Riesling of the moment: Juilen Frey

The Freys are organic winegrowers in Dambach la Ville, Alsace: I came across this towards sublime bottle in my local supermarket recently and thought it worth sharing, so to speak (none left now though).

2008 Julien Frey Riesling "Prestige" (12%) - enticing "chalky"  lime aromas mingle with maturing linseed oil tones; subtle and quite soft palate with citrus vs celery profile, gets tighter and fresher on its elegant finish. €7.75

More Alsace Rieslings here:

winewriting.com/organicAlsace
And 2 dozen racy German Rieslings here.

Picture = the Frey family from vinsfreybio.com

Corbières day-tripper

Three profiles/updates on new and established wine estates in the northern Roussillon, southern Corbières and Fitou "highlands" areas have been beamed up to sister ship FrenchMedWine.com: Domaine Bertrand-Bergé, Domaine Jones and Domaine du Grand Arc are in the limelight - follow those links for words and wine reviews.

International Grenache Day

It's this Friday apparently, September 24th. I wouldn't want to start counting how many Grenache-based wines are talked about and reviewed on this blog or sister site Frenchmediterraneanwine.com. From full-on lush reds to lavish Port-like "vins doux naturels" both from "black" Grenache (noir) or Garnacha / Garnatxa, to exotic whites crafted from white Grenache (blanc) / Garnacha blanca and/or Grenache gris, a pinkish skinned relative that can also work for "grey" style rosés; to fruity rounded rosé / rosado / rosat itself made from the "black" version (and sparkling too...)

Still with me? Here are just a few, off the top of my head, that I've particularly enjoyed (sensibly of course) over the last couple of months (mostly from southern France and Spain although Grenache certainly can excel in Australia, California...):

2008 Mas Mudigliza Maury (see post below this one)

2007 Domaine La Fourmente Les Vieux Grenache des Garrigues, Visan (southern Rhone)

2005 Domaine du Chapitre (Ardèche)

2007 Llopart Rosé Cava

2005 Château des Estanilles Faugères Prestige

2007 Domaine Bertrand-Bergé Rivesaltes Tuilé Ma-ga

2009 La Chevalière Grenache

2008 Domaine de Fenouillet Faugères

2006 Mitchelton Crescent, Victoria

2009 Domaine Jones Grenache

2008 Domaine Treloar One Block red

2007 Les Manyes Terroir al Límit, Priorat

2006 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape "cuvée Cadette"

2007 Inferno Domaine Vinci, Roussillon

1980 Millésime Maury Mas Amiel, Roussillon...

Do a search for lots of links to features / guides / profiles including these and many more Grenache wines:
winewriting.com/search?q=Grenache
frenchmediterraneanwine.com/search?q=Grenache

Or click on any Grenache 'label' at the bottom of a post.
Photo = Grenache from vins-rhone.com

Roussillon: Mas Mudigliza, St-Paul-de-Fenouillet

This slightly curiously named estate is Dimitri Glipa and Muriel Samson's fairly new operation based to the west of Maury. Not much on their site at the moment except this nice picture of an old casot, one of those cute little stone shelters you see around in the middle of vineyards, just waiting to be converted into a trendy little studio (I jest)... I tasted these two promising wines at the now internationally famous (I've mentioned it often enough!) and rocking Fenouillèdes show in late April 2009:

2007 Caudalouis white - floral 'mineral' notes turning honeyed and juicy with lightly toasty edges; very dry and crisp vs subtle yeast-lees and toasted texture. 85+

2007 Carminé red Côtes du Roussillon - lovely spicy nose with violet, dark cherry and chocolate tones; tasty 'sweet & savoury' palate with chunky but ripe tannins, powerful and fruity on the finish. 88-90

UPDATE summer/autumn 2010

To fill in the blanks on some of those unanswered questions above, I called in at Dimitri's cellar in Saint-Paul in July to catch up and taste the latest. He told me their vineyards are "mostly around St-Paul on the south side, although often north-facing as you head towards Maury... and some parcels in St-Arnac at altitude (south of Maury)..." US importers include Thomas Calder (based in Paris I think?), Garagiste wine in Seattle and R Wine in NYC (not sure if I've got that right?); and Champagne et Chateaux who sell to a number of independents around the UK.

