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Richard Ehrlich, the Independent on Sunday’s wine correspondent, is hanging up his pen (or resting his typing digits! and will no longer be writing his weekly column. Whilst taking a fairly broad swipe at wine blogs he does conclude his musing as follows: “My recommendations for the week affirm one thing I have grown increasingly convinced of over the past decade: that French wine is the best on Earth.” He goes on to recommend 3 wines, two of which are technically Vins de Pays, both more expensive than the White Burgundy he also recommends! That farewell selection says much about the way French winemaking has evolved over the recent years - inspired, well-made exciting wines from lesser-known regions, often based on less popular grapes (e.g. the 100% Carignan that is one of his choices), whilst you can also find decent examples of good classics at affordable prices.
I shall miss Ehrlich’s column, which was always independent, opinionated and did not slavishly promote supermarket offerings or unaffordable fine wines. He also gave our old wine business “Allez Vins!” some plaudits when he recommended our Gaillac wines from Domaine de Labarthe - their Cuvée Guillaume being “the bottle we drank whilst on holiday” (in southwest France)!
The Corbières region is remembered for the Crusades against the Cathar heretics. The ruins of castles which rose to dizzying heights can still be seen on the crests of this mountainous region - Aguilar, Queribus, Peyrepertuse etc. Lagrasse and Fontfroide abbeys attest to the period when the monks first cleared the land to plant vines.
Corbières wines have traditionally been very “rustic”, but in recent years the wines from the defined “Terroirs”, such as the Montagne d’Alaric and Durban are elegant and smooth, retaining good spicy fruit from the Syrah and Grenache. Corbières lies to the south of the Minervois and the Toulouse to Narbonne autoroute.
Castelmaure is a very small, and quite isolated village high in the Corbiéres hills close to the border with Roussillon and Fitou. It is not easy to find - several kilometres up a winding side road, which must be a challenge for the lorry drivers. The village (Embres et Castelmaure) is small and feels a little as though it is in a time warp - but carefully maintained and friendly.
The landscape is rugged and dramatic, with few other crops able to survive on the rocky terrain. But this ruggedness produces wines of great concentration, full of mineral extracts, but it demands great skill to produce wines which balance the sheer power of the grape with roundness and finesse. In general terms we avoid co-operatives, but this “cave” has developed and maintains a reputation for quality and distinctiveness which few individual growers can aspire to. This is achieved by having a good winemaker, who insists on the highest quality of grapes. and strict quality control in the wine cellar - despite its age!
Le Corbières AC, Cave de Castelmaure - Elegant, spicy, full-bodied and smooth southern red - a very successful blend of rustic strength and real finesse - made from Carignan (50%), Grenache (30%), Syrah(15%), Cinsault(5%)
Corbières AC Grande Cuvée SCV Castelmaure- Wonderfully rich, oak-aged red with huge fruit and great complexity - really big in the mouth with smooth tannins, ripe fruits, toasty and spicy - needs rich food such as Cassoulet - Grenache(45%), Syrah(45%), Carignan(10%)
Corbières AC Le Blanc - SCV Castelmaure- Remarkably fresh dry white with lots of crisp apple and citrus fruit - Grenache Blanc(90%), Maccabeu(10%)
Address: Castelmaure CSV, Embres et Castelmaure, 11000 (Aude) - see map
UPDATE - Oddbins now stocks a cuvée La Chapelle, Corbières AC from Castelmaure:-
“Corbières accounts for a large portion of the western Languedoc, and with its chaotic mountainous terrain, produces some very good value wines that seem to ooze fruit and spice. This bottle from the quality co-op based in the village of Embres-et-Castelmaure, is Carignan-dominated and ready to drink now.
Tasting Notes : A dark and fruity nose of blackcurrant precedes a palate of spicy bramble, plum and cassis flavours, all wrapped up in a soft, silky mouth feel.
