Hot choc @ Folies-Bergère

Well, try the Courtauld Gallery café instead, off the Strand in central London, for my "alcohol-free tip of the week." After contemplating and relishing Manet's fine intriguing painting "Bar at the Folies-Bergère," a quick visit to the café downstairs revealed possibly the tastiest hot chocolate I've ever been served, made from real dark chocolate.

Languedoc: Mas Conscience, Terrasses du Larzac

Mas Conscience

Laurent and Geneviève Vidal were (wo)manning a stand at the enigmatically named "Salon du X" - it's not that much of a mystery, actually, a tasting organised by their agent Xavier Peyrot des Gachons with a dozen Languedoc & Roussillon winegrowers present (there were originally 10, I think) hence the X - in April 2010 at Domaine Gayda's impressive winery & restaurant complex, found between Limoux and Castelnaudary. And what a find: effervescent Laurent and Geneviève farm 10 ha (25 acres) of vines biodynamically (although not "certified" I don't think, if it matters) on the lower slopes of the increasingly fashionable, it would seem, and very beautiful Terrasses du Larzac. St-Jean is found about 50 minutes northwest of Montpellier and northeast of Béziers, off France's most dramatic motorway, the A75, at the point where it begins to climb up onto the Massif Central mountain plateau. I tasted these quirkily titled yet nevertheless delicious wines, which are available in the UK and US via Berry Bros:
2009 L'In vin de pays (Grenache blanc, Roussanne, Viognier) - aromatic and exotic white with zesty and mineral touches; "chalky" vs leesy palate with greener fruit edges. Attractive style. 85+
2008 La Petite Prise Coteaux du Languedoc (6 year-old Syrah &Grenache) - nice juicy vs ripe vs scented garrigue fruit; liquorice vs crunchier side, tasty and soft vs a bit of weight. 85
2009 Cieux ciel ciel vin de pays (100% old Cinsault) - lovely "sweet" cherry and lavender notes almost; quite elegant with fine tannins and underlying liquorice and wild herbs. Unusual. 87
2008 Le Cas vin de pays (100% old Carignan) - smokier and richer profile, again has that very ripe black cherry fruit but with more grip and intensity; enticing dry vs "sweet" texture, fresh and firm vs elegant fruit. Approx £10/$15. 89
2007 As Terrasses du Larzac (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - delicious ripe aromas again vs lightly toasty oak; good grip and tight mouth-feel, more powerful and lusher too. Needs 1 to 2 years to open up. Approx £13/$19. 89-91
2007 MahaTma (Mourvèdre) - a tad toasty at first with herbal undertones; riper palate with black olive and garrigue notes too, interesting "sweet/savoury" style with attractive tannins and subtle fruit. 87+

Route de Montpeyroux, 34150 Saint Jean de Fos. Tel: 04 67 57 77 42, mas.conscience@wanadoo.fr.

Languedoc: Domaine Maria Fita, Fitou

Marie and Jean-Michel Schmitt describe themselves as a couple of "vieux bab's" (old hippies, I guess, especially as I've met them once), who landed in this savage neck of the woods to make "different wines..." in "higher" Fitou country (paraphrased from their website). Restaurant owners in a former life, their love of good wine led them to buying a dozen ha of vines (30 acres) and finally fulfilling their obsession in 2000 by putting their name on the bottle. The idea is not to make "standardised" wines at Maria Fita: no "carefully marketed" range here! I tasted the ones below, which are indeed a bit different verging on the wild side even, at the enigmatically named "Salon du X" - it's not that much of a mystery, actually, a tasting organised by their agent Xavier Peyrot des Gachons with a dozen Languedoc & Roussillon winegrowers present (there were originally 10 in his "gang", I think) hence the X - in April 2010 at Domaine Gayda's impressive winery & restaurant complex, found between Limoux and Castelnaudary. A visit "sur place" is definitely called for...

