Montmajou - cracking St Chinian Blanc

St Chinian doesn't produce very much white wine - I'm guessing less than 5% of all production. And the AOC wasn't extended to white wine until 5 years ago. So it is not a wine that one comes across very often. But, for the record, I enjoyed a rather special St Chinian blanc last weekend.

We were tasting in the best possible environment. Relaxing with friends Patricia and Luc Bettoni over a leisurely Sunday lunch while the kids ran around outside making mud pies. Luc pulls out an unlabelled bottle of his new white, first vintage 2009. First impressions - very subtle aromas. To be honest, I can't get alot from it. Take a sip and initally subtle fruit too. Peach maybe, minerally. Then just when you start to think there isn't much going on - wow - the palate opens up into beautifully textured, creamy, nutty fruit and continues into a long finish.

I didn't write any notes on the wine at the time but my memory of the wine centres not so much on what it tasted like as on what it FELT like. It is all about texture and mouthfeel and balance, which this wine had in abundance. It felt more like a white burgundy than a wine from the south of France which is what Luc was aiming for. This wine will not appeal to everyone as it is not immediately fruity but it deserves a loyal following from good restaurants, upmarket wine shops and wine nuts like me.

So, what is it? Domaine Les Eminades Montmajou St Chinian Blanc 2009. 80% Grenache, 20% Marsanne. From Montmajou, a sub-region of approx 250m altitude between Cebezan and Cruzy. Organic, handpicked, natural yeast, maturation in barrels for 11 months on fine lees, malolactic fermentation.

You can't actually buy this wine as it's sold out (I know, I tried) but the 2010 will be available later in the year and there will be more of it. Price about 11€/bottle.

Millisime Bio - organic wine

The first time I went to Millisime Bio was in 2005. I remember it clearly as I was there for only a couple of hours, not wanting to taste too much as I was pregnant. But that was fine because it was a small, cosy little salon, not quite fitting the expo hall in Narbonne. 175 tables of mainly french wines, with a few interlopers from Spain and Italy.

Fast forward to 2011, and Millisime Bio has blossomed into a lively, vibrant fair of around 500 exhibitors and now takes place in 2 of the halls in Montpellier exhibition centre. Despite its size, it still retains its friendly atmosphere and visitors are encouraged to discover wines from different countries. To this end, there is no order to the arrangement of stands with Italian wine producers next to a Burgundian who is next to the lady from Rioja etc. I can't help feeling that although the spirit of this arrangement is admirable, it must be irritating to the buyer who only wants to taste wines from the countries on his patch and has to trawl through the catalogue to find them. The lack of fancy, show-off stands is refreshing - each producer has exactly the same size of table, a white tablecloth and 2 chairs, allowing visitors to focus on the wines.

France has by far the most number of exhibitors but Chile, South Africa, Argentina and the US were also represented. The Languedoc-Roussillon had the largest representation of all regions, not surprising given that the fair originated in the Languedoc and has always been held here. Also, the region has the most organic producers (798 and 5% of the total vineyard area) and the rate of conversion to organic is impressive with a 52% rise in the acreage of vineyards certified as organic from 2008-2009.

So much for the stats - what about the wines? Well I was only there for a day and, in the spirit of the fair, tried to taste from different regions and from estates I didn't know. Highlights were some deliciously nutty, fresh whites based on Greco and Fiano from Colli Della Murgia in Puglia. And tasting at Jean-Marc Brocard where we shamelessly cherry-picked from the extensive range and tasted Village to wonderfully minerally Grand Cru Chablis.

Closer to home, notable were the latest releases from Pech-Redon in La Clape, an estate of which I am very fond. l'Epervier and Les Cades both have the most enticing, garriguey aromas. Domaine Virgil Joly offered an instructive vertical tasting of ten vintages of Virgile rouge. I also had the pleasure of retasting wines from two old friends in St Chinian, Catherine Wallace from Combebelle and Patricia Bettoni from Domaine Les Eminades.

I had never come across Domaine de Sainte Marie des Pins before, a small domaine near St Hilaire and Limoux, but was impressed with her creamy, nutty chardonnay. Allegria was another new discovery, a new venture and the result of a Franco-Argentinian collaboration. A competent range in a modern style. A table d'hote amongst the vines is planned from May and I plan to check it out.

I really enjoy this wine fair. Next year, I'll make sure to go for 2 days to do it justice.

Old carignan - Domaine les Eminades

In my last post I started off by talking about some 107 year old Carignan vines but then got distracted and veered off into a history lesson. Where I meant to end up was talking about the wine made from said Carignan vines and the producer responsible for it, Luc Bettoni of Domaine Les Eminades in Cebezan.

I have to declare a personal and professional interest here. Luc and his wife Patricia are friends of mine and I have in the past sold their wines in the UK. So I may be a little biased. But everything that the Bettonis do is aimed at producing individual, concentrated, complex wines that express their terroir. Quality rather than quantity. Yields are kept low, they are currently in conversion to organic production, hand harvesting, barrel ageing for their top reds and white. 

