More Chablis: Bichot Vaillons 2009

Following in the wake of my recent Grand Cru Chablis report (this page also contains links to other Chablis recommendations and stories including Marks & Spencer's), I came across a fairly enthusiastic scribbled note on a worth-mentioning Premier Cru Chablis that I enjoyed a glass of not so long ago. This 2009 vintage Vaillons is made by Domaine Long Depaquit (owned by Albert Bichot, one of the producers featured in the above-linked article) and is a tasty classy mouthful of riper richer styled buttery and toffee-edged fruit vs underlining steely mineral side and subtle crisp finish. According to Wine Searcher, it costs about £16 from Fine & Rare Wines in London (that's their case price plus guestimated taxes) or $28 from JJ Buckley in Oakland, CA.

USA: Virginia

Click on this link to view a new page just slotted into my wine country archives:

Virginia: Barboursville, Boxwood, Breaux, King, Veritas, Michael Shaps, White Hall, Williamsburg...

The gist of the blurb: "For non-Americans reading this whose US geography is about as good as mine, the state of Virginia is on the east coast... Viognier, which is becoming one of the most popular white varieties. And you can see why, as they appear to be coaxing generally impressive, expressive yet quite refined wines out of this can't-just-plonk-it-anywhere grape. Petit Verdot, which struggles to impress in Bordeaux's vineyards unless they have very favourable vintage conditions, also looks promising in Virginia; even managing to make some good varietal wines from it... They seem very geared up for wine tourism too, with various wine trails and organised tours and wineries with restaurants and accommodation. It's certainly a pretty state to visit..." Plus 26 whites and reds tasting-noted made by the eight wineries featured in the link above...

Roussillon: Domaine Carle-Courty, Millas

Véronique and Frédéric Carle set up shop, vines and cellar in 1995, leaving their legal and accounting careers happily behind them (still, must be handy experience for getting to grips with local wine politics, admin and economics!), up on the slopes of the Força Réal hill overlooking Millas and other surrounding villages (over 500 metres altitude or about 1550 feet). Twelve out of 15 grape-producing (rather than cats...) hectares (they've been planting more Grenache 'black' and 'grey', as they say in French) have been organic since 2002. Força Réal is a stunning spot and great vantage point to take in the lie of the land of parcelled vineyards, olive groves, wild woodland and rocky outcrops around here. There's a signposted route off the Estagel road leading up to one of those view and info points; and a couple of other estates worth checking out up here too: Domaine Força-Réal and Domaine Boucabeille (profile and wine notes to follow).

2009 Camps Bernats Côtes du Roussillon white (Roussanne, Macabeu, Grenache gris) - quite toasty vs nicely oily and rich, attractive peachy fruit too with creamy and nutty finish. Good stuff, mature now.

2011 Arbosseres rosé (mostly Syrah + Grenache) - full-on colour and red fruity style, quite rich and rounded vs crisp finish. Nice foodie rosé.

2009 Cuvée Marion Côtes du Roussillon red (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre) - enticing dark fruit tinged with subtle oak, punchy and grippy mouth-feel vs lush and ripe, concentrated too. Very good.

2008 Cuvée Quentin Côtes du Roussillon Villages (more Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre) - richer smokier and a tad toastier, concentrated and powerful with solid firm backdrop, closes up on the long finish. Fairly wow.


Photo copied from www.sud-de-france.com, as they don't appear to have their own site yet; but you can email them on domaine.carlecourty@orange.fr if you wanted to call in and taste or find out where to get their wines. These four were tasted at this year's Millésime Bio wine show in Montpellier, where I talked to Frédéric.

France: the Southwest has moved...

Southwest France (Cahors, Madiran, Gascony & Armagnac, Bergerac etc.) has been teleported across to my other blog frenchmediterraneanwine.com (goes to SW archive page on that site) lock stock and barrels; and Bordeaux has now been too. Not very "Mediterranean" I know, but these wines, winemakers and wine-lands arguably have something in common with the broader South (sunshine? Doh.) than with genteel Bordeaux, although I've moved that region over there too to refocus everything French in one place (eventually)...

Australia: Riesling

Petaluma Hanlin Hill
Vineyard Clare Valley

Riesling again, you might possibly be thinking - click on any of these links to read previous words on Aus Riesling and from elsewhere: Germany: Reichsrat von Buhl "Grand Cru" tasting, Blue Nun: retro chic & Indian food, Austria: Weingut Sepp Moser, Eastern Slovenia: "taking on New Zealand", Wolf in sheep's clothing (Alsace), San Antonio, Chile: Casa Marín & Matetic Vineyards, Mosel: some things age better than others, Belfast Wine Festival, the aftermath…, Winery snapshots: Australia, Chile: Leyda, Australia: Riesling (Clare Valley, Tasmania...), Germany: mega Riesling, Terrassen-Mosel, Austria (cont.)...