Vinisud report, part 6 - Domaine La Combe Blanche and Domaine de La Marfée

Blimey - before I know it, Friday night has arrived and I've not posted since Tuesday. I must find more time, though I'm not sure where from. So if anybody knows how to fit more than 24 hours into a day, would you please let me know?

Anyway, continuing into the afternoon of our first day at Vinisud, we moved from Brigitte Chevalier's stand straight on to the Domaine La Combe Blanche stand, to spend some time tasting the wines and chatting with my good friend Guy Vanlancker. Those who know the story of how I got into the wine business in the first place will know about the key role played by this man and his wines. For those who don't, you can read all about it here on my website. You can also read more about my current selection of Guy's wines in the Domaine La Combe Blanche section of the website. Although I am extremely familiar with Guys wines, it would have been remiss of me not to taste a few whilst there.

Apart from his premium cuvées (La Galine and La Chandeliere being the top reds) there were some impressive "basic" Minervois reds. The 2009 - not yet bottled - was fabulously soft and primary, supple and intensely fruity. 2008 was somewhat richer, with ultra-ripe fruit. 2007 combined the richness of the '08 with the freshness of the '09 and was absolutely delicious. 2006 was spicy and firm, with a lovely core of fruit. I currently offer the 2005, which is lovely to drink right now, but my experience of previous vintages tell me it has even more to offer. The Vins de Pays from both Tempranillo and Cinsault are lovely wines, both of which display a mix of varietal character and the local terroir. The only grape that I feel Guy has not really nailed yet - at least on a regular basis - is Pinot Noir. The hills above La Liviniere tend to be subject to all the extremes that the different seasons can offer, and whilst the winters can be harsh - especially up on the relatively high slopes and plateaus - the summers are often conversely hot and dry, meaning that growing Pinot is a hit and miss affair. Then again, we all have our follies. And the occasional miss is more than made up for by an array of successes, year after year. I've been working with Guy from the very first day I started my business - and I'll be working to sell these lovely wines just as long as he keeps making them.

       

After we left Guy, we strolled around the various halls, stopping here and there to taste wines from various growers. Some of the visits were planned, others just took our fancy, for one reason or another. I'll post notes and thoughts on some of the highs and lows in due course. For now, I'll tell you about our last major visit of the day - and one which I had been really looking forward to - which was Domaine de La Marfée. I've had the opportunity to taste one or two older wines from this grower before, so I know how good they can be, and how ageworthy they are. Indeed, I posted a tasting note on a particularly enjoyable Les Vignes Qu'on Abat 1999 a couple of weeks ago. But having never tasted them on release before, I didn't really have any idea what to expect of them, given that they were relatively young. But these wines are, almost without exception, brilliant. There's no other word to describe them, in my humble opinion.

With a backgound in accountancy, Thierry Hasard came relatively late to winemaking, making his first wines in 1997. He farms around 6 hectares of vines (on a dozen or so different plots) near the village of Murviel Les Montpellier, a few kilometres west of Montpellier itself. He currently makes five wines - a white and four different reds.

Frissons d'Embolles 2007 is a blend of 70% Roussanne and 30% Chardonnay. It is full of minerally character, with aromas and flavours of herbs, stone fruit and citrus. There's a hint of reduction, though it certainly doesn't detract from the wine, and a touch of classy oak, which adds richness and depth. But the overall impression is of purity and finesse. A really lovely wine.

Les Gamines 2007 is 50% Syrah, 40% Mourvedre and 10% Grenache. I was obviously too busy enjoying this wine, because my rather brief note reads "berries galore - soft but so complex!"

Della Francesca 2007 is 85% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah. Savoury and herby, but again so fruity. Grippy and quite tight at present, but full of rich, almost pastilley-sweet fruit, with excellent balancing acidity.

Les Vignes Qu'on Abat 2007 is 100% Carignan. Once again, we have gorgeous, almost lush fruit, with hints of garrigue and an almost schiste-like minerality and remarkably ripe, velvety tannins. This is another really fabulous wine, which is already surprisingly approachable. A real testament to the potential of old Carignan vines (in the hands of the right winemaker, of course).

Les Champs Murmurés 2007 is Syrah and Mourvedre, made from very old vines. It is a little bit closed on the nose at present, although the palate is much more expressive. Again, a rich core of fruit, but with a cloak of tannins that needs another 2 or 3 years to soften. Nevertheless, another beautifully structured and classy wine.

Looking at the above notes, I almost sound as if I'm damning these wines with faint praise, but I can assure you that I was completely bowled over by them. The white is up there with the very best I have tasted from Languedoc. And the reds all have one particular thing in common, whatever the blends or varieties - and that is a depth of fruit which I find hard to describe. The nearest descriptor I can think of is fruit pastilles (especially the red and black ones) with a rich, deep flavour, like ultra-ripe raspberries and blackcurrants, but alwayys with a lick of mouth-watering acidity. Monsieur Hasard has been quoted as saying that he believes terroir is more important than grape variety. Whatever it may be down to (I think it is probably a blend of great terroir, top-notch viticulture and damn fine winemaking) there appears to be a clear style to these wines, and one that I find very easy to fall in love with. They are just wonderful.

Thierry Hasard of Domaine de La Marfée,

applying a biodynamic preparation in his vineyard

As with Mas Foulaquier (whose wines I talked about in part 2 of this report), it wasn't until later that I discovered that Domaine de La Marfée is biodynamic. Which I guess should not have come as a surprise. As I have said before, whatever you think of biodynamicism (extreme organics or just plain whacky) it is a philosophy which does tend to go hand-in-hand with a healthy respect for the land and a fastidious approach to winemaking. And when the wines are this good, you can't help but begin to believe in it.

I have therefore wasted no time in placing an order for a selection of all five of the above wines from Domaine de La Marfée (along with the range of wines from Mas Foulaquier) which should arrive in stock within the next 2 to 3 weeks. To say I am excited at the prospect of having them on my list is an understatement - I can't wait!

    

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.
      

Vinisud report, part 4 - some thoughts from our first morning at Vinisud

After our rather hectic and very long day on Sunday, Bernard and I finally returned to our hotel in Marseillan at around half past midnight. I'm not saying I was tired, but after around 40 hours without any quality sleep, I was out like a light virtually as soon as my head hit the pillow. Eight hours of solid sleep later, it was time to get up again and face another day's wine tasting. Such a chore, I'm sure you'll agree, but it certainly beats what I usually have to look forward to on an average Monday morning!

Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't serve breakfast on a winter's Monday morning, so we took a stroll up the harbour to a café. 14 Euros for two coffees, two glasses of orange juice and four croissants wasn't particularly cheap, but it provided a welcome start to the day. By 9.30, we were on the road, and on this particular occasion, we took the coast road from Marseillan to Sete. Those of you with experience of this part of Mediterranean France will know that this particular stretch of beach is an enticing sight during the summer months. In winter, though, it is a different proposition - a stiff offshore breeze and a temperature of no more than 7 or 8 celsius, with the waves whipping-up to the very edge of the rocks, ensures that you don't hang around for long. Certainly makes you feel alive, though!

The beach near Marseillan Plage, with Sete in the distance.

Bernard looks impatient to get some wine tasting done!

