I buy the annual Guide each year anyway, but this is a distillation of the best of the past 30 years. However, the main reason I'm moved to write about it is that there are at least 20 places listed that we have visited and enjoyed, and many wines we still enjoy. It lists 600 altogether, so there are many exciting discoveries in store. Anyway, there follow a few words about each of 'our' 21 and what they mean to us.
This post includes the first 11:
- Ch. Chasse-Spleen (Medoc)
- Vins Georges Duboeuf (Beaujolais)
- Naudin Ferrand (Hautes Côtes de Nuits et de Beaune)
- Alfred Gratien, Epernay (Champagne)
- Cave du Sieur d’Arques, Limoux (Blanquette et crémant de Limoux)
- Domaine de Barroubio (Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois)
- Château Mire l’Etang (Languedoc La Clape)
- Grès Saint-Paul (Muscat de Lunel & Languedoc Grès de Montpellier)
- Mas Amiel (Maury)
- Clos d’Yvigne (Saussignac)
- Ch. Bellevue la Forêt (Fronton)
Our one visit to Bordeaux took us to Ch. Chasse-Spleen for a great tasting and an opportunity to admire surprising sculpture (yes, they are giant wellies) in the grounds of this rather out-of-the-way château in Moulis-en-Medoc, which eveyone tells you is one of the good value corners of this prestigious area. This Château has very good wines, and we tried the middle-of-the-range ones which were and are good enough, but they cost what Bordeaux inevitably costs! The wealth of the area shows in the perfect decor of the newly constructed underground chais. The name is a reflection of the effect of wine in chasing away gloom and melancholy
Back on our side of the country, the book highlights Vins Georges Duboeuf in Romanèche-Thorins. Duboeuf was originally a producer of white Maconnais wines who helped develop the reputation and quality of the Baujolais cru wines in the north of Beaujolais, south of Macon, and so demonstrated the amazing versatility of the gamay grape. Today names like Morgon, Fleury and Moulin-à-Vent are well-known, and as a négociant Duboeuf and his enterprise label and market good examples of all 10 cru wines as well as Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages. The Duboeuf visitor centre is well worth a visit, with imaginative displays and tastings.
Our recent trip to Burgundy, described in recent posts on this blog, included the Domaine Henri Naudin Ferrand in Magny-lès-Villers, so there is no need to elaborate on that here. The Côte d'Or was a regular stop on our trips south from the UK to the Drôme in the 1990s and early 2000s, when of course we also passed through the Champagne region. But although we visited various makers on our travels, one producer we got to know in England was Alfred Gratien of Epernay whose champagnes have long been a staple of the Wine Society's list, which has been the source of many of our wine discoveries and visits now we live in France. Mary particularly likes their demi-sec!
Staying on the sparking theme, and at the far edge of our own Languedoc Roussillon region, the Cave du Sieur d’Arques in Limoux is the huge co-op which flies the flag for Blanquette de Limoux, a range of sparkling wines whose common feature is the inclusion of the mauzac grape (sometimes called blanquette) as well as crémant de Limoux which contains a high proportion of chardonnay. I first visited the Cave with a large party of chorists from the UK, who took a brief break from their singing tour of French cathedrals and churches to taste some wine!
We have got to know the Domaine de Barroubio very well in the past year or two. It is near the tiny village of Saint-Jean-de-Minervois and just over the hills south of Saint Chinian, and particularly well-known for its sweet muscat vins doux naturels (VDNs). Our own commune of Lunel also produces one of the 7 appellations of this wine, but for all our local loyalty we have to admit that the Barroubio wines are delicious, and they make good reds too in the Minervois appellation. On top of that, the vigneron Raymond Miquel and his mum always offer a warm welcome and tasting. Raymond's latest white is sweet, but not as sweet as the traditional VDNs. His youngest son told him his sweet wines seemed too sweet, and the dry muscat (which we also like very much) too dry, so why not try for something in between - the result is delicious and named, for the son, Le Petit dernier. As you approach up the hill from the Narbonne in the south you emerge from trees and rocks to an astonishing landscape, white with chalk, which is particuarly suited to the muscat grape.
Staying near Narbonne, the Château Mire l’Etang in the commune of Fleury d’Aude produces wines from the Languedoc La Clape appellation, named for the hilly area between Narbonne and the coast. We've been there often over nearly 20 years since we first holidayed nearby. We went again this spring, at the same time as another visit to Barroubio, and were welcomed by one of the brothers Chamayrac with a very good tasting - we have always liked their red wines and the 2 rosés are both delicious. We were fortunate to be with our friend Daniel who wrote his thesis on the ecology of the La Clape countryside to help with conservation during the establishment of the new coastal tourist areas around Gruissan - he showed us the amazing natural lake the Gouffre de l'Oeil Doux, set beneath deep cliffs not far from Mire l'Etang and only just inland from the coast.
On our doorstep here in Lunel is the domaine and château Grès Saint-Paul, where Jean-Philippe Servière has esablished an excellent reputation for a wide variety of IGP and AOP wines. Their VDN muscats are exceptional, Rosanna (with some oak aging) in particular being one of the few wines to achieve a perfect 50/50 in our wine tasting circle, but they have a great range of IGP varietals, including marsanne and vermentino (rolle) among the whites and and cabernet franc among the reds. Their AOP Grès de Montpellier reds include Antonin which is frequently selected in Hachette.
Back to the other end of our area, in the Roussillon near the Cathar castle Quéribus, is Mas Amiel which we visited on one of our first holidays in the area. It has long been a standard-bearer for sweet Maury
The Clos d’Yvigne in Gageac-Rouillac near Bergerac was made famous by Patricia Atkinson whose book, The ripening sun, did as much as anything I've read to paint a picture of the rewards and trials of winemaking. The sweet Saussignac white wine (from late-picked grapes) she made secured her reputation as a good winemaker, starting from scratch in difficult circumstances. We have visited the vineyard, which was interesting, but despite our love of good sweet wine it is the book which stays in our minds.
I'd read often of the appellation Fronton, north of Toulouse, with its reputed taste of violets from the negrette grape (often now mixed with cabernet sauvignon). We finally had a chance to visit the Château Bellevue la Forêt a few years ago on our way to Bordeaux, and the trip was well worthwhile for the scenery as well as for the wines. However confusing it may be, France is a wonderful source of unusual, very local grape varieties which manage to overcome the demands for standardisation.
The next post will cover 10 more we have visited:
- Cave de Crouseilles 5Madiran & Pacherence du Vic Bilh)
- Dom. de la Chevalerie (Saint Nicholas de Bourgueil)
- Cave des Vignerons foréziens (Côtes du Forez)
- Cave de Tain l’Hermitage (Crozes Hermitage)
- Dom. Saint-Anne (Côtes du Rhône Villages Saint Gervais)
- Domaine Maby (Lirac & Tavel)
- Dom. de l’Oratoire Saint-Martin (Cairanne)
- Dom. La Réméjeanne (Côtes du Rhône & CdR Villages)
- Ch. Mourgues du Grès (Costières de Nîmes)
- Vignerons d’Estézargues
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