Rhône visit, part 3 - Rasteau and Beaumes de Venise

     Rasteau                                                                              Beaumes de Venise

Wednesday 17 September.  Unlike our visits on Monday, today we were on very

familiar territory, ending up at our favourite vineyard in the southern Rhône.  We headed first for Cairanne and Rasteau, hoping to taste the latest wines from Corinne Couturier at the Domaine Rabasse Charavin, one of our earliest encounters in the area in the mid-1990s.  But the harvest was in full swing and they were closed until the afternoon so, sadly, we moved on down the road to the Domaine du Trapadis, run by winemaker Helen Durand (a man although the name resembles an English female one).   The name Trapadis is derived from the word "Trapalas" which means "cave" in Provençal.  Despite the harvest, we were lucky to find someone there to offer us a tasting, and it proved very well worthwhile.

One of the online guides says the basic wines they make in the 2 red AOCs Cairanne (syrah/grenache) and the basic Rasteau (grenache/mourvèdre) taste rather 'green' and that is how they seemed to us.  But the dry red 'les Adrès' cuvée, a year older and with a higher percentage of mourvèdre, we found excellent (as do several guides).  In addition Rasteau is known for its unusual AOC for a red vin doux naturel, not to everyone's taste but most certainly to ours, and in addition they make a more expensive sweet red made from late-picked grapes ('les Pochonnières') which is truly delicious.  

This was a very pleasurable way to approach lunchtime and a great meal at the Dolium restaurant attached to the Beaumes de Venise co-op Balma Venitia.  The restaurant is truly excellent, and we ate wonderful food accompanied by lovely wines made in the Cave  - a white Vacqueyras and a red Séguret côtes du Rhône - but I have to have a small moan because the Cave refuses to sell this to individual customers claiming it is only made for restaurants - a silly and needless restriction.

And so on to the Domaine de Durban.  We have been up to the heights above Beaumes de Venise many times with our friends and family.  On the first trip we bought a dry muscat, the 'fruité de Durban' which we discovered was not always available: the grapes were sometimes needed to produce the sweet Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, a celebrated AOC vin doux naturel, for many years.  Now the dry wine is always made and is even available in bag-in-box to Mary's great delight.  The domaine boasts some of the best views across the Rhône valley, and is at the edge of the high ground which links Gigondas and Beaumes de Venise, so the domaine makes a really good red Gigondas too, as well as an equally excellent range of red Beaumes de Venise.  We could not taste everything this time, but we departed with some Gigondas and a few bottles of the celebrated sweet Muscat - of course we'll be back!

Rhône visit - part 2, Vinsobres and Valréas

Valreas                                                                         Vinsobres

Monday 15 September.  When we arrived on holiday in Crest the proprietor of our gîte gave us a splendid guide to Rhône wines produced by Inter Rhône. Each appellation has a double page spread, and these pretty diagrams showing the geology of each area head each description.  They are not, as far as I can see, on the website so I photographed them for this blog.

Vinsobres has a rapidly growing reputation having upgraded its status from Côtes du Rhône villages to its own appellation controlée.  I found the Domaine de Deurre in a relatively old Fodor guide but it is still in good shape, and its proprietor Hubert Valayer welcomed us warmly.  This is a busy time of year with the harvest (vendanges) in full swing, but he had time for us and we really enjoyed tasting his red wines.  We particuarly enjoyed 2 reds: a Côtes du Rhône 'les Oliviers' and a Vinsobres 'les Rabasses' - the latter is named from the provençal word for truffles, another speciality of this domaine and others in the area.

On a previous visit to this area, perhaps 20 years ago, we had enjoyed the magic of the views as we climbed the winding road north of Vinsobres towards Valréas.  At each bend the perched village below apears against a more and more dominant backdrop of Mont Ventoux, and despite the misty conditions this time we were still delighted to find the route again.

