At last! The Wine....

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

I shall not mention the weather since it remains much the same. And I cannot find words to adequately differentiate one day from the next. A little rain might give me something different to say but Languedoc is not obliging me. I keep seeing these gorgeous sunrises with orange gold patinas buttering everything around me and sunsets marked by swirls of pink and purple, a ten minute burst of terra cotta coloured stone just as the sun is sinking below the horizon. Beautiful to watch and, when dressed warmly, a real treat compared to the wretchedness of the winter sun in upstate New York.

This morning I finished rewiring the recalcitrant antique lamp, whose four twisting bronze tentacles resisted the rethreading of wire through them. But persistence and tenacity paid off and I was able to install it in the entry room. I now have many lighting choices for that room including the glow of four 40 watt bulbs from this refitted chandelier.

Having finished that I went off to the cooperative where I met with Bruno Jay, my contact there. His English is perhaps little better than my French, which is to say that its not good. His excuse is that his is quite rusty whereas mine is just not good. After much discussion about the wine and it’s finer points I arranged for delivery to the Farm. And we went to the tasting room.

They make twenty different wines at the cooperative, that is to say twenty brands plus a variety of wine in bulk. I’m hoping that I can have a selection of these wines available for members and so I wanted to try everything. I’m not much of a spitter but today I made a point of it. Bruno certainly was not shy about spitting nor was he shy about opening bottles.

Trying first the whites I found a very good Chardonnay that had a crispness to it that I have found lacking in other Chardonnays. It had a natural peachy tang and something I have found consistently in Languedoc wines and that is an overtone of fig and floral. The Sauvignon Blanc was tart and fresh, perhaps a little earthier and less apple-y than my favourite Sauvignon Blancs but for the price it is a great value.

I tried then a AOC Languedoc rosé, Domaine de Favas which proved exceptional and carried with it the same impression I have had for some time that Languedoc rosés can stand up to many full bodied reds. Drinkable, smooth and full of rip fruit flavours. A very good offering at the price.

Interestingly, I tried the Domaine de Favas red, also an AOC Languedoc wine but was not overly impressed. There was a flatness to the wine that overrode any idea of flavours. Always hard to say with one bottle but if it was representative I would prefer to drink the rosé rather than the red.

Another appellation I tried was a Vin de Pays du Bérange called Bois Noyer. This nutty little wine was quite good and won a medaille d’or at the regional wine exposition. I say nutty since it had an overtone of walnut (without the bitterness) and there was definitely some black cherry in there somewhere, and I think some small amount of the ever present Languedoc fig….an earthy, jammy, sweetish kind of taste but subtle without compromising the dryness of the wine.

Then I tried our wines, the Marquis de Montlaur Classic, aged for one year in stainless steel and the Marquis de Montlaur Fut de Chéne, an AOC Coteaux de Languedoc, oak barrel aged for 18 months to two years.

These were clearly the royalty of the group, both were excellent and had a wonderful fruity nose with a smooth and balanced flavour, and my favourite thing…no negative notes on the palate. They had that characteristic Languedoc fig note in spades, something I think gives the wine a rustic, old world feel. And at 13.5% alcohol they are both strong wines that can stand up to almost any other red. Both of these are medal winners at the Montpellier wine exposition. Bruno suggested that the wine could be cellared for between five and ten years but could be consumed any time, if “uv coorse you open zee bott-el perhaps wun ‘our beforehand”. We also discussed corks and the choice of corks for our brand. He said that after extensive study they selected the real cork amalgam from DIAM, which had proved in service to provide for long and stable life for the cork and hence the wine. So, while I am still faithful to my Brunellos and Chateau Neuf-du-Papes I am very pleased with the selection of this wine for our Micro-Leaseholders.

I will be arranging a preliminary shipment of the wine right now by air with more to follow by sea….but that’s Friday’s story.

It was a wonderful day of tasting and comparing. I went home and made myself a nice dinner of merguez. After watching a movie I clambered into bed and rejoined Captain Vancouver as he and Capitaine Quadro made their way to Maquinna’s village somewhere in the Pacific North west.