Languedoc: Pézenas

From roujan.blogspot.com

Lying roughly between Béziers and Montpellier, the Mediaeval town of Pézenas' main claim to fame is as a one-time hang-out for playwright Molière and his merry theatre troupe in the 1650s; and is now the focal point of a new Languedoc village-appellation for red wines. There were a few good and very good ones to try here, which confirmed the positive vibes I've got from tasting some of these wines before. However, apparently several Pézenas producers submitting samples accidentally entered their wines under the straight Languedoc AOC category, which I didn’t taste this year so obviously didn’t get the complete picture. It appears that people like Domaines Paul Mas, Les Aurelles (their 2008 and 2009 “Aurel” were filed on a different table, although I did find a 2010 sample and I tried their 2005 one evening over dinner) and St. Jean de Bébian (ditto, except for a 2010 sample) were missing from this line-up…

Once again, the serene setting was Château de Flaugergues (profile to follow) during the annual “Millésimes en Languedoc” tasting sessions in late March 2011. I’ve used my ‘new-fangled’ scoring system of one, two or three ‘ticks’ (good, very good, fabulous); or just plain 1 to 3 for the wines below. Euro prices are cellar door per bottle inc. VAT, added after the event.

Remparts de Neffiès - Domaine Pech Rome “Clemens” 2008 (60% Grenache, 15% Carignan, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre; 14.5% alc.) - maturing perfumed minty cassis and black cherry, turning savoury with nice fruit, grip and fresh bite, subtle and long. 2-3 €12

Domaine Pech Rome “Opulens” 2005 – aromatic sweet/savoury fruit, ripe vs grippy texture with well-balanced elegant finish. 2

Allegria "Tribu d'A" 2008 (70% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre; 14.5% alc.) – again attractive aromatics with grainy wood too, bit dried out vs some subtle fruit? €9

Domaine du Clos Roca 2009 (40% Carignan, 10% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre; organic) – meaty/savoury tobacco touches vs rich dark fruit, chunky tannins dominate at the moment vs solid fruit core; very tight and unrevealing finish with punch. 1-2 €7.90

Domaine Turner Pageot "Le Rouge" 2009 (80% Grenache, 20% Syrah; biodynamic) – ester-y cherry fruit, extracted and firm style although has some nice smoky notes and dark ‘tar’ side; needs time perhaps although those tannins are a bit hard. 1 €11

Château Condamine Bertrand 2009 (50/50 Grenache/Syrah) - scented oak and wild berries with herby touches, pretty intense cassis then darker fruit, tight and fresh vs firm but attractive texture, punchy and long but quite fine. 2 €16

Alignan du Vent Cépages "Hadrien" 2009 (70% Syrah, 30% Grenache) - vibrant chunky spicy black cherry, pretty grippy vs lively fruity and punchy too; maybe a touch ‘overdone’. 1 €6.90

Domaine Magellan 2009 (50/50 Grenache/Syrah; 14.5% alc.) - enticing sweet berry vs tobacco fruit, firm vs sweet mouth-feel, lighter touch than some of the others, nice style. 1-2 €12

Domaine Les Aurelles “Aurel” 2005 (2/3 Mourvèdre + Syrah/Grenache) – very white peppery with resiny/savoury edges, quite concentrated vs elegant, nice style and drinking well now. 1-2

“Aurel” 2010 (cask/tank sample) - rich dark and spicy, nice big mouthful, concentrated and chunky tannins, lovely fruit and oomph. 2-3

St. Jean de Bébian 2010 (cask/tank sample: SGM) - oaky/malo-lactic notes dominating, a bit clunky and awkward at this stage, need to try it when finished and ‘together’.

Languedoc: Saint-Chinian Berlou and Roquebrun

Berlou and Roquebrun are the two newish (2005) subzones in Saint-Chinian country created around these two villages found on the appellation’s northern edges, with the Orb river more or less forming a partition between them. Can’t really make a judgement based on tasting four wines; and three of them are from each area’s co-op winery, which is no bad thing, of course, if this lets their growers/winemakers focus on making a couple of special wines, although I’d like to get a better idea of how many small estates are really getting behind these two mini-appellations? I’ve used my ‘new’ scoring system of one, two or three ‘ticks’ (good, very good, fabulous); or just plain 1 to 3 here. Euro prices are cellar door per bottle inc. taxes and were added after the event (21-25 March 2011 in the region).

Les Coteaux de Berlou Château des Albières 2008 (35% old-vine Carignan, 25% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre) - intense sweet-perfumed and spicy, vibrant tangy vs richer liquorice fruit with meaty yet minty edges; peppery pure fruit finish, textured tannins and quite elegant. 2 €9.10

Cave de Roquebrun "Baron d'Aupenac" 2008 (80% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache) – again shows enticing herbal cassis vs liquorice and black cherry, touch of oak layered on grippy tannins; pity as it’s a bit over-extracted after that nice start. 1 €21.65!

Domaine Carrière Audier "St-Martin de Vieussan" 2008 (Mourvèdre/Syrah) – a touch oxidised and turning very savoury already, chunky tannins vs some nice fruit but that baked character rides through it. Could just be a dud bottle? €7.90

Cave de Roquebrun "Terrasses de Maynard" 2009 (60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache) - quite oaky vs lively spicy dark fruit, minty edges vs touch of choc/vanilla adding texture to its big yet rounded tannins, closes up on the finish. A tad clunky perhaps but has good substance etc. 1-2

And from the previous edition of the “Millésimes en Languedoc” tasting sessions in 2010, there were two rather good 2009 vintage reds from two estates not present this time:

Domaine Pin des Marguerites "Pétale Pourpre" 2009 Saint-Chinian-Berlou (Carignan, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah) - peppery garrigue tones with "sweet" blackberry and olive; minty floral blueberry mouthful with "chalky" tannins, fresh bite and quite elegant finish. €11 90
Domaine La Grange Leon "Audacieux" 2009 Berlou (Syrah, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre) - "Black Forest gateau" nose with violet and liquorice notes; concentrated lively mouthfeel with appealing bite, tannins and lingering menthol flavours. €8 90+

Looking back through all six wines, interesting to note perhaps that my favs are from Berlou? Discuss in less than ten words below...