While Vinsobres is a charming and picturesque village, Valréas is a bustling town of 10,000 people, historically capital of the Enclave des Papes which is a separate corner of Vaucluse in the south of the Drôme département.  But the hillside above the town to the south is still unspoiled truffle and wine country, pocketed with valleys and hidden corners where we found the Domaine du Val des Rois (the same name presumably as Valréas) run by Romain Bouchard and now his oenologue son.  Romain, who returned from his native Brugundy 40 years since to resume control of this domaine, in his family for 9 generations since the 18th century, greeted us charmingly and we tasted a range of reds and a good white in a picturesque caveau.  The red 'Enclave' (named for the area but without the word 'Papes' which is apparently jealously guarded by the prestigious Châteauneuf des Papes to the south - another example of oversensitivity in  French wine circles) was very good and we also took away a couple of bottles of méthode champenoise fizz made from bourboulenc to try later.  This was a really enjoyable visit and rounded out a good day in the Enclave des Papes.  We look forward to returning perhaps for one of their truffle days before too long.

Rhône visit - part 1, near Crest

Sunday 14 September.   In 2014 I've often had great ideas for blog posts - bottles tried, caves visited, thoughts about wine - but until now never got round to writing.  So I'm pleased to have a little time on this holiday in the Drôme to describe some of our discoveries and old favourites revisited.  It's fitting to restart now because our companions are Mary's cousins Alan & Barbara, and it was Alan who kicked me into starting this blog when we visited them in Texas.

Last year they joined us on our frist trip to Bordeaux, and this year they planned a cruise up the Rhône so we suggested they join us near our old twin town of Die in the Drôme so that we could show them old haunts and explore Rhône wines, especially in the southern Rhône and the left bank.  So far we have visited 3 vineyards completely new to us, one on the western edge of the Clairette de Die appellation a stone's throw from our gîte near Crest, and then a little south to the Enclave des Papes and the Drôme Provençal where the southern Côtes du Rhône wines begin.  I searched as usual for recommendations in my books and particularly the Guide Hachette des vins.

But our first visit came from a personal recommendation from the proprietor of our gîte, a charming and cultivated man who knows his wines well but prefers to drink water!  He suggested a visit to the Domaine Peylong only a few km from here in the little commune of Suze.  The domaine was revived around 40 years ago, growing mainly muscat to sell to the cave co-opérative (Jaillance) in Die, but Christelle (who met us) and Fabien Lombard took over more recently and have gradually added still wines they make and sell directly as vignerons.  

Pride of place goes to the 100% clairette - called Oublié - with its special appellation Coteaux de Die, rarely made because many growers prefer to use their grapes for the more profitable fizz cremant de Die.   In past visits to the Drôme we've discovered 2 other examples of wholly clairette still wines, but both makers have since discontinued them. It's a pity, the wines are usually very individual and delicious.  The Lombards also make another, aromatic white IGP wine blended from the classic northern Rhône grapes marsanne, roussanne and a small amount of viognier

Incidentally, the oddity is that the wine Clairette de Die is made wholly or very largely from the muscat grape, while the clairette grape variety is used in the Diois mainly to make cremant de Die.  There are 2 other special appellations for clairette, both in the Languedoc - Clairette de Languedoc in a small area west of Montpellier, and Clairette de Bellegarde in the commune of the same name in the Gard south of Nîmes.  Clairette is also commonly used to blend white wines in both the Rhône and the Languedoc.


The red wine they make, also an IGP, contains some cabernet sauvignon as well as the predominant syrah.  They ferment it gently at a relatively low temperature and keep it on the lees - the result is a fresh but rounded, deep-coloured wine which we found delicious.  The couple are passionate and dedicated, making very small quantities of wine but with great care.  Christelle is the first person to have taken time to describe the tasting of grapes for ripeness - not just juice but skin and pips - to ensure harvesting at the ideal moment.  The word 'gentle' says in my mind, not to describe pallid flavour - the wines are full of character and delicious - but to indicate integration and lack of aggresivity.  a really pleasing discovery.

Wine tasting circle - wines from the Jacob domaine in Echevronne

Last Saturday our wine-tasting circle met for its monthly get-together.  Each month we meet in a member’s home, rotating to spread the burden or hosting.  The hosts provide a main course, others arrive with other parts of the meal.  The wines are chosen around a certain theme, often a grape variety, a geographical area or appellation, or whatever.  This time unusually we were tasting wines from a single domaine, chosen by the makers.

