Some new Corbières wines - Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas

Vincent Licciardi and his wife Laurence farm a total of 32 hectares of vines around the sleepy village of Moux, in the foothills of the Montagne d'Alaric, between Carcassone and Narbonne. TLD and I visited them in June, en route from our accommodation in the Ariège region to Faugères. And although our rather fraught journey (including a horrendous traffic jam on the autoroute) made us around 2 hours late for our appointment, we were treated to an excellent 4-course lunch, including an absolutely wonderful summer truffle risotto, accompanied by the full range of wines. It would be difficult to find a more friendly and charming couple - and their wines (not forgetting Laurence's home cooking) are delicious!

Vincent and Laurence Licciardi

The vines grow on a subsoil of limestone and clay and benefit from a terroir defined by the warm Mediterranean sun and the dry winds of the northerly Cers Tramontane. They employ sustainable viticultural practices, with only minimal use of spraying in the vineyards, when absolutely necessary.

Moux, with the Montagne d'Alaric in the background

The winery at Prieuré Sainte Mari d'Albas

The grapes are hand-picked at the height of their maturity (at yields averaging no more than 35 hl/ha) and are pre-selected during the harvest itself, prior to being vinified in such a way as to bring the best out of the fruit and yield genuinely expressive wines. The reds are all vinified using the carbonic maceration method (i.e. whole bunches - a la Beaujolais). Although I am not normally a fan of this method, the red wines of Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas manage to be rich, fruity and beautifully balanced, yet imbued with typical Lanuedoc warmth and spicyness. The rosé is "proper" wine (made from direct pressing, rather than the free-run saignée method) and the white is full of juicy citrus and tree fruit flavours. What's more, we now have the following wines in stock. Try them - you won't be disappointed!

Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas 4 Saisons 2010 Corbières

40% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 30% Syrah. 13.5% abv. Intense, deep purple colour, with real aromatic complexity - a melange of summer pudding fruits, garrigue herbs, cumin and coriander, with hints of roses, violets and leather. On the palate, it is soft, easy drinking, yet nicely concentrated, with a great mouthful of fresh summer fruit flavours, ample acidity and a just the right level of tannic grip. Stylistically, this isn't too far removed from a rather good Cru Beaujolais - in other words, gloriously fruity, but with a little southern warmth thrown-in for good measure. Lovely wine! £9.79.

Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas Terre Rouge 2009 Corbières

50% Grenache, 50% Syrah. 13.5% abv. A deep, intense, glossy purple colour. Another complex nose, displaying aromas of ripe red fruits, crushed blackcurrants, with hints of garrigue herbs, crushed pepper, spices, roasted meats and light mineral notes. There's a hint of clotted cream, too, along with a gentle whiff of fine eau de vie. Indeed, it has a similar aromatic profile to a rather good Chateauneuf! The palate is marked by a breadth of generous spiced black cherry and bramble fruit, with hints of meat and savoury herbs. Supple tannins and refreshing soft citrus-tinged acidity combine to add a sweet and sour quality. A long, spicy finish completes the package, in a wine chock full of southern character. £11.75.

Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas Rosé 2010 Corbières

50% Grenache, 50% Syrah. 12.5% abv. Crystal clear and copper-coloured with salmon pink highlights. Beautifully fragrant, with aromas of raspberry, cherry, mint and garrigue herbs. Bags of juicy red cherry and raspberry fruit on the palate, with a gently creamy texture. This is a "proper" rosé, made from pressed grapes (rather than the usual "saignée" or free-run method), nicely rounded and without any of the slightly bitter notes found in many other rosés. A lovely wine, which strikes a balance between easy-drinking soft summer fruits and refreshing crispness. £8.99.

Prieuré Sainte Marie d'Albas l'Alliance Blanc 2010 Corbières

100% Macabeu. 12.5% abv. Clear and bright with pale yellow/gold highlights. On the nose, delicate floral aromas of white peach, white flowers and lemon oil, with disticnctly herby overtones - basil, mint and oregano spring to mind. The palate is bright and crisp, offering juicy citrus and exotic fruit flavours. There's a fair amount of richness to it - not oily, but expansive and lightly spicy. The finish is very long and gently warming, yet remaining remarkably fresh and mouth-watering. £9.79.

      

New Jurançons from Domaine de Montesquiou, plus a couple of lovely Languedoc reds

The arrival of the latest Jurançon vintages from Domaine de Montesquiou is always one of the highlights of my year, so when they finally arrived at the bonded warehouse last week, I was eager to get my hands on a bottle of each, to taste and enjoy over the weekend. And enjoy them I did! Here are my notes;

Domaine de Montesquiou Cuvade Préciouse 2008 Jurançon Sec

70% Gros Manseng and 30% Petit Manseng, aged for 11 months in oak barrels. This shows richness on the nose, with aromas of baked apples, honey, brioche and spice. The palate is nicely rich, too, with a hint of oiliness and flavours of apples and lime zest, tangerine and a barely perceptible touch of oak. It is also made in a slightly more oxidative, ripe, even opulent style than the 2009 below - more Rioja/Rhone in style, to the 2009's Burgundy style. A lovely wine. £12.50.