Producer : Cave de Embres-et-Castelmaure
Method of Production : The grapes were sourced from 30 to 60 year old vines, with each of the varieties vinified separately. The Syrah was destemmed, crushed and fermented, whilst the rest was kept as whole berries and carbonically macerated. Fermentation occurred in concrete vats for around five days (at up to 30°C), after which the wines were pressed from the skins, blended together and returned to vats to marry and mature for six months. The wine was fined with egg white, filtered then bottled.”
£5.99 or £4.79 if you buy 6 or more (product code: 69596)
The route of the 2007 Tour de France cycle race has been announced, and love it or hate it, you need to be aware of it if you are planning to visit South West France next summer. Starting in London for the weekend of 7/8 July the tour heads down to the Alpes via Chablis (going clockwise around France this year) before heading through Provence and the Languedoc via Marseille, Montpellier, Castres and Albi (Gaillac country) on 20/21 July. After a few gentle climbs in the Pyrenees the route then heads north from Pau through Castelsarrasin, Cahors, Angouleme and Cognac in the last week before the finish in Paris on Sunday 29th July 2007.
The impact of the race on local travel and hotels is severe, and even more so on the twisty roads and small villages of the South West - not just because of the cyclists zooming by, but because of the vast entourage of team cars, press, publicity,sponsors and spectators (many with large motorhomes) which can often mean the closure of roads and whole villages for up to 6 hours. It is such a part of French life that no-one complains about the inconvenience or hassle - unless you are not expecting it.
So make a note of the route and dates (see www.letour.fr/) and plan to either stop and enjoy the spectacle - or avoid it completely. The autoroutes are generally unaffected, but hotel rooms for miles around can be difficult to find on the night before or after the race passes through or near a town.
The French wine laws are idisyncratic and a little obscure - infuriating too, as with the exception of Alsace, the grape variety cannot be mentioned on the label of AC (Appellation Controllée) wines. So whilst South American Malbec is easily recognised on the supermarket shelf, the wines of Cahors, made from the same grape, remains a mystery to most consumers. Not only that but the scope for confusion in a country with 450 AOCs, and 140 vins de pays is substantial. Bordeaux alone has over 50 separate appellation names which can be on the bottle!
The proclaimed aim of the French wine appellations is to safeguard both the geographic origins of specific wines, and to control their “typicity” but restricting the grape varieties which may be used for a particular wine, and sometimes even requiring a minimum or maximum percentage of specified grape varietals. It is also claimed that this provides a quality guarantee, but that is questionable. However, you can be confident that, for example, a Cahors AC wine will have been produced in a specified area around the town of Cahors, and that it will contain at least 70% Malbec (locally known as Cot or Auxerrois), the other permitted grapes being Tannat, Merlot and Jurancon Noir. There will also be some restrictions on yield (hectolitres per hectare), maturity (sugar) levels, and approved methods of pruning etc. That said, there is a wide variation in quality in this and most other appellations, but there will be some limited consistency in style, due to the grape varieties and climatic conditions. In many ways the AC system is probably designed more to protect the authenticity and provenance of the wine, than to serve the needs of the consumer. (AC status started originally to prevent producers or merchants calling their wine “Nuits St Georges”, or “Champagne” or “Chateauneuf-du-Pape” when there was no connection whatever with those places.)
There are various levels of presumed quality:-
Vin de Table - few restrictions - can be blended from different regions, even different countries within the EU - usually basic wine.
Vin de Pays - probably the most widely seen label - especially from the Languedoc (Vin de Pays d’Oc) - restricted to specified, but often large geographical areas (e.g.Loire Valley) with few restrictions on grape varieties, but some control on yield and sugar levels. As such it includes many reasonable wines - and some gems because growers have used the relative freedom to produce wines which do not conform to the traditional style.
VDQS - Vins Délimité de Qualité Superieure - an Appellation Controllée but with wider limits on grape selection and viticulture than AC - generally used as a transitional stage between Vin de Pays and full AC - allowing producers to improve their techniques and to converge their approach.