Then it was off to the Parc des Expositions for the main event. Now believe me, Vinisud is big - very big. With around 1200 exhibitors, spread over 12 halls of sizes varying between large and very large, you could easily spend a whole week there and only really scratch the surface. But it lasts for just 3 days, and we were there for just 2. Therefore, it pays to go with a plan, otherwise it is very easy to waste a day just getting your bearings and meandering aimlessly - I know, because I've done that before. That is if you can actually get in to begin with. This is the third edition of Vinisud I have attended, and I've never seen it so busy. And I think that the organisers were taken by surprise as well, because, by the time we arrived at around 10.30, the car parks were all full. After driving around for ages, we finally gave up and drove off the site and looked for parking nearby. We eventually ended up on the side of the main road that runs along the back of the complex - not too bad, since it only entailed a 15-minute walk. Once in, we wasted no time in getting stuck in to some serious wine tasting. What follows (both in this post and a fe subsequent ones) is really just a resumé of the 2 days we spent at Vinisud - which was a mixture of planned stops at some of my own growers' stands, some new growers that Bernard and I were both interested in trying, plus a few unscheduled stops at stands that (for one reason or another) looked as if they might be interesting.

We started with an unscheduled visit to the Sud de France stand (actually, more like a giant room) which offered 421 different wines from some of the best - and perhaps not-so-best - growers in Languedoc and Roussillon who, I believe, had been asked to submit one or two wines for this line-up. The full-colour, ring-bound, A5-sized booklet produced especially for this line-up (and available free of charge) was impressive in itself. Each wine has its own page, containing just about as much information about wine and grower as you could want. At almost 3 centimetres thick, it was more of a book than a booklet! Rather than plough through the whole lot, from start to finish, we headed straight for the "Icon" wines. Here are a few brief thoughts.....

Following the recent Pinot Noir scandal, I couldn't resist trying Toques & Clochers Chardonnay "Autan" 2007 Limoux from the now infamous and discredited Sieur d'Arques co-operative. Undoubtedly a classy wine, with lots of oak treatment and really very well made. Not that I'll be jumping to buy any, in the forseeable future, whatever the price. Chateau Puech-Haut "Tete de Bélier" 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc is a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne, and has a lovely, fresh, fruity and herby nose - very elegant, with restrained use of oak. Domaine de Ravanes "Le Renard Blanc" 2005 VdP des Coteaux de Murviel is 100% Grenache Gris and is weird - quite oaky and reductive, with a combination of gunpowder and crystallised citrus fruits on the nose. A touch of residual sugar on the palate, with flavours of lemon, orange and toffee. Very whacky, but intense and really lovely. Then again, with an ex-cellars price of 22.50 Euros, it should be - that's getting on for £35 retail.

Although I didn't write any notes, the two wines from Clos Centeilles - namely, Capitelle de Centeilles 2002 Minervois and Clos Centeilles 2003 Minervois La Liviniere (yes, you read the vintages correctly) - were both hanging on beautifully. The former is from 55 year-old Cinsault vines, whilst the latter is Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache. Considering that these wines were produced in two of the most difficult vintages in recent decades (for very different reasons, of course) they were remarkably fine, and still very much alive. Having been extremely impressed with the whole range, when I visited Clos Centeilles around 10 years ago, it looks like I should pay them another visit sometime soon. Chateau de Cazeneuve "Le Roc des Mates" 2006 Pic Saint-Loup was herby, spicy and rich, with black fruit flavours. Ultimately, though, it seemed a bit simple - although there might be something more appealing lurking under all those tannins.

Domaine de Montcalmes 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac, on the other hand, which is another 'GSM' blend, was everything I expected it to be - schisty, herby, black olive and red/black fruits (particularly redcurrant). Great cool-climate Languedoc wine, fresh, balanced and almost sexy(!) I have some 2004 and 2005 tucked away in my own cellar, which pleases me no end. Superb wine. Possibly even better (though with an ex-cellars price of 28 Euros, as opposed to 10.5 for the Montcalmes, it damn-well ought to be) was Le Clos des Fées 2007 Cotes du Roussillon Villages. Made from equal parts of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre, this was another supremely fresh, elegant, expressive wine, which is everything I would expect from one of the most hyped growers in Roussillon. Perhaps the fact that the yields are a miniscule 16 hl/ha and the wine is both vinified and aged in brand new oak barrels means that the production costs are high, though that ex-cellars price does suggest a retail price of around 40 quid, which is far from cheap. It is bloody lovely, though!

Domaine Gayda Chemin de Moscou 2007 VdP d'Oc is made by a "producteur/négociant" with vine holdings and suppliers in many different appellations in Languedoc and Roussillon. If this wine is anything to go by, I'd like to try some of their other wines. This wine (72% Syrah, plus Grenache and Cinsault) was fresh, perfumed and full of fruit. Very complex and really very good - especially at under 10 Euros a bottle, ex-cellars. Domaine l'Aiguiliere offered both of their flagship Coteaux du Languedoc Montpeyroux wines, namely Cote Dorée 2006 and Cote Rousse 2006, both of which are 100% Syrah, though from two totally different terroirs. The former seemed a bit green and tannic at this stage, whilst the latter was somewhat fresher, though still tannic and quite tarry. Let's be honest, they were certainly not easy wines to taste on a Monday morning, though I am loathe to damn them at such a young age. Indeed, Bernard and I enjoyed a beautiful (and only semi-mature) 2001 Cote Rousse in a restaurant the next evening, which shows that these are extremely well-structured and ageworthy wines. And at 11.50 Euros ex-cellars (so under 20 quid retail) they are pretty good value.

Finally, Bertrand-Bergé Cuvée Jean Sirven 2006 Fitou was both fruity and meaty/savoury, with a strong nose. Quite tannic, but again very fruity, if a little rich and slightly over-ripe. A lovely expression of the big (as opposed to elegant) style, and very ageworthy, I would say. We did taste some other wines from the Sud de France selection, but I only really made notes on the ones I felt to be notable in some or other way.

Just a small selection of the 400-plus wines available for tasting in the Sud de France room

And then it was time for a well-earned Toulouse sausage and onion baguette for lunch, before embarking on several more hours of intensive tasting. I'll add some more notes tomorrow.

   

Vinisud report, part 3 - Marseillan and Vinifilles

Having spent an extremely pleasant 75 minutes or so at Dégustation Melting Potes 2, it was time to say goodbye to my friend Peter Gorley and for Bernard and I to make a dash for our hotel in Marseillan. After a quick shower, there was no time to lose before heading off to Montpellier, for the launch party of Vinifilles. This is an organisation which exists (as the name suggests) in order to promote and further the cause of the many female winemakers in the Languedoc and Roussillon regions. You can read a fuller description of Vinifilles and their aims on Juliet Bruce Jones' Tales From Languedoc Wine Country blog.

The venue for the party was the Jam club. Due in no small part to the chaotic (i.e. largely unfinished) new road system in this suberb of Montpellier, we had the Devil's own job just finding the place. Despite the best efforts of our TomTom satellite navigation device, we spent a good 20 minutes circling the venue, without managing to get closer than about half a mile away! And when we did actually find it, the parking situation was, to put it mildly, a nightmare. After what must have been another 20 minutes-worth of circling, we eventually did what every normal Frenchman would do in a flash, which was to park on the only spare piece of car-sized ground we could find and trust to luck that our hire car would still be in one piece (or at least still there) when we returned.

By the time we walked into the venue, it was around 9 pm and the party had been in full swing for ages and a band was busy playing in the main room, which consisted of a bar, hot buffet and a stage with literally hundreds of people milling about. It was certainly hectic (as was the wine tasting area in an adjacent room) but there was a great atmosphere, and it was good to see so many people there to support the event. Although Bernard and I hadn't eaten since arriving at Peter's house in the afternoon, we didn't go hungry, as there seemed to be an inexhastable supply of hot buffet food to dip into. Several small portions of delicious spiced chicken and pork and noodles went down very nicely, in the absence of a proper evening meal.