Domaine de Montesquiou Cuvade Préciouse 2009 Jurançon Sec

70% Gros Manseng and 30% Petit Manseng, aged for 11 months in oak barrels. This is quite different from the 2008. Were I tasting it blind, I might just mistake it foir a very young white Burgundy, with its aromas of peach and apricot combined with herbs, smoke and very subtle oak. The palate is less rich and more tightly-structured than the 2008, lemony rather than limey, and with huge mineral depth. It is a bit like a supercharged version of La Rosée de Montesquiou (a cuvée not made in 2009) and certainly has a lot more to give in the next year or two, whilst I would expect it to peak in perhaps 5 years. It is a really lovely wine, and makes for a fascinating comparison with the opulent 2008. £12.50.

Domaine de Montesquiou Grappe d'Or 2008 Jurançon

100% Petit Manseng, aged for 11 months in oak barrels. A vivid 24 carat gold colour with orange glints. The nose has complex aromas of honey and woodsmoke, with hints of toasted brioche, cinnamon, clove and a touch of oak vanillin. And that is before I even mention the fruits! As ever, this wine is complex in the extreme, with notes of apricot, apple, mango, orange and lime oil. And the palate sure matches the nose, with all of the above coming into play, along with subtle spice and toffee notes. It has a beautifully rich, oily texture in the mouth, and the flavours coat the palate and linger for an age. And then, of course, there is that wonderful, searing lemon and lime acidity and minerality, the like of which (in my opinion) is unrivalled by any other sweet wine style in the world, and balances the richness so perfectly - a more finely poised sweet wine is hard to imagine. Although the grapes for this wine are not harvested until deep into November (and occasionally December) botrytis is not necessarily a classic Jurançon trait, since the region is only occasionally visited by the autumn mists necessary for the growth of this particularly (sweet wine-friendly) fungus. And yet this particular vintage displays many of the hallmarks of a somewhat botrytised harvest, with its intense honey and apricot notes. When I first opened a bottle, I considered it to be almost as good as the outstanding 2004 and 2007 vintages. But now, a full 6 days after opening, it is so spectacularly good that I have no doubt whatsoever that it is the finest vintage I have tasted - it is utterly, utterly brilliant! £16.99.

Hot on the heels of the Jurançon pallet came 2 pallets of wines, from no less than 4 different Languedoc growers (or 6, if you include some lovely Corbieres and another delicious Faugères find from the negociant arm of my friend Brigitte Chevalier's stable of wines). These arrived on Monday, so I hot-footed it up to Rotherham on Tuesday, to collect some stocks. There was already 6 inches of snow in Rotherham by then, and I returned home to find just as much had been dumped where I live, to add to the inch or two we'd had over the weekend. I'm now busy tasting through some of these wines and preparing the notes for my website, so will be posting them here, in the coming days. Frankly, there's not a lot else to do, whilst we are well and truly snowbound! Here's a couple of delicious new reds for starters;

Domaine St Martin d'Agel 2008 Faugères

55% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan, aged in vat. Medium raspberry/purple colour. The aromas are beautifully fresh and vibrant, suggesting bramble, blackcurrant, plum and orange, with background notes of cinnamon and oregano. The palate is similarly fresh and juicy, crammed full of fresh and crystallised bramble fruits, a touch of black cherry, creamy vanilla and a delightfully fresh, orangey acidity. The tannins are beautifully soft and velvety and there is just a hint of spiciness to the finish. This is a really nice wine, and a fine introduction to the wines of the Faugères appellation. It isn't serious, but it is seriously soft, refreshing, food-friendly and very more-ish! £8.95.

Domaine du Grand Cres La Cadela 2006 Corbières

70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. A bright, medium-deep ruby red colour, with an expressive nose of plum skin, cherry and raspberry, a hint of tar and woodsmoke, and pronounced herby aromas (notably thyme and rosemary). The palate is beautifully fresh and fruity, with bags of red and black fruit flavours, soft spices and herbs, supple tannins and a refreshing streak of orange-tinged acidity. From one of the best growers in Corbières, this really is an attractive, elegant wine, which is lovely to drink now - but there's no hurry. £9.75.

More anon........

     

Vinisud report, part 5 - some super wines from a couple of my current growers

The wines of Mas de Lavail have been an integral part of my list for some years now. Indeed, I visited the estate again last summer, to taste the wines and bring back some sample bottles for tasting at home. On the basis of those bottles, I only intended to import two of the wines (the basic "Tradition" plus the vintage Maury, both of which are excellent, year-in, year-out) since I feared that some of the other cuvées were becoming a bit too big and rich - and hot - for their own good. But I'm glad that I stopped by their stand at Vinisud to taste the current vintages, because they all showed beautifully, and were generally a lot more restrained and balanced than the previous vintages. 