2009 Fitou red - reduced on the nose (a tank sample though), moving on to lively "inky" cassis and berry on the palate; tight finish with dark spicy fruit, could be good. 85+
2007 Le Schmitou red vin de pays - quite rustic with meaty leather notes; fairly rich "sweet/savoury" palate vs a tad reduced and bretty? Nice depth though with very firm and meaty finish, not sure!
2004 Fitou - again has that meaty maturing fruit with liquorice and leather edges vs dry grainy mouth-feel; attractive smoky depth of fruit though, still very firm / extracted but good in an old-fashioned way. 85+
2001 Fitou - lovely dried vs meaty fruit, mature with a touch of oak grain; delicious lush vs dry palate, leather vs sweet fruit plus a bit of oomph and grip too. Again old-fashioned, "natural" style but good with it. 87-89
2007 Le Schmitou white - nutty oxidised and toasty nose; very rounded yet still has fresh bite too, interesting. 87

12 Avenue du Pont-Neuf, 11360 Villeneuve-les-Corbières. Tel: 04 68 45 81 21, mariafita.com.

Roussillon: Domaine des Schistes, Estagel

Domaine des Schistes (there is indeed quite a bit of schist in their vineyards), owned and run by Jacques and son Mickaël Sire, is made up of assorted parcels lying along the Corbières foothills (on the Roussillon / Fenouilledes side) between the villages of Estagel (where the winery is), Maury and Tautavel. Back in late November 2008, Jacques took me for a spin around some of them (not recommended in your average family saloon), which gives you a good feel for their differing terrain as the land undulates up and down & side to side. We stood on the top of a rocky/schisty ridge in one vineyard, or perhaps the line between two as, although planted with more or less the same varieties on both sides, that sloping variation in aspect can mean a few days or a week's difference in picking in this peaceful raw spot. We ended up at Mas de las Fredas, which nestles behind Maury and Tautavel (marked off the D117), where Mickaël lives and where they have two holiday gîtes constructed inside a chunky 14th-Century farmhouse (next door to Domaine des Soulanes actually – see below). There’s also a small barrel cellar underneath containing some of their ageing Vin Doux Naturel styles, such as Rivesaltes Solera or Rancio Sec (see notes below).

2007 Les Terrasses Blanches (mostly Grenache blanc 13.5%) - floral and peachy with light toast and creaminess, nice mineral character running underneath its otherwise quite chunky and powerful mouth-feel; well-handled subtle oak / yeast-lees texture with hazelnut, pear and apricot flavours on the finish, plus a fresh aniseed twist. 85-87

2007 Tradition Côtes du Roussillon Villages (Carignan Grenache Syrah 14.5%) - spicy non-oaked style showing fragrant cassis, blueberry and black cherry; nice liquorice v concentrated cassis richness, peppery with dry tannins and dark chocolate twist; closes up a bit yet it's quite elegant despite the obvious power. 87-89

2006 Les Terrasses Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel (Syrah Carignan Grenache 14%) - a bit cold to start so that toasted oak character comes out first, but it opened up showing more black cherry aroma/flavour v dry grip and coating v dark fruit and coffee. Needs a couple of years, again quite elegant despite its weight and gripping tannins. 89-91

2005 La Coumeille Côtes du Roussillon Villages (80% Syrah 14.5%) - developing savoury nose v spicy dark cherries; very concentrated and robust although opening up and becoming rounded, lush liquorice v grip and bite on its powerful finish, along with well-integrated chocolate-oak tinged texture. 90-92

2006 La Coumeille - closed unrevealing nose; light chocolate oak notes v rich and concentrated, perhaps has more depth than the 05 with big tannins v attractive purity of fruit; stonking finish, chunky and grippy v lush texture. Needs 2+ years to open up, very promising. 92

1998 Tradition (13.5%) - savoury and mature nose with minty herbal undertones; fig, liquorice and leather on a dry v maturing finish. Nice now. 89