Appellation d’Origine Controllée (AC or AoC) the strict control of many aspects of the wine production process, sometimes involving a “tasting” panel - but as this is administered locally it is unlikely to apply a very high threshold.
In Bordeaux and Burgundy there are further classifications - generally the more specific the AC name, the more limited are the producer’s options.
A cynic would suggest that the system relies more on political influence than on quality or character distinctiveness. I suspect few experts could consistently differentiate between the 14 appellations in Beaujolais, where every wine is made solely from the Gamay grape - and yet it was only a few years ago that the 14th was added - Regnié.
For the consumer the AC system does offer a limited indication of style and quality, but increasingly it is worth finding individual producers who make consistently good and interesting wines, regardless of the AC level. There are undoubtedly some fabulous Vins de Pays which outshine more prestigious AC wines, and often at a lower price.
However, the French system of wine control is excessively bureaucratic and slow to adapt. It would help consumers and producers immeasurably if an indication of grape variety could be included on the label, rather than arrogantly assuming that everyone knows that Vouvray is made from Chenin Blanc, or Madiran is mainly Tannat! There are suggestions of changes in Bordeaux, forced on it by poor sales (and often disappointing quality), but elsewhere the old regime prevails!
Whilst there are still some complacent French wine makers around who rely on the name of the wine to sell it, there are many committed and exciting winemakers throughout France making tremendously good wines - see Andrew Jefford’s recent book “The New France” for confirmation and masses of good writing about the new wine landscape of France. Go back
New Appellations
Côtes de Bordeaux AC (see above)
Beaumes de Venise AC - Reds in the Southern Rhone
Saint Sardos VDQS - was a Vin de Pays in Midi-Pyrenees south of Montauban and Fronton.
Vins De Pays d’Atlantique is expected to include all grape varieties from the Charente, Dordogne, Lot et Garonne and Gironde – and potentially the Pays Basque (from 2006)
Fronton AC is the new name for what was known as the “Côtes du Frontonnais” in SW France, near Montauban.
Download a pocket guide to French wines here
Thanks to the Independent’s Travel Section I came across a really neat little website and a novel way of touring Paris.
www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com offers private guided tours of the City in a refurbished Citroen 2CV! The company’s name translates as “4 wheels under 1 umbrella” a reference to the fabled 2CV (or “deudeuche”, also known as “the duck” , rather appropriate for our website) with its canvas, retractable roof. With a variety of itineraries, most lasting about 90 minutes, you get an open-topped trip with commentary from a local Parisian, in an inconic French voiture.
It looks like fun, but beware that the 2CV was not built for comfort, and its idiosyncratic suspension system will prove interesting over cobbled streets and at any speed around a bend! And of course, whilst open-topped may be great in Spring and Summer, late Autumn and winter may be rather less enjoyable. as the author of the article in the Independent discovered.
A similar scheme operates in Lyon (69 Rhône, Rhône-Alpes)
See the full article in the Independent
www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com
In this mosaic of very different terroirs, the Gaillac vineyard is situated 50 km east of Toulouse, in the direction of Albi, in the Tarn departement. The vineyard stretches over both sides of the Tarn and to the north up to the medieval town of Cordes. An ancient vineyard it hosts some very individual grape varieties such as Mauzac, Braucol and l’En de Lel. Whilst many acceptable wines are produced here, we recommend a winemaker who concentrates on combining the traditional grape varieties with modern techniques, resulting in wines which encompass the specific characteristics of Gaillac and remain very drinkable.
Domaine de Labarthe is a family run estate owned by the family of Jean Albert. Jean Albert has a very high reputation within Gaillac, as he aspires to produce wines which are very faithful to the local and distinctive character of Gaillac, but employs modern techniques to produce wines which are clean, fresh and full of style.
Gaillac can be a difficult appellation to recognise, as many growers tend to minmise the use of traditional (and more difficult) grape varieties and maximise the use of better known varietals such as Gamay, Syrah and Cabernet. They produce perfectly good, but rather anonymous wines - i.e. they could come from anywhere. The problem is that with the local grape varieties (Mauzac, Len de L’El, Braucol, Duras) it can be much harder to produce really good rather than “rustic” wines. However, this is one domaine where it works - welll-made wines of great character and distinctiveness.
