This is just a round-up of the wines we've sampled over the summer so far. Descriptions of many of them follow.
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| red wines |
The 'Patrimoine' is a Marcillac from the high hills near Rodez in the centre of France, using little-known Fer savadou or Mansois grapes from that area. Another central area for a new-ish appellation is the Côteaux du Lyonnais, one of several (Beaujolais and nearby) using mostly gamay grapes - we spent a good couple of days visiting the area west of Lyon recently, and another wine in this collection is a Côte de Brouilly from one of our long-term favourite domaines, Les Roches Bleues. A splendid Beaumes de Venise red came from the Domaine de Cassan where we stayed for Mary's 80th birthday, and the Cinabre red (Cabernet franc) is from a recent discovery from the Touraine which we visited with friends last year. The same grape is used by the Domaine de Fadèze near Marseillan which we often visit - a warmer, more southerly take on this grape, one of many single-variety wines they make, including whites mentioned below, also including a good merlot also shown here. Nearby, along the coast is the Domaine du Nouveau Monde, on the western edge of the Hérault, which we discovered during Mary's sojourn in Béziers in the early 2000s, still well worth a visit, while nearer Béziers if the Domaine de Bachellery, anotehr merlot here from a small old-fashioned family domaine who have a convenient shop outlet near the ring road! Finally two the Spanish discoveries I've mentioned previously in this blog, which we receive by road delivery rather than visiting the areas ourselves - a Montsant from a tiny hilly area south-west of Barcelona, one of my personal favourites; and the Pruno from the Ribera de Duero area further west towards the Portuguese border (I'm expecting another delivery of this today!
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| whites, rosés (and a couple of reds that crept in by mistake) |
There are two old favourite producers here, the Domaine Lucien Jacob in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune whose white wine vinified in acacia barrels is delicious, while their crémant de Bourgogne is our usual bubbly, while La Soie from the Chemin de Rêves (straddling the Pic Saint Loup and Grès de Montpellier areas is the top white from a domaine we discovered soon after our arrival in the Languedoc - the wine is made from a mixture of mainly northern Rhône grapes including marsanne, roussanne and viognier grown together on one plot. More recent discoveries on our travels have been Seyssel in the Rhône valley much further north in the Ain, on the way to Geneva. Roussanne also figures as another single variety wine from Fadèze, and viognier makes also not surprisingly a white wine in the Côteaux du Lyonnais, right next to Condrieu, its French area of origin. For rosés these days we often drink the darker pink Protos and Enate rosado, both northern Spanish wines with very different origins tastes and grapes - the Protos is mostly Tempranillo, called Clarete which recalls the dark pink clairet wines of Bordeaux, while the Enate is made from cabernet sauvignon. The only sweet wine in this collection is from an old favourite appellation in Anjou, Bonnezeaux, a very long-keeping chenin blanc which has always given us enjoyment Oh, and another Fadèze, our old favourite terret, the grape formerly used in apéritifs, but now working well in a dry white wine we and our friends have long appreciated Happy drinking!