2006 Maury (muté sur grain 16%) - beginning to develop savoury leather notes underneath a lush, ripe fruit mouthful; pretty grippy and powerful at the moment leading to a hardly sweet finish, needs a little time to come together fully. 89+

Rivesaltes Solera (mostly Grenache gris 16%) - tawny orangey colour, complex oxidised nutty caramel notes; toasted pecan richness v freshness and bite, delicious classic style. 90-92

1995 Muscat de Rivesaltes (16%) - yes, that vintage is correct! Caramelised orange peel and brown sugar aromas/flavours, rich and nutty yet still grapey with nice cut. Weirdly alive, odd but I like it. 89+

Rancio sec - very nutty, tangy and lively with old oxidised complexity; very dry and crisp with super dried walnut flavours, great length and panache. Wow. Not for everyone but really different: try with anchovies or mature chesses.

2010 update: Jacques had the following new vintages up for tasting at the enigmatically named 'Salon du X' - it's not that much of a mystery, actually, a tasting organised by his agent Xavier Peyrot des Gachons with a dozen Languedoc & Roussillon winegrowers present (there were originally 10, I think) hence the X - in April at Domaine Gayda's impressive winery & restaurant complex between Limoux and Castelnaudary.

2008 Les Terrasses Blanches white - honeyed vs spicy toasty notes; rounded, weighty and oily vs crisp bite. 85+

2008 Les Terrasses red - attractive 'sweet' vs crunchy fruit; quite intense cassis and blueberry turning richer and darker on the finish, fragrant and herby too vs power and grip. 87-89

2006 La Coumeille red - smoky chocolate oaky nose; meaty and very firm with tight powerful length, underlying dark lush fruit then closes up. Needs time still. 89-91

Click here for more Schistes wines (6th Fenouillèdes wine fair).

1 Avenue Jean Lurçat, 66310 Estagel. Tel: 04 68 29 11 25 / 06 89 29 38 43.

www.domaine-des-schistes.com. 

Languedoc: Château Haut-Gléon, Corbières

Château Haut-Gléon

The Duhamel family's 37 ha (90 acres) of vines (15 different varieties) nestle among a huge expanse of wild and pretty forest and scrubland, lying between Durban and Portel in "Paradise Valley" on hillsides at up to 350 metres (1200 feet above sea level). They make a rather big range including bag-in-box and brandy even and, although I found their white and rosé tasted below very attractive, I'd have to try the reds again, as I had a bit of a problem with two vintages of the Haut-Gléon Corbières (especially the 2005: funny intrusive old wood or musty/corked?). And overall, these wines are kinda pricey considering... They have good distribution around the world: see their website for details (well done, by the way, not many have this amount of useful info on them). The following were tasted at the enigmatically named "Salon du X" - it's not that much of a mystery, actually, a tasting organised by their agent Xavier Peyrot des Gachons with a dozen Languedoc & Roussillon winegrowers present (there were originally 10 in his "gang", I think) hence the X - in April 2010 at Domaine Gayda's impressive winery & restaurant complex, found between Limoux and Castelnaudary.

2008 Corbières white (Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Marsanne) - quite exotic and honeyed with light spice and toast notes; nice rounded creamy mouth-feel with spicy undertones, lush and oily yet well-balanced finish. €15.50 87+

2008 Grenache gris rosé Vin de Pays de la Vallée du Paradis (13.5%) - a bit different for a pale-style rosé: closed on the nose to start, building up to oily raspberry aromas/flavours; quite fat, weighty and textured actually vs attractive light bitter twist. €9.50 85-87

2008 Le Petit Gléon Corbières red (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - ripe, juicy and easy style; has a tad of grip too vs soft and quite simple palate. €6.50 80-83

2006 Haut-Gléon Corbières red (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan) - spicy upfront oak, again that wood's a bit odd and intrusive? Although it has fair depth of fruit and power. Not sure?  €13

11360 Villesèque des Corbières. Tel: 04 68 48 85 95 /www.hautgleon.com.