The 18 members of Vinifilles, relaxing with a drink, before the party kicked-off

(image courtesy of Louise Hurren)

The tasting room was thronging, with a huge table in the middle of the room laid out with what must have been in excess of 100 different wines available for tasting. It was a bit chaotic, at least by the time we got there, and it was basically a case of helping yourself to whatever wines took your fancy. Naturally, I took the opportunity to taste the ranges from the two members of Vinifilles whose wines I sell, namely Laeticia Pietri-Clara of Domaine Pietri-Geraud and Véronique Etienne at Chateau La Dournie. Laeticia's Banyuls wines are especially noteworthy, whilst Véronique makes wonderfully expressive, terroir-laden Saint-Chinians - and, it must be said, very feminine wines. Not that all of the wines on show were made in such a feminine style - in fact there were a good few wines which (to my palate, at least) came across as rich, ripe and pretty full-on. Maybe it was just that we were at the end of a very tiring day (which began around 20 hours earlier, remember) but I came away with the feeling that, whilst some of these ladies are making some really elegant(and even feminine) wines, others are making the sort of wines that will be appreciated by lovers of the big, bold, super-concentrated style. All-in-all, an excellent event, and a nice way to finish a very busy day! For the full list of members of Vinifilles, see the Vinifilles website.

Incidentally, it was also nice to meet up and have a quick chat with Ryan O'Connell, of O'Vineyards, who is doing such excellent work with his Love That Languedoc video blog. Keep up the good work, Ryan!

   

A delicious 2007 Côtes du Rhône

Right, I’ve been a bit lazy over the last couple of evenings. Well, not just lazy – but busy with this and that. So I shall resume the Vinisud write-up tomorrow (I promise). For now, though, here's a quick detour into another of “my” wines that I am enjoying this evening, whilst preparing some of my wonderful (though I say so myself) home-made pizza.….

I read a comment by someone on a wine forum the other day that they don’t make Cotes du Rhone like they used to. Well here’s one that ticks all the boxes – La Ferme du Mont Premier Côte 2007 Côtes du Rhône. When I came back from Vinisud, I found that I’d had a bit of a run on orders of this wine, due to a recent recommendation on Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages forum. I was running low on stocks at my Nottingham store anyway, so I’d arranged to pick up a whole load of wines (including a couple of cases of this one) from the bonded warehouse I use in Rotherham, whilst on the way back from Manchester Airport last week. Unfortunately, those unexpected orders meant that I still don’t have enough local stock, so I need to go and get some more tomorrow. Best laid plans, and all that! Anyway, since I was racking my brains about what to open tonight, to accompany the pizza, I thought I’d open a bottle for us to enjoy with it. And it is really lovely.

The nose is a riot of wild strawberries, briary, redcurrants and cherries, with additional notes of smoky incense, undergrowth and polished wood. It also possesses what that person on the wine forum says he is missing, these days – garrigue herbs by the bucket-load. The combination of all those fruit, herb and woody/leathery aromas really does add up a to a most enticing nose. The palate is beautifully fresh and bright, with flavours of cherry, redcurrant and cranberry, along with savoury and spicy notes and a hint of bitter chocolate adding richness. Firm tannins are offset by a healthy level of alcohol (14.5%), which creates enough of a feeling of sweetness to balance them out, with ample acidity completing the package. The result is a deliciously fruity, tangy, soft, juicy wine, which is a delight to drink now. It isn’t a style that I want to drink all of the time (I crave elegance more and more, these days) but it is really hitting the spot on this cold, frosty, late winter’s evening.

If you like the sound of it, try some - I promise you will not be disappointed! Oh, and at just £8.50 a bottle, it is a steal(!)

  

Vinisud report, part 2 - Dégustation Melting Potes

The location for "Dégustation Melting Potes" was Domaine de Lezigno, an ancient wine cellar on the outskirts of Béziers, which has been transformed into an urban architecture workshop and artistic space. We arrived at around 5pm, which allowed us around 75 minutes of pretty intensive tasting ,before we needed to head off to Marseillan to check into our hotel. This was an extremely well organised (and well-attended) event, for which the organisers had thoughtfully produced a hand-sized, ring-bound booklet with a page for each grower's details and plenty of room for jotting down tasting notes. The tasting glasses were also excellent - if i remember correctly, medium-sized Schott Swiesel goblets which were perfect for the job.

First up - and one of our main reasons for wanting to be at this tasting - was Champagne Henri Giraud. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never even heard of this grower. As it turns out, they supply wines for Coutts (the bank) and also Selfridges own-label Champagnes. As far as I am aware, they are otherwise fairly rare in the UK.

We started with Esprit de Giraud Rosé NV, a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 22% Chardonnay, with the addition of 8% red wine from Ay. A lovely onion skin colour, with aromas of bread, smoke, red fruits and stewed apples. The palate is full of tangy red fruit flavours, with nice persistence. I liked it a lot.

Next was Esprit de Giraud Brut NV, a blend of 70% Pinot and 30% Chardonnay. Persistent mousse, rich in the mouth, with lemon and mineral flavours. Long, too.

Esprit de Giraud Blanc de Blancs NV is 100% Chardonnay. Again, there are aromas and flavours of lemon and mineral, this time even richer, with notes of brioche. Hugely complex and very long. A very classy wine and one which I would love to have in my cellar.

The prestige cuvée Code Noir Rosé is all Pinot, with the addition of 10% Ay red wine for the colour. It is rich and intense, strong even, with quite a lot of oak and, for my money, less elegant - at least for now. It may well age into something really intersting, though. 

Grand Cru 2000 Fut de Chene is a quite deep yellow/amber colour. 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot, aged for 12 months in oak barrels. With the aromatic and taste profile of a fine Puligny-Montrachet, this is quite a wine. It has a creamy mousse, with myriad flavours, even a hint of orange, still quite oaky, but beautifully judged, and oh-so elegant and long. A very fine wine indeed.

Finally, a curio, in the Coteaux Champenois Blanc Ay Grand Cru. I'm not sure of the grape(s) but I presume Chardonnay. This is effectively a still Champagne. Again, quite oaky, but elegant with it. Quite austere and firm, but lovely and quite complex - this again is akin to a white Burgundy, such is its weight and structure. Needs food, or age - or both.

All-in-all, a brilliant range of wines, from a grower who I would dearly like to have on my list one day. For a relative Champagne "non-aficianado" such as myself, these are the sort of wines that could give Champagne a good name! ;-))

Champagne Henri Giraud - Bernard (on the right) looking stunned by the quality!

Then to a handful of wines from Clos du Gravillas, made by American John Bojanowski and his wife Nicole, up in the hills of St-Jean de Minervois. I was impressed by the wines of this estate, when I tasted them at another Vinisud fringe event few years ago, and they were impressive this time, too. l'Inattendu 2007 is a white blend of Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Macabeu and Terret. Aromas and flavours of honey, grape, tangerine, lemon and a touch of oak. Nicely balanced. A really good wine. l'Inattendu 2008 has honey and fennel aromas, with an excellent level of fruit. Long and quite complex, but needs a little time to come together. Sous Les Cailloux Grillons (I didn't note the vintage) is a red blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan and is very fruity and fresh. Lo Vielh 2006 is a pure Carignan, aged in large oak barrels for 14 months. It is rich, wild and complex, with notes of briary, tar and tobacco and a backbone of minerality and firm tannins. Give it 3 to 5 years and it will really sing.