First up was Le Sud 2008 Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes, which is a 50/50 blend of Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc. Aromas of honey, citrus, fennel and creamy oak vanillin. At 14.5% abv, this is still a rich, powerful wine, but so much fresher than the 2007. I liked it a lot, so it is back on my shopping list!

Next was the red Tradition 2008 Cotes du Roussillon Villages, comprising 40% Syrah, 20% Grenache and 40% Carignan, aged in vat. This is a consistently reliable wine, and offers a brilliant quality/price ratio. This one has a nose of fresh fruits and tobacco and a palate that is juicy and ripe, with velvety tannins and good acidity. It's a shame I missed out on the outstanding 2007, which was undoubtedly the best vintage of this cuvée I have tasted, but the 2008 runs it very close. Another one for the shopping list. La Desirade 2006 Cotes du Roussillon is 50% Syrah, plus Grenache and Carignan, aged in barrel for 12 months. My note is a bit sparse, save to say that it is again better than the preious vintage, soft and lush, with a lot of fruit and nicely balanced. Ego 2006 Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes is (as always) a super-ripe 100% Grenache wine. At 11 o'clock in the morning (for it has just occurred to me that this was the very first stand we visited, even before the Sud de France room) I would have expected this wine to taste big and tannic, but not a bit of it - it is soft and voluptuous. Rich, but not soupy, and with surprising balance, given that it comes in at 15% abv. Another winner.

Maury Expression 2008 is also 100% old vine Grenache, made by the "mutage sur grains" method, with the fermentation stopped by the addition of a relatively small amount of grape spirit - classic Maury. Deep red, with a fragrant nose of stewed bramble, caramel and eau de vie. Extremely complex and mouth-filling, with flavours of bramble fruits, cassis and Seville orange. It has 80g of residual sugar and, at just 15.5% abv, is elegant and delicious. As I expected, this is a must buy. Muscat de Rivesaltes 2007 was a bit of a revelation, since I'm not the biggest fan of this style. But this was absolutely gorgeous - a riot of grapes, marmalade and clementines. The palate is clean and super-fresh, but with a marmaladey richness. Very long, too. I've yet to taste a better Muscat de Rivesaltes. Finally, Maury Blanc 2007 - quite oaky on the nose, but so complex. The aromas and flavours put me in mind of orange marmalade and fennel, with a fresh, almost zesty streak of acidity. Again, I've never been a fan of white Maury, but this was wonderful.

This was a very impressive line-up of wines and I clearly have some thinking to do. Seven different wines, and each one had merit, which is going to make narrowing it down to four or five a bit difficult. Not that I would expect much take-up for Muscat de Rivesaltes or Maury Blanc, but how could I not buy at least a little to try out on my customers? I may just take some of all seven!

Although I have been importing wines from Brigitte Chevalier for over a year now, we hadn't previously met (it was though my friend Guy Vanlancker, with whom Brigitte works to produce a fine La Liviniere red, that we actually came into contact). Therefore,  it was a joy to finally meet this delightfully unassuming, softly-spoken and intelligent lady, who speaks with great passion and enthusiasm about her subject. Brigitte previously worked as an export manager for négociant company in Bordeaux until she decided to return to her native Languedoc to make wine. She began by making wines from grapes bought-in from other growers. Whilst continuing with this policy, she now also makes top-notch wines from her own estate, Domaine de Cebene, situated in the far north of the Faugeres region. If that were not enough, she also manages her own négoce company, Chevalier Vins, working closely with top quality growers to produce wines from other appellations, such as Corbieres, Minervois.

Brigitte's own Faugeres and Vin de Pays d'Oc wines are not cheap, but they are amongst the best of their kind. Although I did of course taste those very wines whilst at Vinisud, I didn't make any notes - they are comprehensively covered on the Brigitte Chevalier page on my website. I did however taste some other wines in which Brigitte has a hand in both making and marketing, in conjunction with other growers. Chateau Fabas Minervois Rosé 2009 is, as I noted, simply lovely - proper rosé! Concertino 2007 Corbieres is really lovely stuff - wild and herby, with lovely fruit and spice flavours. I liked it a lot - and it is great value at well under 3 Euros ex-cellars. Domaine du Grand Cres "La Cadella" 2007 Corbieres is finer and more serious, but again with some lovely fruity, spicy flavours. A structured but supple wine, with some potential for ageing. At around 3 Euros ex-cellars, another serious bargain. Domaine Saint-Martin d'Agel 2008 Faugeres is even better, with lovely aromas of tobacco, garrigue and bramble. The palate is is rich, yet beutifully balanced, with subtle hints of tar and even citrus fruit - a lovely, refreshing red wine, and another really serious bargain at just over 3 Euros.

I look forward very much to working with Brigitte Chevalier in the years ahead, for she is a talented winemaker, who also has the ability to sniff-out some great bargains from other producers around the region. One of whom is, of course, my friend and inspiration, Guy Vanlancker, who just happened to walk by and say hello as we were finishing our tasting with Brigitte. I'll talk about Guy and his wines tomorrow, as well as telling you about my second major new discovery of the trip.