Increasingly his son now undertakes much of the day-to-day work in the vineyard and cellar, and this combination of youth and experience bodes well for continued development of the domaine.
There are several styles of wine from Domaine de Labarthe:-
Gaillac AC Rouge Tradition - A big soft red with tons of fruit from Braucol and Duras grapes supported by a small proportion of Cabernets and Merlot. Full-bodied, elegant and smooth - with aromas of blackcurrant and raspberry
Gaillac AC Rouge Cuvée Guillaume - Sumptuous oaked red from 80% Braucol grapes (also known as Fer Servadou) - tons of vanilla and soft red fruits (cherries)
Gaillac AC Blanc Sec - A delightful dry white made from the tradirional grapes of this area (Mauzac (also known as Blanquette de Limoux) and Len de L’EL which impart fresh apple and pear tones. This is supplemented by the addition of a little Sauvignon Blanc to add body and finesse.
Sparking Gaillac Brut (Methode Gaillacoise) - A very distinctive Sparkling wine from the South West of France, made using only the Mauzac grape (also used in Limoux) - this is a fruity dry sparkler with good mousse and a slight tang of citrus - quite different!
(NB There is also a local speciality called Gaillac Perlé which is a slightly petillant dry white wine)
Gaillac AC Doux Les Grains d’Or - Stunning dessert white made from 100% Len de l’El grapes - late harvested and vinified in oak - golden, rich and well-balanced, it develops flavours of honey and quince in the mouth together with hints of praline and conserved fruits. Excellent served chilled as an aperitif or as a dessert (pudding) wine.
UK Stockists: ?
Address: Domaine de Labarthe, 81150 Castanet (Tarn) (see map)
Website: www.labarthe.com
In Burgundy they celebrate wine, in Perigord they revere the truffle and in Etaples they worship the Herring! 11-12 November 2006 is the weekend when Etaples (62 Pas de Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais - see map) holds its annual “Fete du Hareng Roi” - the royal herring fest! Traditionally celebrating the return of the fishing fleet from northern waters when much of ths town would help unload and prepare the catch - and once all the hard, smelly and cold work was done they would have a feast and celebrate with music and dancing!, The festival demonstrates the old fishing methods and tough lifestyle of the fishermen, and shows how the herring were cooked and preserved, with music, feasting and dancing.
. A good fish restaurant in Etaples (and in Boulogne, Lille and elsewhere) is “Aux Pecheurs d’Etaples” which has a huge fish menu (including herring) and is on the quayside.
Although most of the grape harvest is now finished and most wines are now burbling away in fermentation mode, sweet wines which are “late harvested” are only now starting to be picked in late October.
At Saussignac (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) the harvest started this week, and whereas some appellations go heavily into ceremony and dressing-up, here they decided to invite a range of merchants and restauranteurs to participate in the harvest - as one way of raising the profile of this small sub-appellation of Bergerac.
Traditionally the appellation has been for white wines only, which can be medium or sweet, but increasingly the production is focusing on the dessert or liqoureux wine, made solely from the Semillon grape. As such it is not dissimilar to nearby Monbazillac or more distant Sauternes, all relying on the “noble rot” to concentrate the sugars in the grape.
Personally I find Saussignac slightly less sugary then Monbazillac and less caramelly than many Sauternes. However, much will depend on the winemaker of course.
For excellent Saussignac I would recommend Chateau Grinou (see www.frenchduck.co.uk/grinou.html for more info) - only current UK stockist I can find is www.vintners-selection.com although www.frenchflavour.co.uk has a gift box which also includes some Foie Gras - very decadent.!