I then tasted  a trio of wines from Domaine Roc des Anges, the first two of which didn't particularly impress. The Blanc 2008 was rich and hot, whilst the 2009 Blanc was very similar, though possessed of a bit more fruit, but still overly rich and alcoholic. A 2009 Grenache Gris and Macabeu blend was much better, and much more in balance - grapey, winey and quite complex.

And then it was time for the first real revelation of the trip. That's not to say that the Champagnes of Henri Giraud weren't of the highest class - indeed they were, but Bernard and I had already tried one of those in Nottingham a couple of weeks before, so we were fairly confident that the rest were probably going to be great as well.

But Mas Foulaquier is a Pic Saint-Loup grower that has gone completely under my radar - at least, until now. Foulaquier is a fairly young estate, which winemaker Pierre Jéquier (pictured right), a native of Switzerland and formerly an architect, discovered in 1998 after a long search for his dream wine domaine. When Pierre bought the estate (situated in the most northerly corner of Languedoc's most northerly appellation) the eight hectares of existing vines were just 8 years old, but happened to be planted on some great terroir. Now, at 20 years of age - and with the estate now also fully certified biodynamic - those vines are the source of  some stunning wines. His associate and fellow winemaker Blandine Chauchet joined the team in 2003, bringing with her the ownership of 3 hectares of 50 year-old Grenache and Carignan vines in the "Tonillieres" vineyard in Claret. No sulphites or added yeasts are used in the winemaking process and only the tiniest amount of SO2 (between 10 and 30 mg) is added at the bottling stage. Pierre Jéquier talked us through the wines as we tasted.

Les Tonillieres 2008 Pic Saint-Loup - A 50/50 blend of Carignan and Syrah, aged 9 months in vat. Notes of cherries, bramble and tar, with distinct floral notes (particularly Parma violets). A truly elegant wine.

L'Orfée 2008 Pic Saint-Loup - 50/50 Syrah and Grenache, aged for a year in vat. Flowers again, along with crystallised fruits and a whiff of eau de vie, fine tannins and great balance. Another excellent and very elegant wine.

Les Calades 2006 Pic Saint-Loup - 60% Syrah, 40% Grenache, aged for 24 months (half in concrete vats, half in barrels and demi-muids of between 3 and 10 years old). My note is not particularly specific in its descriptors. All I wrote was "Heady, rich, winey and sooooo complex - this is wonderful!" Enough said.

Gran Tonillieres 2006 Pic Saint-Loup - 50/50 Grenache and Carignan, aged for 24 months (half in barrel, half in vat). Again, heady and rich, with intense fruit flavours, but not obvious. Another very complex and delicious wine.

Gran Tonillieres 2007 Pic Saint-Loup - Rich and explosive - a riot of blackcurrant pastille, bramble and tar. At the moment, I marginally prefer the 2006, but this is also seriously good and seriously ageworthy.

We also tasted a new wine (not yet bottled or labelled, and I didn't catch the grape mix) which displayed aromas and flavours of red and black fruits, liquorice and fennel. That's all I wrote, but it sounds like a promising tasting note to me(!)

The purity of the fruit and clean structure is what struck me about these wines. Is it down to biodynamic farming practices, or is is simply a testament to brilliant winemaking? In my experience, the two are often inextricably linked. Whether you believe in biodynamics or not (extreme organics, or just whacky mumbo-jumbo?) those very principles go pretty much hand-in-hand with a love for the land and a fastidious approach to winemaking. I should mention, of course, that these wines possess a great deal of Pic Saint-Loup "typicity", albeit at a level I have never encountered before in this appellation - and there is some serious competition, believe me. In a nutshell, these are superb wines, and ones which I would very much like to import. If all goes to plan, that could well happen within the next month or two. Watch this space.

Tomorrow, I'll talk briefly about Marseillan, Vinifilles and the first morning of Vinisud.
     

Vinisud report - the first instalment

Right then - I've had a couple of days to recover, so here goes with the first instalment (of how many, I do not know) of reports from my trip to Vinisud. Joining me for the trip was my good friend and soon-to-be-a-wine-merchant-again, Bernard Caille. As well as being excellent company, being a native Frenchman, Bernard also came in very useful as an occasional interpretor. Alright, more than occasional, since my mastery of the French language leaves much to be desired.

Anyway, we'll start at the beginning, with what turned out to be a rather frustrating outward journey. It all went very well for a while, with a very easy drive to Manchester airport in the early hours of Sunday morning, arriving well in advance of the check-in time for our 6.25am flight to Toulouse. Unfortunately, almost as soon as we arrived it started to snow. By the time we boarded the plane, a full-blown blizzard was in progress. I won't bore you with the details, except to say that we were stuck on the plane for a further three-and-a-half hours before the snow relented enough for the runway to be cleared and deemed safe enough for departures to recommence. I hate flying at the best of times, so the delay just made things a whole lot more difficult to bear. Not that I (or anybody else on the aircraft) could do much about it, as there was never any chance that they would let us get off until we reached our destination!

A murky photo of the (second) defrosting of the plane, taken on my mobile phone.

Still, I guess it could have been worse. If the snow had really set in for the day, we may never have got to France at all. We finally got into the air just after 10am, arriving in Toulouse two hours later - 1pm French time. We had been looking forward to a leisurely lunch in a Saint-Chinian restaurant with my friend Peter Gorley, which was out of the question, of course, since Saint-Chinian was around 120 miles away. So we drove straight to Peter's house in nearby Assignan, where he had a lunch ready and waiting for us. After the day Bernard and I had endured (by this time we had been on the go for more than 12 hours) Toulouse sausages, poached eggs, ultra-fresh pain de campagne and a glass of local rosé couldn't have tasted better.

Peter and his wife bought their house in Assignan around 25 years ago and have been dividing their time between there and London ever since. It is a very old property, occupying a prime spot in the centre of the village, and has been lovingly restored. The roof terrace offers wonderful views of the Haut Languedoc to the north, the Minervois vineyards and the Montagne Noir to the west and the Canigou to the south-west. It is a view I could look at for hours. But time was of the essence, since we had a tasting event to go to on the outskirts of Béziers.

The tower in the centre of Assignan, viewed from Peter's roof terrace - note the flag of the Languedoc Cross, pretty much ripped to shreds by the bitter winter winds!

Peter and Bernard on the roof terrace, looking south-west towards Minervois.

Peter led the way to Béziers, along the winding roads through Saint-Chinian and Faugeres - driving in Languedoc is rarely a chore when you are constantly surrounded by such beautiful countryside. The location for "Dégustation Melting Potes" was Domaine de Lezigno, an ancient wine cellar which has been transformed into an urban architecture workshop and artistic space. Bernard and I were particularly keen to taste the full range of Champagnes from Henri Giraud, plus a few selected growers from Languedoc. And we weren't disappointed - the Champagnes were utterly brilliant, as were some of the Languedoc wines, not least of which was a range of red wines from a Pic Saint Loup grower which has (until now) gone under my radar. Not for much longer, though, as I am very keen to import them as soon as possible.

I'll post some tasting notes from Degustation Melting Potes tomorrow (including those wonderful Champagnes and Pic Saint Loups) along with some brief impressions of the launch party for a new association of Languedoc and Roussillon lady wine growers, called "Vinifilles".

