Back to the Languedoc
It was a
relief to turn our backs on the freezing conditions in London, but today I am
not sure that things are that much better in the Languedoc. True, it is warmer, and Easter Sunday was
simply glorious, but today the rain is coming down, as it only can in the
Languedoc, unremittingly and relentlessly.
I can usually see a clear outline of the Pic de Vissou from our bedroom
window when I open the shutters; this morning it was shrouded in cloud. And if you believe the local paper, Midi
Libre, the Hérault has had the wettest March since 1960, with 168 mm. You have to go back to 1946 for the next
highest rainfall, with 215mm. And the
water table is at its highest level for 13 years, so there should be no
problems with stressed vines this summer.
But for the moment the vines are distinctly dormant – usually the end of
March they are bursting into leaf, but not this year. And
the reason is quite simply lack of sunshine – a local website, www.heraultwhatson
showed the comparative hours of sunshine between this year and last year in
mid-March. Last year the Hérault had
clocked up 239 hours, while this year the figure is just 82.
So what did
we open on our first evening to make ourselves at home? First up for an apéro was 2011 Muscat Sec,
Pays d’Oc from the Chartreuse de Mougères.
Muscat is the one grape variety that really smells of grapes, and this
did. It was fresh and grapey, on both
nose and palate, with a hint of sweetness and that typical slightly bitter
finish. And was just the thing to whet
the palate for a glass or two of red wine.
I have a
soft spot for old Carignan. The one from
Château de Nizas used to be my favourite, but sadly they have pulled up their
old Carignan vines, so I have transferred my allegiance to Mas Gabriel and Les
Trois Terrasses. Andrew Jefford this
morning was writing about old Carignan from Chile on www.decanter.com and mentioned how the Carignan of
the Languedoc has an ascerbic spikiness;
I know what he means but I wouldn’t go as far as that. For me old Carignan can have an elegant
rusticity. 2009 Les Trois Terrasses
has a deep colour colour, and ripe black cherry and confit fruit on the nose,
and more so on the palate. It is ripe
and concentrated, with rich fruit, but with a rustic edge of acidity as well as
tannin, with a youthful but balanced finish.
In short a lovely example of the grape variety.
And the
following evening we treated ourselves to a la Clape from Château Rouquette sur
Mer, their Cuvée le clos de la Tour,
2005. It was quite a deep colour, with
some tapenade and red fruit on the nose.
And on the palate it was beautifully mouth filling, but not too heavy,
at a modest 13˚. There were layers of flavour, with some lovely black fruit and
supple tannins and an elegant lift on the finish. It was drinking beautifully.
The Midi
Libre can usually be relied on for an April Fool or poisson d’avril, and this
year was no exception, at least I don’t think so. There was a convincing article entitled Du
vin en poudre servi à la prochaine Feria, which enthused about une petite
revolution which would save enormous quantities of empty bottles, and
describing the quality of the resulting
wine, a blend of equal parts of water and powder, as being
as not far from that of the best crus of the region ……
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