Coming soon: a series of pieces from the Languedoc, where I spent five days last week tasting 2010, 2009 and 2008 vintage (mostly, plus quite a few older reds) wines from several different appellations and some exciting producers too. With a touch of wild-side hiking (Pic Saint Loup), historical cycling (the Midi canal) and good eating (e.g. resto/wine bar tips in Montpellier and Carcassonne) thrown in too.
First up: Faugères focus, a load of old schist? (see above).
I've imported about 50 Roussillon & Languedoc themed blog posts from WineWriting.com 2 and re-published them below this one, to enhance the French Catalan - Occitan - Mediterranean flavouring, appearing in their original date order.
And all 200+ winemaker "profiles" from my Roussillon "French Catalonia" pages and Languedoc winery guides, which were originally published on WineWriting.com (1650+ wine reviews and growing...), will also be teleported onto this blog and posted individually approx. at the same point in time as before. To locate these, see "blog archive" month by month in the right hand column or A to Z listing of profiled estates in the "more wine words" section, where you'll already find lots of magazine and web articles as well.
All new Roussillon & Languedoc blurbs will now be published on this blog, along with any fresh and entertaining wine tasting & travel features on the region, news items, south of France restaurant tips, "wines of the moment" etc. As and when. So, please bear with me during the transition process...
Richard Mark James
Domaine Santamaria 2010 white from Patrimonio (main variety: Vermentino, 13% alc.) - enticing milky lees notes vs appley then peachier fruit, lightly creamy palate vs zesty with refreshing bite vs rounder finish. Also tried their rosé and red, which were okay but their white’s the star.
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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.