    

Back from Vinisud..... and a truly fine Carignan

Just a quick post to say that I'm back in the UK after an extremely enjoyable trip to southern France for Vinisud. For 4 days I immersed myself in joys of being in the wine business (and, of course, being in a place that I love to be) and nothing else mattered. Unfortunately, I'm now fully integrated back into the daily grind and catching up on all the things that have been left unattended during that time. I'll be posting lots of entries over the next few days about the experiences of Vinisud and various related events, the people, and of course the wines. Meanwhile, here's a note on a lovely wine we opened last night, from one of the growers I met at Vinisud and hope to be working with in the near future.

Domaine de La Marfée Les Vignes Qu'on Abat 1999 Coteaux du Languedoc

I bought a few bottles of this wine a year or two ago, purely for my own enjoyment, and still have one or two left. Still deep purple in colour, with just the slightest tell-tale hint of lightness on the narrow rim. The nose offers some wonderful secondary notes of tobacco and polished wood, but still has the sort of dense crystallised blackcurrant and bramble fruit aromas that appear to be the hallmark of all Marfée's wines. Background notes of garrigue herbs and leather add yet more complexity. At over 10 years old, the palate is really just beginning to get into its stride, with luscious yet mouth-watering flavours of cassis, bramble, herbs and spices, wrapped around a backbone of juicy acidity and remarkably fine tannins. The finish is long and warming, but so fresh and juicy. It is truly a joy to drink now, but I would say it will stay on its plateau for at least another 5 to 8 years.
A glorious expression of (100%) Carignan!

Do keep checking back over the next few days, as I'll be posting lots of interesting stuff every day for a while (including some brief notes on the current range of wines from Domaine de La Marfée).

   

A lovely 20 year-old Minervois

Domaine La Combe Blanche Minervois 1989

Never let it be said that I prefer my wines young. To be honest, the older they are, the more I tend to enjoy them - just as long as they are still alive and kicking, of course! I bought around 15 bottles of this wine from my winemaker friend Guy Vanlancker, when I paid him a quick visit in La Liviniere last July. He had brought a bottle of it to Nottingham a year or two back, which went down really well at a tasting we presented together. He said he had one or two cases tucked away in his cellar, so I asked him to fish a few bottles out for me. After all, there was nothing to be gained from keeping them too much longer. And I guess that, for this quintessential struggling Languedoc winemaker, the thought of 10 Euros per bottle tucked away in his back pocket was not to be sniffed at.

The wine has a lovely colour - a deep, blood red core, fading to a relatively narrow mahogany rim. There's a fair amount of suspended sediment in there, but that is more because it wasn't stood up for that long before I opened it. The nose takes a little while to develop, but within an hour it really starts to open out. Not that there is too much in the way of primary fruit left, but there is plenty of interest in the secondary and tertiary aromas - forest floor, tobacco, cedarwood, leather and beef gravy. Later though, some attractive dried/crystallised black fruits come to the fore, along with hints of peppermint, dried herbs and a suggestion of citrus peel. The palate also develops over time, beginnining a little dry and austere, but filling out later, to reveal hidden depths of fruit, combined with just the right amount of savoury, herb and spice, and that all-important mouth-watering acidity.

This is not a wine that would necessarily show well in comparison to wines from more elevated appellations, designed specifically to age for 20-plus years, but its supposedly lowly origin shouldn't be forgotten. And on that basis, it is still performing remarkably well, and was a joy to drink without the pressure of competition. It has a slight rusticity that will never go away, but it also has a fair degree of restrained elegance and charm - something that cannot often be said for many of today's silky, modern, alcoholic fruit bombs. It is a wine of real character, which demands contemplation - and it is also a beautiful food wine. And that was a bit of a tough ask, tonight, as it ended up being paired with a (admittedly, fairly mild) chilli con carne(!) It sounds like a terrible match, but the wine performed admirably. Which is a testament to my friend Guy's enduring talent for fashioning beautiful, characterful, terroir-laden and long-lived wines.

Read more about the wines of Domaine La Combe Blanche.

   

Another day, another year gone by

Well, that's it then - I won't see 48 again, since today is my 49th birthday. No special celebrations for this one (I guess next year may be a bit more of a milestone) but after taking the afternoon off from the day job, I spent a nice afternoon with the lovely Diane (TLD) and opened lots of lovely presents (CD's, DVD's, books, smells, other bits and bobs).

I'm just typing this up whilst TLD prepares us a nice meal of pan-fried duck breast, Dauphinoise potatoes, sweet and sour red cabbage, glazed carrots and mushrooms. And all finished off with a lovely sauce made from home-made chicken stock and red wine vinegar, a large slug of vintage red Banyuls, brown sugar and (dare I say it?) some grated zest and juice of an orange. Very 70's, I know, but it is a real winner with duck, if it is done properly. TLD is pictured on the left, slaving away in the kitchen.

As for the wine, we'll be enjoying a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Ainé Domaine de Thalabert 1983 Crozes-Hermitage. Actually, we're already enjoying it, so I hope there will still be some left by the time we sit down to eat(!) We've had a few bottles of this vintage before - we also have some 1988 and 1990 tucked away - and still have a few left. Although this one probably isn't the best bottle of '83 we've had, it is still a really enjoyable drop. A lovely colour - still very bright and crystal clear, blood red, with shades of amber and a brick. The nose was a bit dumb to start with, but it has opened-out nicely into red fruits (raspberry and redcurrant and cranberry), citrus peel, mineral , with gamey hints, smoked bacon and lilies. Ideally, I'd like a bit more in the way of fruit and flowers, but it is still a lovely nose, given that it is now almost 27 years old. The fruit is also fading a bit on the palate, but there is still enough to make it a joy to drink, with hints of savoury and mineral and cracking acidity - the hallmark of a great (or at least very good) old Northern Rhone Syrah. Perhaps this particular bottle is a year or two past its absolute peak, but I'm still enjoying it immensely. Right - I'm off to eat!

    

A couple of nice wines and a(nother) bit of a rant about screwcaps

I was at my wine store the other day, putting together some orders, one of which included a couple of bottles of Domaine La Colombette Chardonnay Demi-Muid 2006 Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Libron. There was a box already open, with three of the six bottles left in the bottom of the box. I took a couple out, only to find that one of them had (for want of a better expression) sprung a leak. What you see in the picture on the left is how the bottle looked. You can see from the level that there was a good 2 or 3 centimetres of ullage - not something you expect to see in a 3 year-old screwcapped bottle of wine. More importantly, some of the wine that had leaked out was still trapped inbetween the metal and the plastic "tamper-proof" covering. The dark brown colour, the sticky texture and the burnt toffee smell would suggest that the wine had been seeping out of the bottle for a good while - possibly since bottling, but certainly since it was shipped (around a year ago). Suffice to say that such a bottle was unsaleable, so I had little option but to take it home and drink it myself - or more likely, I thought, use it in cooking or pour it down the sink. Which was more than a little annoying, because this is a situation I have been faced with on several occasions in the past. Not just with this particular wine, but others, too.

