La Clape - les Sentiers Gourmands
It is the
season of balades vigneronnes, so last
Sunday saw us walking Les Sentiers Gourmands on the Massif of la Clape. This year the walk was at Château Rouquette
sur Mer, just by the roundabout at the
entrance of Narbonne Plage. This
estate totals some 400 hectares, of which only about fifty hectares are
vineyards; the rest is garrigues and so perfect terrain for a greast walk. You are never far from the sea, and there
are good tracks through the garrigues and past vineyards, young and old. You can also enjoy dramatic views of the
steep cliffs of la Clape, making it some of the finest of Languedoc
scenery. The wet spring has ensured that the wild
flowers were at their best, with brilliant yellow broom and white and pink
cistus. And the wind kept us alert, and
hanging on to our sun hats. I nearly
lost mine in a vineyard on more than one occasion.
First stop
was for oysters from Gruissan – but there was a bit of a bottleneck, so we
decided to give molluscs a miss, but we did try the wines intended to accompany
them. A choice of three of which the
best was Château Mire l’Etang Blanc 2012.
It was delicately salty and fresh with good acidity, while Château Capitoul, Rocaille 2012 was fuller and
more mouth filling, with a touch of oak and vanilla.
The food
was provided by a restaurant in Narbonne, les Cuisiniers Cavistes, and very
good it was too. The mise en bouche was
a cappuccino of asparagus with a little ham, some tomato and a hint of piment
d’Espelette. I love asparagus, and this
was simply delicious, with an intense flavour. The best wine here was 2012 Château Laquirou Blanc,
Albus, a blend of Grenache Blanc and Bourboulenc. It was lightly herbal, with ripe fruit and a
satisfying mouth feel, balanced with acidity.
The path
took us past vineyards with views of the sea, and a mule named Vanina who was
demonstrating the old fashioned art of ploughing a vineyard.
Vianney Fabre was pouring 2009 Château d’Anglès blanc, the grand vin,
which is fermented in oak. However, Vianney was very insistent on the fact that
the barrels were two years old, so they avoided any obvious oaky flavours. The oak was indeed very well integrated, with
ripe fruit and good body and weight.
The blend is 40% Bourboulenc, with 20% each of Grenache, Marsanne and
Roussanne.
At the adjacent
barrel was a name that was new to me,
Domaine l’Angel, with a 2012 rosé, that was fresh and rounded, and avoided the
pitfall of bonbons anglais, a term that
the French use to describe the taste of young rosé with an excess of
amylic acid. M. Kleinrichert explained
that he worked the lees separately to avoid those aromes primaires. The palate was nicely rounded with herbal
notes, and a touch of raspberry on the palate, from a blend of 90% Grenache and
10% Syrah.
2011 Château
de Figuières rouge had quite a firm leathery nose and palate, and was warm and
gutsy with a ripe finish. And 2008 Château
Ricardelle rouge, Closablieres had been aged in oak, with some vanilla on the
nose, and quite a firm leathery palate.
The hot
starter was a delicious ravioli of lobster, in a cream of saffron, and we ate it
looking out at the sea. And the best accompaniment
was the white wine from Château Rouquette sur Mer, 2012 Arpège, a blend of Bourboulenc
and Roussanne, with a delicate nose and lightly herbal fruit and white blossom
on the palate with appealing acidity and depth.
The coop
from the village of Fleury, Cave la Vendemiaire was pouring 2012 Blanc, les Arbres Blancs, a
blend of Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc and Vermentino. It was fresh and floral, and nicely refreshing
and uncomplicated.
2012 Château
Combe des Ducs Blanc, Cuvée l’Estime was nicely salty and almondy with good
acidity, and some white blossom and satisfying texture.
For the
meat course, a succulent civet de canard, with some mashed potatoes flavoured
with truffle oil, we had a great view of the ruined château of la Rouquette sur Mer. It dates from the 14th century
but was abandoned after the phylloxera crisis, when it was noticed that the
vines survived better in the sandier soil closer to the coast. Then it was badly damaged during the Second
World War and is now a picturesque ruin, with the remains of German defences
nearby a reminder of the vulnerability of the coastline. And there were ten wines to try.
My friends Susan and Peter Munday were pouring the lone rosé, Château Moyau, a blend of Cinsaut and Grenache, which was fresh and fruity with good acidity, providing some nicely uncomplicated drinking.
My friends Susan and Peter Munday were pouring the lone rosé, Château Moyau, a blend of Cinsaut and Grenache, which was fresh and fruity with good acidity, providing some nicely uncomplicated drinking.
Château
Moujan changed hands a year or so ago and the new owner, Patrick Massoleni has
as yet to bottle any wine. He had two
vat samples to try, an old Carignan, with some promising berry fruit and
structured, and a Syrah with fresh peppery flavours. They promised well for what will be the Cuvée
Parole
d'Homme 2012.
Château Abbaye des Monges 2010, Augustine, was a blend of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with only 10% of the cuvée aged in oak. There was some dry spice on the nose, with some ripe fruit and a good balance of tannin on the palate.
d'Homme 2012.
Château Abbaye des Monges 2010, Augustine, was a blend of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with only 10% of the cuvée aged in oak. There was some dry spice on the nose, with some ripe fruit and a good balance of tannin on the palate.
2010
Domaine Pech Redon, l’Epervier was also unoaked, with some dry leathery spicy
fruit and a satisfying balance of tannins.
Peter Close
was pouring Château Camplazens, la Garrigue, and looking remarkably alert for
somebody who had flown in from the States the previous day. However, he had had some good news – their 2011
Premium has just won a trophy in the Decanter World Wine Awards, so he was dead
chuffed. La Garrigue was ripe and
spicy, with a leathery note and a touch of orange. It went well with the civet, as did Rouquette
sur Mer’s 2011 Cuvée Henry
Lapierre. That is a blend of 75% Syrah with Mourvèdre,
aged in new oak. There was youthful oak
on both nose and palate, but it was well integrated with lovely ripe fruit,
avoiding the pitfall of oak leaching the fruit, which seemed to be the main problem with
some of the wines that I did not enjoy so much.
And then it
was on to the cheese course, a selection of goats’ cheese from Mas Combebelle
near Bize-Minervois. Domaine
Ferri-Arnaud was pouring their white wine, 2011 Fleurs Blanches, which went
deliciously with the goats’ cheese. It
was fresh and delicate, with some herbal notes. The white from Château des Karantes was more
solid.
Christa
Wildbolz from Mas de Soleilla was offering 2010 les Chailles, which is
Grenache with a little Syrah, and no oak.
There was some lovely liqueur cherry fruit on the nose and palate, and it was ripe and rounded, with appealing spice
and a tannic streak. And she also had
incognito as she put it, their 2011 white, which is a blend of Bourboulenc and Roussanne,
with a touch of oak, with fruit and texture.
It made a lovely finale, as we had decided to skip pudding. And then it was time to go home, for a cup of tea!
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