2008 Mont Tauch Fitou Vieilles Vignes "Terroir d'Altitude" (old-vine Carignan, Grenache, Syrah) - smoky and spicy with tobacco and leather edges; chunky palate with quite rich blue/black berry fruits, fair grip and bite vs lightly coconut texture, nice peppery finish too.Available in the UK at Morrison’s for £7.99.
More Mont Tauch wines and profile via Languedoc 'winery A to Z' in the right-hand column, under 'M' (doh!).
2008 Mont Tauch Fitou Vieilles Vignes "Terroir d'Altitude" (old-vine Carignan, Grenache, Syrah) - smoky and spicy with tobacco and leather edges; chunky palate with quite rich blue/black berry fruits, fair grip and bite vs lightly coconut texture, nice peppery finish too.
Available in the UK at Morrison’s for £7.99.
More Mont Tauch wines and profile here:
As originally mentioned in my "Strange goings-on in Maury" article, Katie Jones is no stranger to the area, at least the Fitou highlands / southern Corbieres just to the north, as she used to be marketing and export director at the Cave de Mont Tauch co-op (see Languedoc A to Z). The lure of the land obviously proved too overwhelming for Katie, who's bought a few, more-or-less adjoining old parcels perched up behind Maury (overlooked by Chateau Quéribus, hence the arrow on the pic.) on pretty steep, very rocky soil (mostly pure grey/black schist on top), which are a challenge to access even for her old faithful 4x4 "love wagon" (it has a few pink hearts on it). As if that wasn't enough to take on, she's now also sought out a nice little plot closer to home, in the Fitou appellation, to add to her pocket-size vineyard patchwork. Hence why you'll see this blurb on Katie filed under Roussillon and Languedoc, as she's one of a handful who are difficult to pinpoint, for the purposes of my mini-profiles I mean rather than being a bureaucratic stickler, with vineyards and cellar in different "regions". The cellar's in Tuchan actually, not Paziols where her house is. "Confused, you will be..."
Anyway, what's new? For the reasons I just mentioned, Katie's opted to use the pristine "Vin de France" labelling moniker; as well as for pure simplicity in that "does was it says on the label" kinda way... enhanced by distinctive flowery leafy wallpaper design, of course! I've now tasted the 2009 wines, her first vintage, three of them bottled and two from cask made with a little help from south of France resident Australian winemaker David Morrison. She's also launched a fun new website (with a few tasty Med recipes too), where you can order the wines for delivery in the UK if that rings your bell (see below: no, I'm not a shareholder by the way). Future plans include making a red Fitou from 2011 to supplement the Jones range, as she didn't really get hold of this handsome little parcel in time this year to work the grapes as she'd like to (see link to update below). Sampled in July & August 2010:
2009 Jones Blanc (Grenache gris + splash of Muscat, half barrel-fermented in new and three year-old casks, 13% alc.) - aromatic floral nose with light coconut/cedar and toasted honey tones; exotic peachy touches on the palate vs "chalky" texture, nice balance of fruit vs lees/toast vs steelier side; quite elegant actually and drinking well already, finishing with light bitter twist vs grainy/creamy mouth-feel vs fresh bite. £15/€12 87
2009 Jones Rouge (20 to 70 year-old Grenache, 14.5%) - a tad closed up and unrevealing (just bottled when I first tried it) but a bit of air brings out enticing sweet cherry, liquorice and herbal berry fruit; nice dry vs smooth mouth-feel with peppery and punchy finish, its "sweet/savoury" profile develops in the mouth then it tightens up; again has an appealing "mineral" side vs powerful and peppery, in the end it's quite elegant in an attractively "earthy" Grenache-y way. £15/€12 87-89
2009 Jones Muscat (70 g/l residual sugar, 13%) - voluptuous honeyed grapey nose with a touch of citrus marmalade; rich vs refreshing palate actually showing lovely cut and balance, lush and honeyed vs mineral and quite fine. £10 50cl 87-89
2009 Carignan (from barrique) - delicious already showing fair depth and purity with ripe blue fruits; has a certain lushness vs a tad of spicy coconut texture/aroma/flavour, nice weight and "drinkability" vs firm and tight finish still, attractively full-bodied vs underlying fresh side. 89+
2009 Grenache (one barrel held back as an experiment) - different profile and texture, rounder and less fruity and at the moment with chunky finish vs underlining "sweetness." On verra as they say...