The picture on the right was taken after I had removed the plastic covering and removed and cleaned the cap. There were actually three dints on the top of the cap (you can see two on the photo) and these were obviously more than enough enough to break the seal between the glass and the cap. I'm not sure how there came to be three dints, but the bottle had obviously been subjected to a some knocks. The fact that this particular wine is shipped in "laying down" boxes probably doesn't help, since the sides of the boxes are much more prone to knocks than the top. And as screwcapped wines (even those designed for extended ageing) don't actually need to be laid down, then why not just box them in the upright position? Frankly, I'm a bit fed up with having to write-off so many bottles of wine in this way - I'm trying to make money selling the stuff! Suffice to say that I will be having words with the growers when I meet up with them in just over a week's time. Since the alternative closures they offer are those bloody awful, rock-hard plastic "corks", I will be asking them to either consider DIAM closures (see my 29/12/2008 entry below) or to ship their screwcapped wines upright.

Anyway, this particular story had an unusually happy ending. Far form being spoilt (as was my experience on couple of previous occasions) the wine was in remarkably good condition - in fact, it was absolutely delicious, and probably still with a few years of ageworthiness left in it. Mid-gold and very clear and bright, it was full of ripe stone fruit aromas and flavours, with notes of honey, lemon and beautifully-judged oak. And beautifully poised, too, combining a certain richness with fresh mineral flavours, ample acidity and a fair length on the finish. I still haven't changed my opinion that this wine (and not just based on the evidence of this vintage, but earlier ones, too) is the best Chardonnay I have tasted from the Languedoc. I think I shall set a few bottles aside, to enjoy over the next 5 or so years, as it will be interesting to see how it develops. It really is cracking stuff, and I'm actually quite pleased that I was "forced" to drink it!

I have just taken delivery of a top-up order from Domaine Treloar (same wines as before, but new vintages will be arriving in a month or two) and now have Domaine Treloar Motus 2006 Cotes du Roussillon back in stock, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to enjoy a bottle to see how it is developing. And the answer is..... very nicely indeed. Although still quite primary on opening (sweet bramble and blackcurrant fruit, juicy acidity and firm but fine tannins) it is starting to shed some of its puppy fat and is developing some interesting secondary aromas. The notes of volatile acidity have receded and the fruit has started to eat away at the charred oak, with some nice earthy/undergrowth and cedarwood notes developing. It is very concentrated, but balanced and elegant at the same time - in fact, it is becoming more and more like a great Bandol, though somewhat easier to drink at this relatively early stage in its development. If you have some, don't be afraid to crack a bottle or two now - but then again, don't be afraid to tuck some away for another 5 or 10 years. It is a real stunner!

    

A rant about Foreign Exchange providers

I haven't had a real rant on my Blog for ages, so here's one about an issue that has been getting me mightily het up recently (I'd prefer to use language a bit more colourful, but this Blog is in the public domain)....... Bloody foreign exchange providers! Grrrr!!

The life of a wine importer presents many obstacles (not least of which for me is my poor mastery of the French language - a not inconsiderable problem, seeing as I import wines from France). An even bigger problem, though, is the process of paying for the wines. As what can best be described as a small-scale importer, I like to think I have nurtured good relationships with most - if not all - of my numerous suppliers, and one of the things I pride myself on is paying them on time. Although one or two of the more highbrow growers seem to have an inherent distrust of wine merchants (and especially small, relatively unknown ones like me) and demand payment for their wines before they are shipped, most of my growers give very generous payment terms. Some give 30 days, many give 60, and some even give 90 days - 3 months, for goodness' sake! So the very least I can do is to pay them on time. In actual fact, one of my growers (who, without giving too much away, also happens to be English) goes as far as telling me that I am one of the few merchants he enjoys dealing with - because I am one of the few who does pay on time!

The idea of paying my creditors is certainly not a problem for me. But the process of actually getting the money paid into their accounts has become somewhat of a recurring nightmare. In my time in the wine business (6 years and counting) I must have used the services of getting on for 7 or 8 different foreign exchange providers (once I learned that dear old Barclays Bank were only ever out to fleece their customers for as much commission as they could get - and a rubbish exchange rate). One thing I could say about Barclays, though, is that they were reliable - if I made a Euro payment, it got paid on time. But using specialist foreign exchange providers (or ForEx traders, as they are known) has just as many pitfalls. In the current economic climate, there is no absolute guarantee that the money you pay them will actually reach its intended destination.

But the current economic climate also dictates that they are all desperate for business, even from relative small fry like me. When I receive their cold calls, they all tell me that they can offer the keenest deals on the prevailing exchange rates (very important, when making payments of thousands of Euros, and vital in keeping my retail prices down) and that - having given me what is often a pretty good deal - the next time will be just as good. Problem is, with each successive deal, the rate gets worse and worse. I won't name names (I'm sure these people wouldn't take too kindly to bad publicity) but the last-but-one ForEx provider I used offered me pretty much the going rate - i.e. not too much worse than the official exchange rate at any given time - for my first transactions(s). But with each subsequent transaction, the rate got steadily worse. My patience snapped the last time I called them, when the published rate was around 1.15 Euros to the Pound, and they offered me around 1.13. "Thanks, but no thanks" was my answer. So I found another provider, who offered me a reasonable (though far from ideal) deal on some relatively small payments that I needed to make to three different growers. That was on 22 January. Job done...... or so I thought.

Fast forward to around 4.30 pm this afternoon, when I received an email, informing me that the payments had just been made...... over two-and-a-half weeks late. "Should you have any queries regarding your payment please do not hesitate to contact us", the email said. "I certainly do have a query", went my reply. "....can you please explain why it has taken almost 3 weeks to make the payments to my suppliers?"

Back came the reply "I am very sorry for the late payment. I must be honest and admit fault – ****** did forward me your instructions on the 22nd January but I for some reason missed them and didn’t print them off. This has never happened in the past and I feel very embarrassed that it has. I am more than happy to contact your suppliers and explain what happened and apologise to them. Again I am very sorry and would like to say that this in no way reflects the way our company operates and I promise you that it will never ever happen again. Please don’t let this error effect (sic) the relationship. I hope you will continue to use us. Kind Regards" (name witheld, for obvious reasons).

Needless to say, I shall contact my growers personally, in order to apologise for the fact that (through no fault of my own) they have not been paid on time - and hope that our relationships have not been soured by the situation. And needless to say, I will not be using the "services" of this particular ForEx provider again. Onto the next one, I guess.....

So if anybody reading this has any recommendations for reliable (and reasonable) ForEx providers, who are looking to build long-term relationships with small merchants like me, please do let me know. Little acorns, and all that......

      

A few highlights from recent tastings - plus one real shocker

Whilst I certainly don't want to fall into the trap of posting endless tasting notes, at the expense of other more topical (and hopefully interesting) content, I do seem to go through periods where I attend a lot of tastings - and boy, do we get to taste a wide range of stuff! So I think it is always useful to post notes on selected highlights, if only to give them their due, ahead of the also-rans, as it were. Here are just a few of the more interesting ones from the past few weeks. The notes are pretty much as I wrote them at the time - I do get fed up with constantly re-arranging ad-hoc notes into something more fluent!

Henri Giraud Hommage a Francois Hemart Ay Grand Cru Champagne NV

70% Pinot Noir, 30 % Chardonnay. Limes, mandarins, brioche and butter, coffee - and fruit! Rich, intense, fruity and very glycerous. Very long and very lovely. This is the sort of wine that (for this doubter) give Champagne a good name. One of the finest Champagnes I have ever tasted. Not, as far as I know, available in the UK. Though I might be tempted!

Comtes Lafon Clos de Four 2006 Macon-Milly Lamartine

Smoky, oaky, minerally - sort of like a really good Meursault. Rich stone fruit and honey aromas and something a touch tropical. Rich, quite full-bodied and hedonistic, with fabulous weight and structure. I love it now, but it could turn into something really sensational.

