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Posts Tagged ‘Grenache’

Andover Wine Friends’ September tasting featured a comparison between two very different French wine regions: Sancerre very much in the middle of this large country in the aptly named ‘Central Vineyards’ and Roussillon, 600 kilometres further south and on Spain’s Mediterranean border. 

The contrasts between the two regions are marked:

The wines tasted were mainly from two estates Janet and I visited in October 2010 and June 2011: Henri Bourgeois in Chavignol, Sancerre and Domaine Gayda, near Bugairolles, just in Languedoc but with vineyards in Roussillon as well. This was a great opportunity to reassess the wines away from the ‘bonus’ factor of being at the winery. 

Bourgeois’ Sancerres more than stood up to the test – they are wines with a great sense of place, full of flavour, and with a great balance between their fruit, the mineral notes and the characteristic acidity of grapes in a fairly northerly latitude.  The fairly basic ‘La Bougeoisie’ AC Sancerre 2007 has sophisticated gooseberry and grapefruit fruit, with just a hint of lime and more exotic fruit and a good refreshing length.  Jadis, Sancerre 2008 is a much more substantial affair: made with the fruit of old vines (50 years and more) like the other wines it is part fermented in stainless steel and part in oak.  It is still extremely young but has a powerful nose and palate of melon, asparagus/grass, some enticing floral elements with some as yet unintegrated blockiness.  Great persistence.  By contrast, Etienne Henri, Sancerre 2002, manages to hold together the sweet roundedness of the oak (this is fermented in oak barrels) and the rich fruit, ranging from melon to grapefruit to lime peel. The ageing means there is less immediate attack but a big bonus in terms of complexity and completeness. 

We stayed in central France briefly.  Unfortunately our bottles of simple Sancerre Rouge had somehow mysteriously been drunk  before I put this tasting together … Pinot Noir does not stand much of a chance in our house unless it is carefully secluded in the fairly impenetrable depths of the wine store.  So we made do with a bottle of Pinot from Chablis producer, Vignoble Dampt, just a 100 kilometres away in the most northerly part of Burgundy – pale, mild cherry and savoury notes.  I like this style because it is clearly Pinot from a cool site but many others were underwhelmed. 

Meanwhile down south, Domaine Gayda shows a typical southern eclecticism: a white made with the local grape variety, Maccabeo, a single variety Grenache and then a Cabernet Franc.  We tasted these with a much more typical southern blend from Les Vignerons de Lesquerde: Grenache, Syrah and Carignan. These showed the vitality of the wine scene down here under the sun. 

First the three wines from Domaine Gayda.  The Figure Libre, Maccabeo, Pays d’Oc IGP, 2009 is a  really excellent effort – Maccabeo is more known for dull, rather acidic wines, rather than this lively palate of peach, citrus and some leafiness.  Jancis Robinson found honey and granite – quite an interesting combination!  The Grenache Vin de Pays d’Oc IGP, 2008 is the vivacious, delicious substantial quaffer which Gayda serve at lunch times in their roof-top restaurant.  Figure Libre, Cabernet Franc, Pays d’Oc IGP 2009 is beautifully judged – great depth of ripe fruit, herbs, some chocolate notes: ‘chocolate digestive biscuits’ was the snappy description of one professional taster!  This is rich without being sickly or jammy. 

The wine from Lesquerde’s excellent co-operative was Hesiode, AC Côtes de Roussillon Lesquerdes, 2008.  This is a special selection of the three varieties mentioned above, from very low yields of 17-25 hectolitres per hectare, half those that are typical of quality producers. The Grenache here on the village’s granite soils producing a great palate of strawberry and balsam, ripe fruit of course, then black pepper and structure from the Syrah.  Excellent quality for about £8 at the co-operative in France. 

We finished the evening on with a bottle of, I thought, rather undistinguished vin doux naturel from Domaine des Soulanes, Maury 2008, but it was certainly pleasantly moderately sweet with some fruit.  Although an unconventional pairing, Sancerre and Roussillon showed the richness of winemaking styles in France.  Sancerre – I hasten to add of this quality – showed why it is one of the great names of French viticulture and Roussillon demonstrated variety,  vivacity and value-for-money. 

In the old fashioned world of gentlemen’s clubs and wine merchants, the ageing of wine, claret in particular, was virtually the essence of wine appreciation.  How the wine scene has changed but there is still a fascination with how wines age, whether they improve, whether people actual like to drink older bottles.   Andover Wine Friends’ monthly tasting, on this occasion of wines from the Rhône, threw these questions into sharp relief.

The tasting started with two whites, a Viognier and a typical Marsanne/Roussane blend.  The Viognier from Jean Michel Gerin (Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes) I had bought in some hurry from Berry Bros and had not noticed that it was 2005. I became anxious about it before the tasting because in general Viognier is much better young with its very distinctive peach/apricot aromas and velvety texture.  This was a pleasant rather than outstanding example, the nose not that pronounced, some of the lusciousness still present but quite structured.

By contrast white Hermitage is a wine to keep and let develop in the bottle. It can be one of the grandest whites in the world.  The example was from Domaine des Remizières, Cuvée Emilie, 2001.  This wine split people, some struggling with its tough minerality and slightly muzzy herbiness.  It’s definitely not easy drinking.  Retasting it after 24 hours it had cleaned up and was more approachable.  Later in the week I tasted a couple of Hermitage 2006s from different producers at the London wine fair.  They obviously had more freshness but were rather undeveloped (Jaboulet), though Chapoutier had made theirs quite approachable with mildly oak aromas.

The reds were much more straight forward.   The younger wines came from a mixed case offered by the Wine Society from the excellent 2007 vintage. The older wines were generously provided by club members Andrew and Maria from wine they have bought over the years – we are always willing to help with clearing space if you have quality old bottles cluttering up your house!

A trio of Côtes du Rhône Villages showed exactly how these Grenache-based wines age. Visan’s  Domaine de la Florane 2007 is bursting with young fruit and acidity, a slightly unruly but likeable adolescent.  By contrast Château Laudun 2000 is in sedate old age, marked tertiary aromas of leather with a little pruney fruit.  Standing up to the ageing process rather better was Jaboulet Aîné 1999, with same aged characteristics but much livelier fruit.  The colour difference after a decade is very obvious.

The evening finished with a pair of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  The 2007 from Domaine du Vieux Lazaret was a text book example of rich, vibrant fruit, layers of interest and a refreshing finish.  It’s a big but balanced wine.  Château Mont-Redon 1996 is one for lovers of seriously aged wines.  Predominantly Grenache but with 35% of no less than six other grape varieties, the fruit is again prune and blackberry now transmuted towards leather and treacle.

And which wine would you like to drink with a meal after a tasting like this?  My vote would go to a brilliant youngster, Domaine Coursodon’s St Joseph, Silice, 2007.  100% Syrah from the Northern Rhône, it shone with its purply-red colour, lively mid red fruit in the mouth, excellent mineral streak and wonderful acidity.  Age in wines is a matter of taste.