UPDATED December 2011: click here to view a note and some info on Katie's new release red Fitou.
Tasted, savoured and gently quaffed at the Circle of Wine Writers' 50th anniversary dinner at the National Café, London WC2, on May 17th 2010 ("Flaunt it baby, flaunt it," as Zero Mostel said in "The Producers"): my notes got a bit lost in a pile of paper until now...
These three reds served with rack of spring lamb or wild mushroom risotto:
1996 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac Grand Cru Classé - smoky maturing nose with savoury tobacco vs liquorice even; rich mouth-feel and depth vs still quite firm tannins, although I like its seductive chewy roundness; complex maturing finish with "sweet/savoury" and tobacco tones again vs underlying grip indicating there's still life in it yet. 92-94
1998 Château Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien Grand Cru Classé - leafy cedary blackcurrant aromas vs maturing savoury edges; lighter palate with fresher acidity, attractive crunchy cassis fruit vs sweeter/savoury texture; gets richer and more open with air, probably very good for this tricky vintage. 88-90
2001 Château Canon La Gaffeliere Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé - ripe black fruits even with quite rustic smoky profile, intricate and "cheesy" (like old Rioja) too; still showing a touch of dry grip vs "sweet" texture and oomph (13.5% ?); lush, seductive and soupier too (bretty even?) but difficult not to like it! Tastes older than the other two. 90-92
With apple tarte tatin:
2002 Château Guiraud Sauternes Premier Cru Classé - delicious actually, even if not very rich and exotic; shows classy spicy nose with dried fruits, honey and marmalade; fine cut and bite vs oily texture, lovely balance. 88-90
Oh, we also enjoyed a wee glass of Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champers with nibbles beforehand to set the scene nicely. Afterwards, back to reality to catch a late tube. Ho hum. Picture from www.lynchbages.com
Château de CampugetCampuget is a much larger property than Pastouret (see winery A to Z, right) and actually borders it on one side, although you have to go quite a long way round country lanes to get from one to the other. Anyway, there is a genuine and rather cute old Château in classic French bourgeois style, which you can rent out for functions apparently! Owned by the Dalle family, who makes quite a big range of appellation wines and vins de pays also including the ones from their other nearby estate Château de L'Amarine. They can all be tasted in their comfy, former old barn of a tasting room & shop next to the chateau, which is found more or less in the middle of a forest although well signposted from approaching roads. I visited and tasted these in June 2009 with son Franck-Lin Dalle (approx retail prices €5 to €12):
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes white (Roussanne/Grenache blanc/Viognier) - aromatic oily and zesty, turning more exotic in the mouth with a bit of weight then crisp and mouth-watering. 80+
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes rosé (13%) - zingy and crisp palate, tasty light-ish style, nice quaffer. 80+
2008 Invitation Costières de Nîmes red (13.5%) - peppery bright black cherry style, ripe and juicy vs touch of grip then darker "sweeter" liquorice flavours; again tasty and quite easy-going although has a bit of oomph too. 85-87
2005 La Sommelière Costières de Nîmes red (100% Syrah) - a bit more austere and serious, spicy with a touch of chocolate/coconut oak; firmer framework vs maturing tobacco notes and attractive textured tannins. 87+
Campuget's wines are available from www.wineman.co.uk in the UK (Kevin O'Rourke) and www.dreyfusashby.com in New York City.
Update summer 2010: I recently bought their 2009 white and rosé from a supermarket (€3.50 each), which were both enjoyable, well-made and easy-drinking in line with my reviews of the 08s.
'RED'
'Red is for wine, blood, revolution, colour... Time-warped slices of mystery, history, fantasy, crime, art, cinema and love...' Buy the e-book or paperback novel on
Amazon.co.uk or
Amazon.com. Click
here to view the RED blog!
Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.
