderfully strange in certain songs (e.g. "...today I stole the sun from the sky... the food from the hand of a starving child..." or something like that, hmm). And who could forget that inspired idea to do a even livelier version of "Nobody said it was gonna be easy" featuring Manchester icon Mark E Smith (remember the Fall?) mumbling majestically across the song. All slightly enhanced by a refreshing glass of 2009 Les Hauts de Llaro Cotes du Roussillon rosé: quite chunky style with crisp twist (€4).

Madchester rosé

Nothing much to do with wine, apart from the corresponding rosé tip below (although they might occasionally indulge too), but I just had an old-fart nostalgic listen to "the best of" CD by this band, which re-confirmed there really only was one truly mad 80s/90s Manchester band: the Inspiral Carpets (their very name speaks volumes). Lots of great poppy / punky tunes and interestingly enigmatic lyrics, bordering on plain and wonderfully strange in certain songs (e.g. "...today I stole the sun from the sky... the food from the hand of a starving child..." or something like that, hmm). And who could forget that inspired idea to do a even livelier version of "Nobody said it was gonna be easy" featuring Manchester icon Mark E Smith (remember the Fall?) mumbling majestically across the song. All slightly enhanced by a refreshing glass of 2009 Les Hauts de Llaro, Cotes du Roussillon rosé: quite chunky style with crisp twist (€4).

Languedoc: Château Maylandie, Corbières-Boutenac

Maylandie lies unobtrusively on the outskirts of the village of Ferrals, to the south of Lézignan and not far from the A61 (Narbonne-Toulouse) motorway. It's owned and run by Jean (whose father Jacques started the ball rolling in the 50s by buying a few vineyard parcels in the area), Anne-Marie and their daughter Delphine Maymil. There's a little shop at the entrance to the estate, where you can try their range: my favourites are the tasty concentrated Villa Ferrae and tobacco-tinged Carnache, aka ‘petites vendanges entre amis’ as the corresponding bunches were apparently picked by a few close friends. If you're planning a trip to get to know this wine region better, Maylandie is kitted out with two holiday gîtes across the yard from the château, which look out onto fetching vines. Delphine also organises walks around different vineyards within Corbières-Boutenac with a few other growers, if booked in advance.
I tried these wines in late October 2008, at a tasting laid on by the appellation people at Château Boutenac:

2007 Le Cabanon Corbières (Grenache Carignan Syrah Cinsault) - a touch 'reduced' on the nose,otherwise this wine has nice tangy cassis, cherry and liquorice fruit; fruity v crunchy v grippy finish. 85

2005 Cuvée Prestige Corbières (Grenache Carignan Syrah Mourvèdre) - attractive maturing resiny fruit with wild herb, 'tar' and wood undertones; dry texture v smoky fruit and good weight. 87+

2005 Villa Ferrae Corbières-Boutenac (Grenache Syrah Carignan) - resiny v savoury with appealing depth of rich 'tar' fruit; quite firm tannins at first v tasty and concentrated, worked well with the beef dish at lunch. 89+

2005 Carnache Corbières-Boutenac (50-50 Carignan Grenache) - fruitier style with tobacco and leather edges; again pretty firm mouth-feel but has that enticingly tasty, savoury maturing fruit on its long finish. 90+

Tasted in March 2010 at home:

2007 Carnache Corbières-Boutenac (Carignan/Grenache 13.5%) - black cherry, damson and cassis with smoky spicy tones, hints of tobacco and light vanilla/coconut too; attractive thick coating of dark chocolate, berries, liquorice and chunky dry tannins; quite concentrated and powerful with dense fruit, sweet vs meaty finish and lively, light coconut grip. Needs a few months in bottle to round out a little, yet pretty promising. 89-91

UPDATE! Latest vintages here  (Corbières & Boutenac report May 2011).

Ferrals-les-Corbières Tel: 04 68 43 66 50, www.maylandie.fr.