2009 CaudaLouis vin de pays Côtes Catalanes (mostly Grenache gris + Macabeu 14.5% alc.) - toasty mealy and spicy vs floral apricot notes; nice rounded mouth-feel with subtle concentration, still quite woody with creamy lees edges vs zesty and lively; powerful too yet well-balanced and mineral on the finish. 87-89

2008 Carminé Côtes du Roussillon (Grenache Carignan Syrah 14.5% ) - delicious perfumed black cherry, liquorice and spice aromas; quite tight crunchy and fresh on the palate vs subtle richness with ripe cassis and wild berries, underlying vanilla coating too with power and dry/sweet tannins; fairly elegant actually despite that weight. 87-89

2007 Symbiosis Côtes du Roussillon (Carignan Syrah Grenache 14.5% ) - from schist soils at altitude. Richer darker and toastier with chocolate and coconut on the nose; big mouthful of lush fruit vs grippy yet textured tannins, tight toasty finish vs nice concentration and spice. Needs 1-2 years to open up. 89-91

2008 Symbiosis (more Syrah this vintage, barrel sample) - spicier coco nose, lighter crisper mouth-feel even with tight and grainy texture; subtle spicy berry fruit underneath, closes up on the finish. Less full-bodied than the 07 but less wood and nice bite too.

2008 Maury - delicious ripe black cherry fruit with savoury leather edges; tannins softening up nicely although still has good bite vs sweetness (75-80 g/l residual sugar = less than many Maurys), youthful fiery finish vs lovely balance of 'sweet/savoury' fruit. 88+

2009 Maury (from tank) - very black cherry and liquorice, more intense and lush with nice peppery touches; tasty sweet vs dry finish, promising.

20 Rue de Lesquerde, 66220 St-Paul-de-Fenouillet. Tel: 04 68 35 01 99.

www.masmudigliza.fr / facebook.com/Mas-Mudigliza

Mas Mudigliza

Update on FMW.com: "This slightly curiously named estate is Dimitri Glipa and Muriel Samson's fairly new operation based in St-Paul-de-Fenouillet..." Featuring their 2009 CaudaLouis white, 2007 & 2008 Symbiosis red Côtes du Roussillon and 2008 & 2009 Maury. Click here for latest notes on these wines...

Languedoc: Domaine Virgile Joly, Saint-Saturnin

Virgile Joly, with several years grape-growing and winemaking under his belt working at a few leading estates in France and Chile, founded his own winery in 2000. Starting out with just one hectare (2.5 acres) in the Saint-Saturnin area on the edge of the Larzac hills, the estate grew bigger the following year coupled with him fully implementing organic farming methods. It's now nearly 10 ha in size planted with white and red Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault (plus a couple of quirky unexpected varieties for their odd but nice liqueur wine: see below). Virgile's different vine-plots lie around three villages on pebbly slopes at between 100m and 400m above sea level. I met him and his Polish wife Magdalena in mid September 2010 at their harvest party in the winery, when they also test-drove the Vinolodge "prototype" to be launched next year: more on that here .

2008 Saturne white (Grenache blanc) - zesty green fruit with light peppery tones vs fuller juicier mouth-feel; attractive subtle and quite fresh length. Served a bit warm and probably time to move on to the 09, but nice enough style. 85

2009 Le Joly rosé (Grenache, Syrah) - attractive mix of creamy red fruits vs crunchy and crisp texture, a bit of oomph too (14.5%!) but it's not out of balance amazingly. Rosé for food and thought. 85+

2008 Le Joly Languedoc red (Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan) - enticing liquorice and white pepper aromas; "sweet" vs dry mouth-feel with a touch of punch, fairly easy going and refreshing too actually, for a red. 85+

2007 Saturne red (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault) - peculiar earthy herbal red pepper notes (unripe? reduced?), powerful palate then slightly bitter finish. Not sure.

2003 Virgile red (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan) - mature nose with liquorice and leather, spicy pruney and dried fruit aromas/flavours too; dark and rich mouthful, powerful with dry tannins vs attractive savoury finish. Good stuff for a heatwave 2003. 87-89

2004 Virgile white (Grenache blanc) - surprisingly good still with its old nutty Burgundy charm vs oily Riesling characters! Rounded mouth-feel with lightly toasted and hazelnut notes, quite lush vs a touch of fresh acidity underneath. 87-89

2004 Carthagène Vin de liqueur rosé (Chasselas, Servant, Cinsault, Syrah) - odd elderflower wine / old tawny Port combo, pink flowers and perfumed cherries; quite rich caramelised / oxidised with tangy vs punchy palate, sweet floral vs aged notes. Strange but nice! 87

These wines are available in wooden gift-boxes via their website (rather dear though).

Oct. 2011 UPDATE: click here for a note on their 2005 Virgile white.
And his latest vintages are discussed and tasted HERE (posted Dec. 2012)

22 rue du portail, 34725 Saint-Saturnin de Lucian. Tel: 04 67 44 52 21, www.domainevirgilejoly.com.