For Monbazillac try Chateau la Truffière - made by same winemaker as Pecharmant’s Chateau Beauportail - available from www.easy-wine.co.uk
Anthony Peregrine in the Times has penned an interesting article about the much maligned Beaujolais Nouveau, contending that it has improved immensely over recent years, and drawing attentiion to the fact that it seems only to be the Brits who have decided to turn away from what used to be a highlight of an otherwise dull late Autumn, with the Japanese, Americans, Germans and even the Chinese showing more enthusiasm for this young wine than us.“So I say it’s time to ditch the misgivings and (re)join the party. I further recommend we travel to Beaujolais to do so. November is a dismal month that could use some festive brightening. And even in autumn, the Beaujolais is a delight, France’s most famous unknown region. It’s famous, of course, for the wine — and unknown because nobody goes there. A serious error.”
The region is delightful, and the undulating hills of the Beaujolais are captivating - even in the winter. Although I have never quite discovered the charms of Macon, the surrounding villages and smaller towns such as Belleville are attractive. Peregrine offers some good recommendations for staying, dining and touring the region.
One personal recommendation is la Poularde, a good little restaurant in the small railway station at Pontanevaux (71, Saone et Loire, Bourgogne - see map) - excellent lunch just across the road from one of our favourite producers/negociants - Paul Beaudet - if you’re lucky you’ll meet the charming Etienne Akar, who is very knowledgeable and speaks excellent English.
Another place to visit is the Hospices de Beaujeu - see www.hospices-de-beaujeu.com, an old hospital and also the site of the annual wine auction for charity. Wine is made here and is available for sale.
Beaujolais Nouveau, like all Beaujolais reds, is made from the juicy, jammy Gamay grape, which because of its thin skin and low tannin is ideal for making a young wine, to be drunk slightly chilled. Beaujolais Nouveau is released on the third Thursday of November each year (this year on 16 November 2006). A decade or so ago the wine could not be shipped out of the Beaujolais region before midnight on the Wednesday, hence the invention of the Beaujolais Nouveau run, whereby teams would race to be the first to get a case of the wine back to London.
Suppliers: Nick Dobson
Two major Hollywood films out at the moment which might be worth a view for any Francophile.
“A Good Day” with Russell Crowe is clearly designed to hit the buttons of most of us who yearn for a quieter, better life, under the Provencal sun - especially as we lurch towards a British winter and the clocks go back.”Based on the novel by Peter Mayle, the film is about failed London banker Max Skinner (Crowe) who moves to Provence to tend a vineyard he inherited from his uncle, played by Albert Finney.”. Peter Mayle is something of a controversial character, having been responsible for fuelling the caricature (and house prices) of rural France with its idiosyncratic, loveable characters, stunning scenery, great weather and all the bounty of the French countryside. But he is a marketing man and writes seductively (if not terribly well or reliably) about that French idyll we all crave. So the film is bound to be full of eye candy (and I don’t mean the actors!) - lavender and vines abound.
Marie Antoinette looks to be something of a romp through French history - “.Based on Antonia Fraser’s biography of Marie Antoinette
At Versailles and throughout the Paris/Ile de France region there are examples of her legacy in a wide variety of sites and museums.
The Conciergerie on the banks of the Seine where the queen was held in prison - her cell can still be visited. “The haunting gothic atmosphere of the Basilica de St Denis is the last resting place of the French monarchs and it is here that visitors can pay their respects to Marie Antoinette as it is where her remains are buried. Evoking happier times for the queen, the fabulous Château de Fontainebleau sits in the heart of the forest that shares its name. Perhaps the château that, more than any other exemplifies the French monarchy (it was added to by rulers from Francois I to Napoleon), is the home of the boudoir of Marie Antoinette. This private chamber demonstrates the queen’s style and taste with fine furnishings and art works commissioned by her. The objects belonging to Marie Antoinette also show visitors what the queen was like. Fine collections are housed at the Musée Nissim de Camondo and the Musée Carnavalet. “
For more info on Marie Antoinette sites in and around Paris see http://uk.franceguide.com
For more on the film see www.marieantoinette.co.uk
