Lazy days in Laurens

Well, I said I'd be posting quite a lot whilst in France, but I obviously lied - the best laid plans can sometimes be scuppered by a desire to do nothing more than just chill-out (a bit of a misnomer, given the scorching weather we are experiencing here in Languedoc)!

We left Nottingham at around 2am last Friday morning and managed to catch an earlier ferry than we had booked, which made my planned detour to a couple of growers in Jasnieres (north of Tours, in the Loire) much more do-able. I'd wanted to do this ever since a fabulous tasting of Jasnieres whites and Coteaux du Loir reds a few weeks ago at the Nottingham Wine Circle.  We visited 2 growers - Raynald & Francine Lelais at Domaine des Gauletteries and Domaine Philippe Sevault. I'll tell you more about these growers - and that brilliant tasting in Nottingham - in another post.

Having failed to make it in time for a visit to third grower (by this time it was 7pm on a Friday evening and most sensible natives of the region probably had better things to do) we decided to head cross-country towards Clermont Ferrand and the A75 autoroute across the Massif Central, where we planned to grab a few hours kip in the car, before arriving in Languedoc on Saturday morning. At one point, just before the sun went down, we were hit by an almighty thunderstorm, so had to stop for a few minutes. My camera skills aren't really up to scratch, but here's a picture of the sun going down over the Auvergne, surrounded by a very dark sky.........

A spectacular sunset following a cloudburst over the Auvergne

All went otherwise to plan, although I did get flashed by a speed camera on a particularly steep (downhill) and very winding section of the autoroute, just south of Clermont. However, considering the speed limit on that stretch was 90kph and I was doing exactly that, I would be more than a little miffed if I got a ticket. Actually, I have been flashed on the autoroute at least a couple of times in previous years (again, not going particularly fast) and I've never had a ticket yet. French speed cameras do seem to go off a bit indiscriminately, it seems. We shall see......

After a few hours sleep, we had just a couple of hours' drive to Laurens (our base in Languedoc) so we decided to avoid the 6.50 Euro toll for the Viaduc de Millau and take the "old" route down into Millau and up the other side of the Causse. A drive of around 15 kilometres, which might once have taken several hours (before the viaduct was built, this was a single carriagway bottleneck between two stretches of 3-lane autoroute) took no more than half an hour, which included a stop to take in some bracing early-morning air and a photo or two...............

The magnificent Viaduc de Millau

We arrived at our destination much earlier than we have ever done before (indeed, too early to be able to get in) so we nipped to Pézenas to do a quick shop for supplies, then back to our lovely little hideaway in Laurens..........

Frankly, we have been very lazy since we arrived - sunbathing, the occasional dip in the pool, a glass or two of wine, a bike ride or two in the surrounding countryside and some lovely meals on the patio have been the order of the day so far. We did meet up with the delightful Brigitte Chevalier yesterday evening, to taste through her range of wines (including barrel samples of her brilliant 2010's) and I'll tell you more about that in another post.

A typical Faugeres scene, whilst out on a gentle evening bike ride

Scrumping for cherries!

Of course, we've enjoyed plenty of lovely wines, including this delightful little number.......

Domaine de Gauletteries 2010 Coteaux du Loir

80% Pinot d'Aunis, the remaining 20% being a mix of Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Cot a.k.a. Malbec). Light ruby red in colour - not much darker than a full rosé. In my relatively limited experience, I have come to understand that Pinot d'Aunis displays quite a distinct aromatic profile, and this one has bags of character - redcurrant, cherry and wild strawberry, damp earth, ground pepper, tobacco and a distinct florality are just some of the aromas in what is really quite a complex and beguiling nose. It certainly wouldn't be to everybody's taste, because it is essentially light-bodied - Chateauneuf or Priorat it is not. In fact, it even makes your average Burgundy or Beaujolais seem like big, strapping wines. If I'm honest, I probably would have hated this wine a few years ago, because I would have dismissed it as weedy and thin. But I know better these days. For there is much to reward the contemplative drinker, with a slightly creamy texture and beautifully delicate red fruit flavours of both the fresh and crystallised varieties and even a hint of apple. It has really good (but not excessive) acidity, bags of earthy minerality, light-ish tannins and a warm, spicy/peppery/tangy/sweet and sour finish, which really does linger for quite a while. Red wines rarely get much lighter than this - but rarely do they possess such delightfully rustic charm, either.

Today, we are contemplating a trip to the beach at Marseillan (decisions, decisions!) whilst tomorrow we are off to Limoux, for a couple of grower visits, followed by a night at Domaine Treloar.

More anon!