We drove to the Côte d’Or and back over a beautiful sunny weekend in early December.  Calling into another favourite domaine in the Côte de Brouilly en route, we were amazed to see Mont Blanc clear on the eastern horizon and, once seen, we realised that it’s visible from the motorway almost all the way northwards to Beaune.  We arrived on the Saturday evening in good time to collect delicious white wines and pink crémant de Bourgogne from the domaine Naudin Ferrand in Magny les Villiers, another maker we’ve known for many years.

But the main reason for our trip was a visit to the Jacobs’ open weekend, with several dozen wines to taste from their own domaine and that of The Domaine Lucien Jacob is in the neighbouring tiny village of Echevronne, in the hautes côtes de Beaune, not far from Pernand Vergelesses and Savigny lès Beaune.  The hillsides around are wooded – this is the limit of the vineyard area on the slopes above the  Saône valley.  It is named for Jean-Michel Jacob’s father, a well-known figure in the Côte d’Or, who had been instrumental in developing new strains of pinot noir better suited to the higher vineyards of the hautes côtes.

I wrote about domaine Jacob in this blog in September 2011.  We have known Jean-Michel and Christine since the mid-1990s, when  Mary and the family clubbed together to buy me a kind of ‘share’ in a vineyard for my 50th birthday  She decided to visit the domaine to get a couple of bottles and to see it for herself.  From then on, and up to the present day (long after the early ‘share’ arrangement was over) we have visited them regularly and watched the evolution of their wines in quality and variety.  We've also enjoyed seeing Jean-Michel's evolution as an artist, using the barrels and other materials around him.

The wines we tasted this December included the wines of the hautes côtes and from premier crû vineyards at Savigny, but also from Gevrey Chambertin some distance to the north in the Côte d’Or, and from Mercurey in the Côte Chalonnaise to the south.  The latter was the source of much of their white wine this year as hail destroyed almost all their local grapes.  Over several years we’ve developed a simple scoring system out of 50 – appearance (4), nose (10), taste (20), finish (8), label (2), value for money (3) and something we call ‘emotion’, or the wow factor perhaps, also 3 points.  We tasted the wines as usual alongside a meal and over a friendly evening together.

The results were interesting because although the scores varied more widely than usual between one person and the next, in the end the scores and rankings clustered close together. So though several people scored the top wines in the 40s, others were much less enthusiastic. Probably the main reason is that some people really don’t like the pinot noir grape – for others like us it is among our favourite cépages.  So here are the combined scores of 11 tasters:

Mercurey 2012 (selected by the Jacobs)                36.1

Savigny Vergelesses 1e crû blanc 2012                 38.3

Bourgogne hautes côtes de Beaune 2008             32.3

Savigny Vergelesses 1e crû rouge 2008                38.5

Savigny lès Beaune 1e crû "les Peuillets" 2008     37.7

Gevrey Chambertin 2008                                          36.6

                        

2013 winners in the annual Concours des grands vins of the Languedoc Roussillon region

Just out, the results of a major regional competition held in Béziers in April.  A well-constructed, easy-to-search database including some of our favourite wines and makers, many other which we don't (yet) know, and surprising omissions!

Among those we have long known and valued are the husband-and-wife duo Cyril Marès (Mas des Bressades) and Nathalie Blanc-Marès (Mas Carlot) in the Costières de Nîmes, Domaine Bort and the Coop itself in Saint Christol, La Gravette de Corconne (major Coop for Pic Saint Loup), the Jullien family  of Ch de Mus and Dom Bachellery near Béziers (but only one Mus wine - they make a lot of other good ones), the Château Sainte Eulalie in La Livinière (Isabelle's Grand Vin and yet another accolade for La Cantilène) A new wine we have not tried from Aiguilloux in the Corbières, and several entries from Ch Mire L'Etang in La Clape which is one of our earliest discoveries in the Languedoc.