Luc has just over 10 hectares of vines around the village of Cebezan in the heart of the St Chinian appellation. His first vintage was in 2002 and he makes a small but focussed range of St Chinian and Vin de Pays wines (including a sought-after barrel aged sauvignon blanc).  Their reds are not fruity, glugging wines. They reward bottle ageing, particularly Sortilege, their top St Chinian red which needs time to unfurl and reveal smoky, lingering dark fruit flavours. Also, as Luc does not fine or filter his wines, they are best decanted too.

But, back to the old Carignan. The age of the vines and the poor soil on the hillside means that yields are naturally low - a measly 28hl/ha. Hand picking, long maceration before pressing and 18 months in barrel have resulted in a big, rich wine (14,5%) with brooding flavours of plums and black cherry with hints of tar and a beguiling edge of vanilla. The tannins are present (this is carignan after all) but there is so much fruit here that they are balanced and the finish is long long long. The wine is aptly named 'vieilles canailles' or 'old rascal' which refers to the difficulty in tending gnarled old vines on the top of a steep hill. At 24 euros a bottle it is not cheap but it is very very good.

107 year old Carignan vines - a lesson in history

Last week I took a group of winelovers on a day tour round some producers in St Chinian and Minervois. We started the day with a gentle walk to a beautiful vineyard in the heart of the St Chinian appellation. This is a very special vineyard and not just for the beautiful views and the abundance of wildflowers surrounding it. The vines are Carignan and they must be some of the oldest in the Languedoc as they were planted in 1902. 

The beginning of the 20th century was a turbulent time for vignerons in the Languedoc. Following phylloxera in around 1870, vineyards were replanted on American rootstocks which were resistant to the pest.  Demand for cheap wine was high but the newly replanted vineyards struggled to meet demand and so cheap imported wine from Algeria plugged the gap. Fraud was rife. 

Vineyards were replanted with high yielding Alicante and Aramon although some better quality varieties such as Carignan and Grenache were also planted. As the new vineyards reached peak production the problem changed to overproduction and so prices crashed. This led to mass protests by the vignerons culminating in the riots of 1907. This is an important date in Languedoc history, not just for the social unrest. It also prompted a series of reforms aimed at preventing fraud, reducing the area under vine and planting better quality, lower yielding varieties.

100 years on, what has changed? Well on the face of it, not alot. The Midi today is in the grips of a viticultural crisis. Prices are at record lows - a wine producer would be lucky to get 40 cents a litre for a decent vin de pays - and grape growers are faced with falling prices for their grapes at the co-operatives. The financial incentives for ripping up vines have persuaded many and sorry fields of dead or ripped up vines are common place. And while the social unrest may not be at the same intensity as in 1907, there are frequent demonstrations. Wine is most definitely a political issue.

There are clearly no easy answers to the crisis and many more vineyards will be ripped up before an equilibrium between supply and demand is reached. It will take far longer for small, rural communities to adjust to an economy where grapes are not the main source of income. 

However unlike the Midi of 100 years ago, there are a significant number of producers in the Langueodoc today whose focus is on quality rather than quantity. Aramon and Alicante are disappearing fast while planting of high quality varieties such as Syrah and Mourvedre and on the up. Yields are falling and the quality of Languedoc wine is better now than it has ever been.

That fabulous fungi

These little beauties were waved under my nose when I popped round to the neighbours, Didier and Marie Pierre Frances, for supper last weekend. 

The pungent, earthy smell and flavour of truffles is unforgettable and is what makes them so highly desirable. These truffles were found near St Chinian - dug up by a dog that belongs to Marie-Pierre's uncle. M-P washed and dried them and chopped them finely before scrambling them with eggs that had been stored with the truffles for a couple of days so as to absorb some of the truffley character. 

This scented, simple dish was undoubtedly the best scrambled eggs I have ever tasted. And all washed down by a deliciously fresh, fruity rosé from the Frances family property, Domaine Camberaud.

Bottle talk: La Clape v St Chinian and a gorgeous Viognier

One of the joys of having a few good bottles in the cellar is being able to share them with friends. Barrie (quite the perfect guest and a serious wine nut) has been visiting from the UK for a few days, bearing fabulous vinous gifts which include classic Bordeaux in the shape of Cissac 1982, top notch Rhone Beaucastel 1994 and a stonking Barossa Shiraz from master winemaker Dave Powell (ex Torbreck).  These have  been carefully put away for another day but we did open some rather nice bottles of local hooch as Barrie was eager to expand his knowledge of Languedoc wine.

