CRACKING THE LANGUEDOC

One of the very dark Languedoc reds

As Steve has a small house in the Languedoc and visits there regularly, I pretty much insist that he presents us wines from the Languedoc when it comes around to his turn to do the tasting.  In any case the wines of the Langeudoc are always popular and represent good value, even if the prices of some are creeping up.   In his previous tastings Steve had felt that he hadn’t quite done the Languedoc justice; would he manage it for our July tasting and really crack the Languedoc?

Steve opens the wine whilst Jane smiles and I concentrate

The were nine of us gathered around his dining room table one Friday night in early July to judge Steve and his wines.  As usual we blind tasted the wines and had to guess which of the six wines presented did not contain a local varietal.  The wines we tasted are presented in descending order of preference and all scores are out of twenty using the original Tongham Taster scoring system that rates the wines on look, small, feel, taste, length and wow factor.   Scores are presented in the order Clive, Ian, Kathryn, Andy, Chris, Steve S and Yvonne.  I managed to lose my and Jane’s score sheets so they are not presented.

Plenty of Tongham Bakery bread to soak up all that strong wine

1. Mas Gabriel, Cuvee Trois Terraces, 2011, 100% Carignan Noir Vielles Vignes, French Red 14.5%, direct from the producer €10.00

Four of our team had this as their favourite wine and everyone had it in their top three.   Clive smelt this wine and immediately identified that is wasn’t a beer!   I thought it was a Syrah but as usual got it wrong.  Some felt it had the aroma of brambles with some caramel.  It was quite dry and astringent.  Scores were 15, 12.5, 12, 12.5,14, 15.75 and 16.  A very nice wine from a grape that is rarely used as a single varietal.

2. Domaine de l’Arjolle, Cuvee Zinfandel 2010, French Red 14.5%, direct from the producer, €12.00

A close second was the non-Languedoc varietal – Zinfandel.  It also had four who voted it top but another four had it in their bottom half.   Thi s wine had a lot of vanilla oakiness but reasonable acidity to balance this.  The taste was of stewed plums with just a hint of sweetness from the fruit.   Scores were 17, 13.5, 11, 10, 10.5, 15.5 and13.  A very pleasant wine and an unusual varietal for the area.

3. Chateau de la Liquiere, Vielles Vignes, AOC Faugeres 2011, French Red, direct from the producer,
€8.90

Making it a clean sweep for the red wines our third favourite wine was this nice Faugeres.  It was a gloomy Goth coloured wine that was astringent with lots of tannin.  It was complex and balanced.  Five of us had in our top three wines.   Some thought it was spicy but it could have been the chorizo that some of us were eating.  Score were 16, 12.5, 8, 10.5, 9, 13.75 and 12.5.  This wine is 45% Carignan, 35% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10% Mouvedre.

4. Mas Gabriel, Cuvee Clos des Papillons 2012, French White 13.5%, direct from the producer, €13.50

Mas Gabriel not only produced our favourite red, they also produced our favourite white.  It was an unusual grape varietal – Carignan Blanc, something that most of us hadn’t tasted before.  For some of us it was similar to Picpoul de Pinet and had a good dose of acidity and then a lingering dryness.  There appeared to be a slight natural fizz rather like in an Albarino. Scores were 13, 10.5, 12.5, 10.5, 11, 11.75 and 12.  Mas Gabriel is obviously a property worth visiting – Languedoc here we come!

5. Chateau de la Liquiere, Cuvee Les Armandieres 2012, French White, direct from the producer, €6.40

This cheeky little wine with a mineral taste and floral smell had some lemon sherbet grip in the after taste.  It turned out to be 30% Roussane, 25% Grenache, 20% Terret, 10% Viognier, 10% Bourboulenc and 5% Marsanne.   Scores were 14, 11.5, 12, 10, 13.5, 14 and 11.

6. Chateau Roquette sur Mer, La Clape, Cuvee Arpege 2011, French White 13.5%, direct from the producer, €8.15

Unfortunately eight of us voted this our least favourite wine of the evening.  Steve said it tasted much better in the Languedoc.   I found it a bit flat not quite but almost pear drops and some thought it resinous or bitter.   It had a very dry aftertaste with some citrus.  It turned out to be a Bourboulenc and Roussane blend.  Scores were 10, 6, 11, 9.5, 8.5, 9.5 and 9.   Kathryn, our white wine lover didn’t vote it last and it reminded her of Dandelions so there is some hope for this wine.

Yvonne's excellent cheese straws

A very interesting selection of wines and some interesting grape varieties; Steve you definitely cracked the Languedoc!   As usual we had a good selection of Tongham bakery bread, crackers, meats and cheese.  Yvonne had made some delicious cheese straws that matched the wines extremely well.  We also tried some dried figs that went quite well with the Zinfandel.

Dried figs from the Languedoc

Clive at the other end of the lens

Next month we meet on Friday August 9^th for a “regulars only” event where we will spend the kitty we have built up over the last year on some mature Reserva and Gran Reserva Riojas dating from 2004 back to 1984.  A "must" for lovers of old red wines.

Team we need someone to take over from me after August and someone to host  the September, October, November and December tastings.  Volunteers please!

If you are interested in visiting Mas Gabriel, it is a small organic wine domain located in Caux.   It is run by an English couple, Peter and Deborah Core so you won’t have any language problems here.  They have a website www.mas-gabriel.co.uk that is worth a visit if you can’t get to their domaine.   Many thanks to Steve and Yvonne for introducing their wines to us and for hosting another really enjoyable evening.

As usual - thanks to Clive for the additional and superior photos attached to this post.

Yvonne pours the wine for Chris

Steve prepares the table