Domaine Fichet Terroir La Cra Macon-Ige 2006(?)

A huge, heavy bottle, with a punt you could almost hide a hand in. Why do some growers use these bloody things? Nevertheless, the wine is a cracker. A lot of oak, but with the fruit to stand up to it. Lemon pie, cheese, lanolin, even some vegetable notes - a real 3-course meal in a glass. Richly structured, with flavours of lemon oil, honey, exotic fruit - almost Californian, but in a cool-climate sort of way. Not typical Burgundy, but spectacularly good.

Domaine Guillot-Broux La Myotte 2007 Bourgogne Rouge

Earthy, secondary aromas in perfect harmony with the fruit - classic Burgundy. Tarry, earthy flavours, but again lots of fruit, along with white pepper and spring flowers. Lovely, sexy wine.

Jean Thévenet Domaine Emilian Gillet Quintaen 2000 Macon-Villages

Apples, quices and caramel on the nose - late harvested, I guess (Thévenet is a whacky grower). Very richwith some noticeable residual sugar, almost like a Vouvray demi-sec in style. Disticnt flavours of toffee apple, countered by lovely acidity. A style of wine that really appeals to me.

Auguste Clape Cornas 1991

My friend David Bennett said about this wine "Proper Syrah. Lilies and violets in spades, delicious, mouth-filling, round wine with seamless integrated tannins. Everlasting length and poise given to it by such lovely acid balance." In the absence of my own note (though I tasted it along with David) I can confirm that he is spot on - for once!

Joseph Swan Trenton Estate Chardonnay 1991 Russian River Valley

Will I ever taste a Swan wine that is anything less than utterly lovely? At 19 years of age, this smelled and tasted like a young-to-middled-aged 1er Cru Burgundy. So fresh, pure, rich, yet delicate and complex - and very long. God, these Swan wines are good!

Domaine Alquier Reserve Les Bastides d'Alquier 1997 Faugeres

Woodsmoke, bramble and plums, violets and lilies, pepper, a lick of brett and a good dose of schiste minerality. Still a bit of a baby, with lovely weight of bramble and redcurrant fruit and a touch of bitter chocolate, slightly rustic tannins and lovely acidity. Come to think of it, it is even a touch reminiscent of Bordeaux. Then again, no - there's just too much flavour and fruit! And with such depth of fruit, it will certainly go for another 5+ years. Lovely wine - and it cost me all of £7.50 at auction! ;-))

And here's a real disappointment;

Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay 1999 South Australia

Banoffee pie in a bottle - not my idea of a good Chardonnay. Seems to have been made in a slightly oxidative style, perhaps due to the obviously lengthy stay in new oak - or perhaps it is just not lasting the distance. Not much in the way of fruit, and completely lacking in complexity. This may be the "white Grange", but - let's face it - to a lover of traditional wines like me, Grange is nothing to write home about either. In fact, the more icon wines I taste, the more I realise that the success of so many of them is down to marketing and reputation.

And finally, a monumentally spoofy (and monumentally expensive) wine. There are an awful lot of "Emperor's New Clothes" wines out there, and seemingly plenty of people with more money than sense, who are happy to perpetuate the myths. But of all the over-oaked, under-wined, over-hyped and over-priced "wines" I have ever tasted.........

Guigal La Mouline 1997 Côte-Rôtie

........was perhaps the worst of the lot. My first ever "La-La". It smelled and tasted of oak, more oak, and yet more oak. I'm sure there was some really good fruit in there somewhere, but I couldn't get to it. At almost 13 years of age, any decent Côte-Rôtie would at least be starting to shake off the puppy fat and be showing off those classic lily, smoke, violet and red fruit aromas. But this was more akin to a Barossa oak bomb - but without the fruit. In fact, it was so woody, I'm sure I must still have some splinters in my mouth. I'm prepared to accept the claim of Guigal officianados that these wines need 20 years to shake off the oak and blossom - but they always seem to add the rider "in great vintages". Trouble is, I'd never be prepared to spend the money to find out. At £200-plus a bottle, I'd rather give it a wide berth. 1997 was a decent vintage, but far from a great one, so why bother giving what (at best) would have been an average wine the full treatment? An absolutely rubbish wine, which - in my humble opinion - does nothing for the reputation of the Côte-Rôtie appellation. For the price of one bottle, you can buy a full case of proper Côte-Rôtie.

Plans taking shape for Vinisud, plus a couple of cracking Rhone wines

Plans are slowly taking shape for my trip to Vinisud in a couple of weeks' time. My friend Bernard and I will be landing in Toulouse Fairly early on the Sunday morning, which leaves us virtually the whole day to do more or less what we want, before the actual event begins on the Monday. So I've arranged for us to join up with my wine-writer friend Peter Gorley at his home in Assignan (near Saint-Chinian), before heading off for lunch at a restaurant in nearby Berlou. From there, we will head for Béziers, for a tasting event entitled "Melting Potes 2", which will have some very interesting growers (including a brilliant Champagne grower Bernard discovered recently). From there, it will be a quick visit to Marseillan, to check into our hotel, before heading to Montpellier for the evening, for the lauch party of a new organisation called Vinifilles. As the name suggests, Vinifilles is an association of lady winemakers from Languedoc and Roussillon. A couple of my growers (Laeticia Pietri of Domaine Pietri-Geraud and Veronique Etienne of Chateau La Dournie) will be there, but it will also be nice to discover wines from some of the other growers. Monday and Tuesday will be pretty much all Vinisud, and Monday night will include a soirée with Jon and Rachel Hesford of Domaine Treloar, at an apartment they have rented for the duration in Montpellier. So, a very busy schedule, but I can't wait!

Meanwhile, I've just about loaded all the new wines onto my website, with just a couple of grower profiles to work on. Here's a couple of tasting notes on those northern Rhone reds I mentioned in my previous post;

Noel Verset Cornas 2004

100% Syrah. This has a semi-transluscent crimson red core, fading gently to a pink rim with amber glints. The nose is so evocative and elegant already, with classic smoked bacon and lily aromas mingled with fresh summer fruits, spices, leather and parma violets. The palate is also truly elegant, with none of the tannic rusticity one might expect from a relatively young Cornas. It is full of ripe blackcurrant, raspberry and cherry flavours, with savoury and floral nuances, fine tannins and a simply mouth-watering backbone of acidity. In fact, one could almost be in Hermitage with this one. Knowing Noel Verset's reputation for making traditional Cornas that needs fairly lengthy ageing to show its best, this is a remarkably accessible wine and really delicious to drink right now, although there is still plenty of scope for development with further ageing over the next 5 years or more.

Noel Verset produced his first vintage in 1943 and finally retired after the 2006 vintage, at the ripe old age of 87. Which is a shame, because his wines were always of top quality and always true to the Cornas appellation and I would have loved to think I could have featured more of his vintages (the 2005 and 2006 allocations sold out before I could get any). But all good things must come to an end. And fortunately, Noel's famous old vines are now in the capable hands of Alain Verset and Thierry Allemand

Gilles Barge Cuvée du Plessy 2006 Côte-Rôtie

95% Syrah and 5% Viognier. Dark purple core, semi-opaque, with a narrow crimson rim. When first opened, it is quite reticent on the nose, but begins to open up with exposure to the air, with notes of bramble, blackcurrant and perhaps raspberry and orange peel, mingled with cinnamon and clove, cedar, leather and tobacco. With a little coaxing, those classic Côte-Rôtie notes of lilies and smoke begin to peep through. The palate also opens up nicely after a while and, whilst the tannins are still a little young, they are ripe and spicy and there is a wonderful core of red and black fruits and spice just waiting to burst through. This isn't one of those rich, modern wines that promise much without actually delivering - this is traditional Côte-Rôtie, which demands contemplation. Tightly structured, pure and focused, with great balance and mouth-watering acidity, it has all of the ingredients necessary to evolve into a real beauty of a wine. Indeed, the remains of my bottle were still going strong a full two days after opening, and had really opened out. Whilst this wine can be drunk now with pleasure, it is only just beginning to hint at its potential and I think it is going to be an absolute classic. Wonderful stuff.
   

