The Terrasses du Larzac – a walk through the vineyards.
For anyone
who enjoys the wines of the Languedoc, the annual ballade vigneronne of the
Terrasses du Larzac is a must. This year
it was focused on the village of Pégairolles de l’Escalette, which enjoys some
of the most dramatic scenery of the whole of the Languedoc. If you drive south down the A75 motorway from
Millau, there is a moment when you come over the pass, the Col de l’Escalette
and you have the Languedoc at your feet.
Pégairolles is the first village after that pass, and the vineyards are
on steep hillsides to the west of the motorway. I’ve attempted a few photographs, but they simply do
not do justice to the grandeur of the scenery.
The
producers of the Terrasses du Larzac were in festive mood as they have achieved
the status of an independent appellation, without any reference to Coteaux du
Languedoc or Languedoc. Depending on
when the minister signs the final decree, this should be for the 2014
vintage. They are fairly
optimistic. The mayor of Pégairolles is
a deputy, and his political colours are the same as the appropriate minister ……
the out-going president of the syndicat, Vincent Goumard from Cal Demoura is
undoubtedly exiting on a high note, and his place will be ably filled by Marie
Chauffray from Réserve d’O.
The walk
took the usual format – six stages, with six courses and a total of 44 wines to
try. Don’t worry: I am not going to
inflict 44 tasting notes on you, but just a handful of highlights. However, it is true to say that there is a
very high standard of overall quality in the Terrasses du Larzac, defined by
the essential freshness of wine that comes from cooler vineyards at higher
altitudes.
The first
stage for the mise en bouche included tastes of all three colours, and the more solid accompaniment was a pink wine jelly with
some melon and water melon. It was quite
refreshing, but really a bit sweet for the wines. And the walk initially was through olives
groves and woods. Evidently a lot of work
had been done to create the paths, removing obstacles and even at one point
even putting temporary bridges over a small river. Apparently there are plans to keep the path open, making it a more permanent oeno-tourist
attraction. That would be a great
idea.
The new
owners of Mas Conscience were pouring L’In Blanc, a blend of Grenache Blanc,
Vermentino and Roussanne, with a touch of Viognier. Martine and Jean-Luc Quinquarlet of La Bastide aux Oliviers were
offering Pierre et Bastien 2012. Bastien was their son who died far too
young, and Pierre is a good friend. It
was a wonderful rich glass of wine, with ripe fruit and tapenade and
well-integrated oak, after 14 months in barrel.
The price is 25€ -' we’ve never sold a wine for that price before',
admitted Jean-Luc. Olivier Bellet from
Clos Rivieral
was offering his 2013 Rosé Les Fontanilles, which was mainly Cinsaut with some
Syrah and Grenache and was delicate and elegant, with a fresh dry finish.
At the next
étape, with a vegetable flan for sustenance, there were a couple of white wines
that caught my attention. La Jasse
Castel in Montpeyroux was showing their 2013 L’Egrisée Blanc made from Grenache blanc, with some Carignan and
Roussanne, from vineyards at 400 metres, and aged on lees, so that it had some appealing
minerality balanced with white blossom and good acidity, for 12.50€
And Domaine du Dausso, an estate that I have yet to visit was pouring
L’Inattendu blanc, a blend of 95% Vermentino with a touch of Roussanne, with
some very appealing herbal fruit on both nose and palate, balanced by fresh
acidity, and for just 8.90€ a bottle.
On through vineyards and past stone walls and
capitelles and more great scenery for an effiloché de canard, which might best be described as a bit of shredded
duck with some hints of orange. Wines
to go with it included Graeme Angus’s Les Trois Terres 2011 Saut du Diable, which was ripe and
rounded with a fresh finish – classic Terrasses du Larzac. We then tried Jean-Baptiste Granier's 2012 Les Vignes Oubliees with fresh spice, followed by Rémi
Duchemin’s Plan de l’Homme Habilis. That is a blend of Grenache with Syrah and
Carignan and is ripe and spicy and refreshingly unoaked. All three were lovely wines, and there were
others.
The meat
course, a serious chunk of beef filet, was accompanied by several serious
bottles. 2011 Domaine Montcalmès was
elegant and fresh; Mas Séranne Clos des
Immortelles 2012 had some lovely peppery fruit – it comes from all five red
varieties, but mainly Syrah and Carignan.
2011 les Etats d’Ame from Mas Jullien was elegantly smoky and stylish,
as one would expect from Olivier Jullien.
Isabelle and Vincent Goumard of Cal Demoura were pouring 2012 l’Infidèle which was
nicely rounded and mineral with a touch of oak. Délphine Rousseau and Julien Zernott from
Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette were there with Grand Pas 2010. This is of course very much their home
patch. And Olivier Jeantet from Mas Haut
Buis was showing Costa Caoude. The name
may imply heat, but the wine had a fresh finish.
A cool
track along a small river took us to the road that led into Pégairolles which
is a pretty circulade village. In the
place de l’Eglise we found the cheese course, with plenty of red wines to go
with it. Guilhem Dardé of Mas des Chimeres was offering
2011 Nuit Grave, mainly Syrah with some Grenache and Mourvèdre with touch of
tapenade and some good fruit.
Jérémie Depierre from Domaine la Peira was pouring 2011 Les Obrières, a blend of Cinsaut and Carignan with a little Mourvèdre and Grenache and unusually no Syrah, with some lovely fruit, with spice and herbs of the garrigues, and supple tannins, for 12€. Hissez O from La Réserve d’O was rounded and ripe, and Gavin Crisfield’s La Traversée 2011 was perfumed, fresh and elegant.
Jérémie Depierre from Domaine la Peira was pouring 2011 Les Obrières, a blend of Cinsaut and Carignan with a little Mourvèdre and Grenache and unusually no Syrah, with some lovely fruit, with spice and herbs of the garrigues, and supple tannins, for 12€. Hissez O from La Réserve d’O was rounded and ripe, and Gavin Crisfield’s La Traversée 2011 was perfumed, fresh and elegant.
There was a new estate, Domaine de l’Argenteille from St. Saturnin. Roger Jeanjean explained that he has absolutely nothing to do with the much better known Jeanjean family. His father had vines in St. Saturnin, as did his uncle who had been the first director of the coop of St. Saturnin until 1985. And his 2012 Garric was a blend of equal parts of Syrah, Mourvèdre and old Carignan with 10% Grenache, with a touch of oak. It was nicely made with a good fruit and a hint of tapenade, showing some ageing potential.
Béatrice Fillon from Clos du Serres was pouring 2012 Blaca which was quite rich and powerful with some tapenade and a fresh finish. Philippe Gros from Domaine Fabregous was showing the most mature wine of the tasting, 2008 Sentier Botanique which was rounded and harmonious with a touch of spice and a satisfying note of maturity. It made a great finale to the occasion.
Comments
Presumably farther away from home next year
Btw we tried to do the walk the next day (without the food & wines) but they had already stripped away the signs so we got hopelessly lost! Hope they do keep it open (with signage!)