Surprising omissions - Benoit Viot's Dom de Chemin des Rêves (in fact there are only 4 Pic Saint Loup AOP wines in the mix) is not there, nor other makers from the Saint Christol group, nor the Domaine Félines Jourdan at Mèze which is a leading and respected producer of Picpoul de Pinet.  But these and other omissions in an interesting but patchy field only serve to demonstrate that the selection of winners in all competitions depends on who enters.  I've always assumed that if a maker can sell her or his wine sithout going in for competitions s/he will do so!

Portes ouvertes in La Livinière

Yesterday we were at the portes ouvertes  at the Château Sainte Eulalie in La Livinière.  I have written before of this excellent Minervois domaine, and you can look at the website to find details of Isabelle Coustal's always excellent wines, so this is a photo opportunity to show off the lovely countryside (with disant views of the Pyrenees, where the Tour de France and Chris Froome were toiling away as we left) and to share some photos of a great day out with our Swiss friend Ralph Néri.

La Livinière from the domaine

Our welcome

Horses & calèche wait for their first passengers...

...us, that is!

Tour around the vineyards

 Views across the vines

Ralph thanks our horses

Isabelle offers tastings to Ralph and to me - he was really delighted with the wines

Apéro time

Music with the meal

View back to the chais from the path nearby

Another excursion returns in time for lunch

Barbecue in action

Music continues

Lunch under the trees

Isabelle announces the quiz winners

Ralph wins first prize!!

The desserts arrive

One of our Australian acqaintances wins the second prize, the splendid La Cantileène

Mirages on the journey home

Typical avenue of plane trees, though the ones on the Canal du Midi nearby are dying

Perched village among the vines

Triballe at Guzargues

Yesterday I went to the organic Domaine de la Triballe in Guzargues.  No photos this time - sorry!  We'd met Sabine Durand and her father Olivier during the excellent Balade Gourmande for the Grès de Montpellier appellation, around Montepellier itself last weekend (see separate post to come), and found their wines really interesting and a bit different, so I decided to stop off on my way to sing in St Matthieu de Tréviers. 

It was a typical vineyard visit, that is, difficult to find especially since I was relying on an internet map - I'll try to include a real map to show the rather wild and isolated setting - so I ended up phoning from the village centre to discover that the caveau is a 2 km out in the country (and a lot simpler to find next time without going through the village!)  Anyhow, I arrived in a rather ramshackle courtyard and deserted buildings, but Olivier arrived soon after and his daughter followed to serve another customer.  Arriving for tastings just after the lunch break here is always slightly risky...

They make some vin de pays, cabernet sauvignon and others, but their main production is in AOC Languedoc - Grès de Montpellier and Pic Saint Loup.  Having tasted the rich white AOC "Aphyllante" at the weekend, along with the nice Grès "Capitelle" 2011 which is mostly grenache,  I decided to taste the other reds, a classic Languedoc which is 50% carignan plus grenache and syrah, very pleasant but with good structure, and then one called "En attendant que..." which is complex, 60% syrah and 40% grenache, and will certainly keep.  I did not taste, but bought to try, the 2010 Capitelle, which has a longer name and a story to match.

As you drive along the new 'Lien' road towards St Matthieu, you go through an area devastated by fire in the summer of 2010.  I realised as I approached Triballe yesterday that Guzargues had been one of the villages worst hit - a friend's house there had only narrowly escaped.  And although vines have a reputation of not burning, parts of the vineyard had in fact been destroyed, including much of the Triballe grenache.  So their cuvée "La Capitelle part en fumée" 2010 was produced in only tiny quantities (700 bottles instead of several thousand) that year, and using a much higher proportion of syrah than usual.  It commands a relatively high price, 18€, not just for its rarity value but because it gained two stars in the 2013 Guide Hachette!  I'm really looking forward to trying it - naturally they were not keen to open one of the rare bottles left for tasting.

Sabine now does most of the winemaking.  Olivier told me they do export a little to the UK, but hopes for more when a favourable Decanter review appears soon.  The premises would win few prizes for elegance, but the wine shows a lot of talent concentrated where it should be, in the bottle.  I'll certainly return.