Valerie has kindly agreed to host March's meeting and has chosen reds from "Languedoc" including Costieres de Nimes as the theme. She indicated that they have nice AOC (blends) and Vins de Pays d'Oc (varietals, in general, Syrah and Cab) and stated that the price point is more in the lower side of our regular window. She also correctly pointed out that the food from the South of France is fantastic (and not complicated)!
Army Wines?
I've done a bit of research on the area and was intrigued to find out that
Languedoc is the largest vine growing area in the world!
Stretching from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, the wine region is several
times bigger than, for example, Bordeaux or the wine growing region of
Australia. Approximately 400,000 acres are planted with vines, which
produce one-third of France's grapes and over 2 billion bottles each year.
It's believed that the Greeks established colonies here over 2000 years ago for producing wine and oil, and planted the first French vine here in 500 BC. In later times the area produced high volumes of poor quality wine to blend with the strong wine imported from the North African colonies. During the 1960's the vines were replanted with the high volume, stronger, but still undistinguished Carignan grapes. Unfortunately, the result was the wines of Languedoc were often referred to as "Army Wines" - large quantity, low quality.
With the worldwide excess production of wine, vignerons in Languedoc have been replanting with varieties intended to produce better quality wines. They replaced low quality varieties with better ones like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Viognier. Approximately 120,000 hectares were replanted under a rejuvenation programme. Increasingly, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, and Mourvedre are found in the region.
The improvement efforts are paying off, with the Languedoc becoming a respected producer of quality wines. However in my research, many websites are still labeling the wines as "Vin de Table" and "Vin de Pays" that are ideal for "everyday drinking", which though appealing in concept -- who wouldn't want to drink French wine everyday -- seems a bit derogatory. I'm personally very much looking forward to the tasting and believe that our club will judge for ourselves...
Cuisine
Cooking traditions in Languedoc have roots in the same primary products as those in Provence. The primary ingredients are olive oil and tomatoes, garlic, onions and aromatic herbs. Seafood is an essential part of the cuisine. The specialties are: Oysters, Gardiane (bull stew with rice), Bourride (fish with aïoli), Morue Catalane (cod with tomatoes and pepper), Anchoïade (anchovies with garlic and olive oil), Crème Catalane (creme brulee with lemon, vanilla and fennel seed), The following cheeses are made in Languedoc-Roussillon: Pélardon, Bleu des Causses, Thomme (goat's cheese), and Roquefort, which comes from Larzac in the south-west of Languedoc.
More resources:
- An in-depth overview of the wine region can be found on the official Languedoc AOC website.
- A guy in the UK's picks for the top 36 Languedoc wines.
- History of Languedoc food
Details for our tasting (sorry I arrived late from a flight so it's a bit incomplete):
- René Rostaing Puech Chaud 2003 Coteaux du Languedoc 13% alcohol - nose of hay, sage and raspberry. Very representative of Languedoc. Supposedly considered a star of the appellation.
- Château de Nages Cuvée Joseph Torres Rouge (Syrah) 2000/01, 14.5% alcohol $28.95 - good value, very hard to find. Unfortunately I couldn't find anyone's notes on this, other than we gave it a fairly high ranking.
- Chateau Mas Neuf Costiered de Nimes 2003 14% alcohol - not a distinctive wine, but very much a classic of the region. Has a manure, earthy aroma. Comment from the member that brought the wine, "it was red and from France".
- Gres Saint Paul Syrhus 2002 $45 - huge nose! Smooth and silky with notes of gooseberry on the palatte. Appears to be trying to balance old and new world tastes. This received mixed reviews from the members - some loved it and some thought it was one dimensional. A sampling of the descriptions "would have it with steak", "I would drink 6 of these with 6 buddies in an all male dinner blow out". Oh la la, sounds fun ;)
- Phillipe Grange Coteaux Du Languedoc 2002 $20 - pleasant, not complicated, quite drinkable. Good value.
- Chateau de Valcombe Costiere de Nimes, (Grenache, Syrah, Cisault, Carnignon), 40 year old vines - traditional red currant nose. Light/lacks body, Not an ageing wine. However provides immeadiate gratification and is easy drinking. Also has a lovely emossed bottle.
- Gres Saint Paul Antonin Coteaux Du Languedoc 2003 13.5% alcohol $29 - little acidity, somewhat bland, lacks body not very distinctive. One member described it as a "mad wine". I have no clue why.
- Chateau St Martin de la Garrigue, AOC du Languedoc. Bronzinelle 2002 13.5% alcohol - herbaceous, chocolate and barnyard aromas.
- 2001 Chateau Pesquié Quintessance 14.5% alcohol - black currant nose, limited dimension, grainy tannins - I think that's what it says - it's hard to make out Dirk's handwriting ;)
- Domaine de la Petite Cassagne 2001, Costières de Nîmes, (Grenach, Syrah, Carignan), 13.5% alcohol $25 - sweet nose of ripe black cherries, some thought it was like cough syrup, drink now.
- Chateau St Eulalie 2003 14.5% alcohol - smoky, generic incense on the nose, short on the palette, surprisingly sweet, thin, not pronounced. One member described it like "Tropicana mixed fruit".
- 2000 Domaine du Theron, Cahors Cuvée Tradition 12.5% alcohol, (Merlot & Malbec) $21.95 - easy to drink, but not spectacular. Subtle mushroom, earthy nose, with licorice/clove flavors.
Comments