We had great fun comparing two Languedoc heavyweights. Firstly, La Centaurée 2002, the top wine from Pech Redon which is my favourite estate in La Clape and a very special place to visit. 2002 is often written off as a poor year but this wine proved how misleading such generalisations can be.  After a couple of hours in the decanter it smelt of sweet berried fruit, with a heady whiff of the garrigue (wild herbs - rosemary/thyme), tar and a hint of coffee. Excellent concentration of dark blackberry and plum fruit with lots of other flavours in there too: licquorice, smoked meat, hint of rosemary. Very rich mid palate which balances the firm yet round tannins. Good long finish. Decant in advance and drink now to 2018. 

18.5/20. Approx €15

Drunk alongside this was the 2004 Vin Maghani from top St Chinian producer Canet-Valette.  I have enjoyed the 2001 vintage of this wine and the 2004 is very good but still young. It needs time to come together as the acidity and tannins stand apart and are not yet harmonised with the fruit. Nonetheless, there is much to admire in the meaty, smoky nose and spicy black fruit flavours with notes of olive, herbs and game. Lovely long finish. Drink 2011-18.

16/20. €22

A local white wine which blew us all away was a textbook example of the Viognier grape from Domaine Les Murettes in La Livinière. At €7 a bottle this is great value and a real charmer with a 'come hither' nose of ripe peaches and honeysuckle and oodles of exotic fruit on the palate. As it is a mere table wine, the vintage could not printed on the label but presumably it is the 2007. I'm tasting there next Tuesday so will report back.

Domaine Moulinier, St Chinian

I have come across this estate many times over the last few years. As a frequent visitor to Espace Vin, a good wine merchant in St Chinian which is owned by the Moulinier family, I've tasted their wines several times. And is hard to miss their smart new winery as it is in full view as you drive over the pass into the beautiful St Chinian valley. However my first visit to the actual estate was not until this week, on  a freezing January day, and for an appointment that (for various reasons) I had rearranged several times. Stéphane Moulinier, an amiable, chatty young man with a rugby-player physique was there to meet me and he could not have been more welcoming and generous with his time.

The story of the estate starts in 1981 when Guy Moulinier, Stéphane's father, abandoned a career in the civil service to return to his Languedocienne roots. He took over 8 hectares of vines from his maternal grandfather which had been providing fruit for the local co-op , ripped out the vines(mainly Aramon and Carignan) and commenced on a planting programme which focused firmly on Syrah, with some Grenache and Mourvèdre. In fact he was the first in St Chinian to plant syrah in 1981 and it now accounts for 70% of the vineyard at Moulinier.  Today the estate encompasses 20ha of vines, 4ha of olives (Moulinier means ‘olive grower’ in Occitan) and a shiny new wine cave which was built in 2001.

There are 3 terroirs on the estate. On the other side of the valley, near the road towards Berlou, the terroir is schist. Right next to the winery there is more sandstone, with some flint whilst the other side of the domaine is limestone. There is attention to detail at all stages: all the grapes are handharvested, destemmed, lightly crushed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Fermentation is controlled to about 25°C and instead of pumping over, they practice delestage which extracts maximum fruit and colour without overworking the grapes and extracting bitter tannins. Their impressive barrel cellar contains barrels only from the Vicard cooperage - if it works, why change it?- and their top wine, Les Terrasses Grillées, typically spends 15 months in oak, a third of it new.

The range of wines (all AOC St Chinian) chez Moulinier is succinct. My notes are equally so as it was so cold I could barely hold a pen!

A pale pink, fruity, quaffing rosé - exactly as rosés should be - provides cash flow. 50/50 Grenache/Syrah. 

The Tradition red both in tank and bottle is abundant in berried fruit, a hint of spice and nicely managed tannins. Properly priced at €6.

Les Sigillaires 2005 . Sigillaires means 'plant fossil' and there are many examples of these, as well as dinosaur eggs and bronze age arrow heads, in the estate's tasting room. 

Slight licquorice, almost medicinal nose. Attractive round fruit on palate. Good balance of fruit and oak, round tannins, good length.

Les Terrasses Grillées 2006. From schistous soils.

Smoky nose, oak. Very concentrated, pure peppery fruit. Grip to tannins. Lovely length. Very pure.

2003 Terrasses Grillé

Broad, leathery fruit, grippy tannins, good length. Quite butch but good balance. Perfect for drinking now.

Terrasses Grilleé 2000

n. Olive, green pepper, licquorice

Very good concentration of leathery, gamy fruit. Smoke, pepper. Needs time to evolve. Fine grained tannins. Good length. Classy stuff.

There is clearly much attention to detail here and an unwillingness to compromise on wine quality. And the Mouliniers are not afraid to experiment with different projects, such as their fruity `Homo Erectus`red and the wine merchant in St Chinian. Stéphane was reluctant to talk about these and I sensed that he felt they were distractions from the real job. Which is making bloody good wine.

 

 

Frost in St Chinian this morning

It's been pretty parky this week in the Languedoc. It's a beautiful sight seeing the vineyards rimed with frost against the backdrop of beautiful blue skies. This pruned gobelet vine was snapped on the way to Domaine Moulinier (of which more later).