News about some new wines, plus detailed notes on the Joseph Swan wines

Despite my renewed intention to post more often, I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front over the last few days. I've probably mentioned this before, but the numerous tasks involved in adding a dozen or so new wines to my portfolio is not to be underestimated (though I always seem to do just that). Logging the stock, preparing tasting notes (enjoyable, of course, but a lengthy process) and grower notes, photographs, at-a-glance lists, downloadable lists all have to be done. All very laborious and time-consuming, but if a job is worth doing, then it is worth doing well. You can never have too much information, as far as I am concerned. And if you are trying to sell wine via the sometimes sterile medium of the Internet, then it is - in my opinion - essential to convey one's enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject. If I can engage my customers (and potential customers) with a well-written and enthusiastic tasting note, then then I'm half way there. Of course, the wines need to be good - as President Obama once said, "you can't put lipstick on a pig"! And if you try and do that, you'll soon get found out.

Anyway, the latest additions to my list are somewhat of a departure, in more ways than one. Despite my desire to largely list wines that I have discovered myself and import myself, it is simply not possible to grow the list (and, consequently, my business) as fast I want to by sticking rigidly to such a policy. And much as I hate the concept of wine agencies, with their rather protectionist demands for exclusivity on their growers'  wines, they do serve a useful purpose for merchants like me. For instance, although I have tasted a good many Alsace wines in my time, I have yet to actually visit the region and taste extensively. I've been to Burgundy on a handful of occasions, but usually only briefly. I have also made brief visits to the northern Rhone, but its total production is relatively small and most (if not all) of the best growers have already been discovered - and are mostly tied-up with the agency importers. I have yet to visit America, and the idea of importing wines from there would, for me, be a logistical nightmare, not to mention a very expensive risk - I simply don't have the customer base to guarantee beinbg able to sell them in any great quantity.

And so I have taken the (for me) radical step of introducing some wines to my list that I haven't actually imported myself. That isn't to say that these additions are a stab in the dark. It has taken me a long time to make this leap of faith, so I've been very careful to choose wines that I myself love and can have complete confidence in recommending to my customers. I'll tell you more about the Burgs, the Alsace and the Rhones in a day or two. For now, here are my thoughts on those fantastic wines from California grower Joseph Swan Vineyards that I mentioned last week.

Joseph Swan Vineyards Trenton Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 Russian River Valley
This is made from a very small plot of Chardonnay vines, with only 2 barrels made per year (around 50 cases). Seductive aromas dominated by fruit - both fresh and crystallised - together with notes of honey, flowers, lime and orange peel, with the sort of stoney, flinty minerality you might expect in a top notch white Burgundy. The palate offers richness and elegance in equal measures - complex and concentrated, with fabulous acidity and an impressive length of flavour. It is undoubtedly up there with the very finest new world Chardonnays. Indeed, if you added it as a "ringer" to a line-up of 1er or even Grand Cru Burgundies, you might just pick it out as the imposter - but then again, you might not. Stylistically, think Puligny-Montrachet or Meursault, with a touch of new world richness - though you would never guess that it is 14.5% abv, such is it's elegance. A magnificent wine. £21.50

Joseph Swan Vineyards Cuvée de Trois Pinot Noir 2006 Russian River Valley
This is so pale, it isn't much darker than a rosé. But don't let that fool you. An initial whiff of American oak vanillin gives way to red berries and currants and cherries, with gentle balsamic and volatile notes - intense and very expressive. As it opens out with air, it reveals further notes of undergrowth, roses and tar. The palate is richly fruity and earthy at the same time, with notes of creamy vanilla, tar and spice, with the sweet fruit being offset by ample acidity and fine tannins. The finish is long and spicy. A full 2 days after opening, the remains of my bottle had developed extra layers of complexity, with distinct aromas of crystallised red fruits and rosewater, whilst the palate was still fresh and vibrant - quite wonderful, in fact! This is a wine which can be drunk with pleasure now, but has so much more to give over the next 5 to 10 years. £21.50

Joseph Swan Vineyards Cuvée de Trois Pinot Noir 2007 Russian River Valley
Another deceptively light-coloured wine - raspberry red at the core, fading to a pink rim. The nose suggests ripe summer fruits, exotic mixed spices, leather and forest floor. The entry is soft, velvety and full of sweet, succulent fruit, with gentle tannins and perfect acidity making for a supremely balanced wine. There is little or no oak influence - this is a wine dominated by fruit, with flavours of raspberries, strawberries and cream, with a distinct cranberry tanginess. It is relatively primary at the moment, and shows enormous potential for development over the next decade or so. But my goodness, it is so lovely to drink now! It is even better the next day, and the nose is just stunning - like smelling a bunch of roses! Very hedonistic, very California and very, very lovely. £22.95

Joseph Swan Vineyards Trenton Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Russian River Valley
At just 12.9% abv, this is no new-world bruiser. Again, the colour is light by Cabernet standards and semi-transluscent. The nose offers aromas of raspberry and cherry, polished leather and cedarwood, a trademark (for Swan, that is) dollop of refreshing volatile acidity and an interesting note of beetroot. The red fruits are augmented by blackcurrant notes on the palate - but tangy and almost citrussy, rather than sweet, with delicious acidity - no chance of this Cali Cab being fat or blowsy! It is also quite atypical for the grape, with none of the green notes you would associate with Bordeaux and none of the sometimes overpowering intensity of many new world Cabernets. In fact, it really is quite elegant. The tannins are fine and almost resolved, which makes this wine very easy to drink, although the makers say it is a style that can also age very well for a decade or two. But why wait, when it is drinking so well already? £18.95

Joseph Swan Vineyards Lone Redwood Ranch Zinfandel 2001 Russian River Valley
This, on the other hand, comes in at a whopping 15.3% abv - but you'd never think so. The nose is quite intense, with rich, brambly fruits mingled with aromas of herbs and spices along with a whiff of eau de vie. A refreshing hint of volatile acidity adds yet more interest. The palate is also rich and warming, and yet possessed of amazingly fresh fruit flavours and lip-smacking acidity. It is a big wine, but not a bruiser - rather, it is surprisingly elegant and light on its feet. And it certainly belies that 15.3%, but is nevertheless long and warming. It is yet another classic "next day" wine, with earthy, bramble and raspberry flavours combining seamlessly with grippy (but fine) tannins and that mouth-watering acidity. A cracking wine to enjoy now, or to age for a few more years.

I love the wines of Joseph Swan - they are never boring, and almost invariably lovely. Those price tags aren't cheap by European standards, of course. But, compared to most other iconic wines from California, they actually offer remarkably good value. Try them. But be careful - you may just get hooked!

Joseph Swan Vineyards has a really excellent website, where you can read all about its history, its philosophy, its winemaker and its wines. It's a great read.