Wine tasting in the South of France - Saint Chinian

So one of the main differences between everywhere else I have tasted wine in the world, and the Domaines and Caves in France is the size! A lot of the places we visited were very small, and would only open up for business when we arrived. Some weren't even open on a weekend, which seemed a bit of a missed opportunity to me. Also because they don't charge you to try, you do feel compelled to buy. Fortunately they were so nice it was no hardship buying them.

We went to Chateau Bousquette, just down the road from Berlou still in the Saint Chinian AOC. This was a family run business who have been organic since 1972. The lady who served us (who I think was also the owner) had excellent English, so it was really interesting to hear about how they made the wine and how the harvest was going. She also took us out back to look at their steel tanks. As ever we bought some wine - the rose and one of the reds were my favourites. 

http://theorganicwinecompany.com/history/

Then we went to another vineyard a 2 minute drive down the road, Domaine Jougla. Again the reds from this part of the region were very pleasant.

I love Syrah, and it is used a lot down here - either by itself or in a blend, often with Mourverde and Grenache or Carignan. 

Again a lovely little tasting room with one of the owners taking us through the wines. An English lady happened to be there tasting with her Scandinavian sister in law. She'd recently moved to the area so we had a good chat about the wine and what she thought of the area.

Unsurprisingly we purchased some more wine! My brother said it had been around 10 years since he had tried wines in the area at vineyards, and he felt that the wines had really come on in that time, and were much better than he remembered. 

http://www.domainedesjougla.com/

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Berlou Cooperative

So my brother managed to organise a tour of the cooperative in Berlou. Here a number of the local farmers put their grapes together and work together to produce wine and get it marketed. I didn't even realise this existed, let along that more than half of French wine is made this way! More information is here if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking_cooperative

It was amazing to get a tour round the site from the wine maker, Bernard. From the grapes being dropped off from trailers attached to tractors, being weighed, then right through the press and the fermentation process. My brother did a really good job at explaining the rather technical French he was being given.

Here's a small video of the grapes in action:

There was no tasting at the cooperative, but later that afternoon I went to the rather snazzy wine cave in the village, where they sold a number of different wines made at the cooperative. I tried a pink and a couple of reds. There was no one else in the shop, so the lady watched me drink the wines. No pressure to like them then!!!

Both were around the 7 Euro mark and pleasant enough, so I bought a couple of bottles to take back to the house for further quoffing...

To find out more about the wine from the village go to: http://www.berloup.com/en/

Wine Tasting in the South of France - Berlou - Le Grange Leon

So it's been a little while since my last post, largely because I have been in the South of France wine tasting!

For my dad's 70th birthday I talked about taking him to Chablis as a treat for a long weekend. This soon turned into a week in the South of France with my brother joining us.

As we flew into Bezier the vines were all over the countryside, standing up like soldiers in their regimented lines. We started off pointing out everyone we saw, but it soon became clear that wouldn't be possible. There were just far too many!

We stayed in a tiny village called Berlou. No shops and one restaurant that opens of an evening 5 days per week. This was the spot for our first tasting.

The appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) is St Chinian in this area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Chinian_AOC

La Grange Leon was a very small producer, with just 27,000 bottles a year. We tried all the wines from pink through to red and enjoyed all of them. Each of us had their favourites - mine was the L'Audacieux 2013, a blend of Carignan (40%), Syrah (35%), and Grenache (25%).

All of the wines were very reasonable price wise and we ended up getting 12 bottles to drink throughout the week. 

There were kids, dogs and tractors a plenty and it felt very much like a family business that was buzzing during harvest time. The pickers also rocked up near the end of our time there with dogs etc. Interestingly they all had a beer after they had finished for the day!

Don't waste the beautiful grapes!

mulch

Try these bad boys for size

The wine maker showed us out the back to where they were doing the first press and loading up the grapes onto an escalator that I called the 'Stairway to Grape Heaven'.

Beautiful grapes

You can find our more about the maker here: http://www.saint-chinian.pro/,us,3,85.cfm

An afternoon of New World Whites

At my last trip to The Sampler, my friend and I noticed they were holding a 'New World whites' tasting afternoon at the Islington store. Without hesitation we paid £20 and signed up.

Dawn greeted around 20 of us at the back of the store and gave some background on the difference between new world wines and old world. I was slightly aghast to find out that new world wineries can add ingredients to wine and some famous NZSB's have added sugar! Good grief!!!

We started with an NZSB. Apello 2014 (RRP £9.50). It was easy drinking, light and crisp with a citrus and apple nose. Pleasant enough and indicative of the region (Marlborough), but I've had better.

Number 2 was Emiliana Riesling 2012 from Chile (RRP £8.40). A slight kerosene nose again indicative of the grape. More body than number one and flavours of lemon and lime. I bought a bottle of this to have with a spicy meal at home. Rather nice.

The third wine was a Sottano Torrontes 2014 from Argentina (RRP £13.90). I knew by the nose it wouldn't be for me. Floral and aromatic, it reminded me of a Gewurztraminer and was my least favourite of the afternoon. The grape is only grown in this region, and I am pleased I won't come across it anywhere else...

Wine number 4 was a Chardonnay 2012 from Washington State, USA (RRP £12). I don't remember having a wine from Washington State before. It was light with plenty of pear and apple but not particularly memorable.

I preferred the second Chardonnay, Clos Du Val 2012 from Napa Valley, USA (RRP £26). The nose gave popcorn, butter and vanilla, but the taste was remarkably fresh. Delish!

Number 6 was Force Majeur Chenin 2014 (RRP £12.90) from Swartland in South Africa. Nose and taste of apple and hay this didn't do a huge amount for me, but Dawn said it would be great with salty or Asian food.

Our penultimate wine was a Penna Lane Semillion 2010 (RRP £14.50) from Australia. The nose was a struck match (I didn't get this, but once someone had said it, I could smell it!). This tasted of stone fruit like peaches and apricots.

Our final wine was Scholium Project Dulcissima Camilla 2013 (RRP £50) from Sonoma, USA.I have tried some of this unusual wine makers wine before at The Sampler and never got on with them, but this was remarkable! Not like a Sauvignon Blanc I had ever had before. The nose had marmalade and brown bread, with a kind of yeasty smell aswell.  Lovely lovely wine, but a bit pricey for my tastes...

It was an enjoyable afternoon. The pours were generous and Dawn knew her stuff. We were allowed to polish off the wines at the end and I made a beeline for the Scholium Project!

A few people seemed to want to talk among themselves rather than listen, which was a bit frustrating, and chairs would have really helped as we were standing still for quite some time.

But I learnt some new things and would return for another session! A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Carnage at the end of the tasting!

Somm

I watched Somm last week. It's a documentary from 2012 following 4 American guys as they try to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier Exam.

It's very watchable, very enjoyable and you will be agog at the dedication of these people and their wine knowledge! Less than 200 people in the world hold the Master Sommelier title.

It's on Netflix UK at the moment and probably available globally on Netflix. Check out this fascinating documentary!

Level 2 - signed up!

After the excitement of getting 100 % on my Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level 1 exam, I have signed up and paid for Level 2!

I start have 2 hours per week for 9 weeks starting in October and I'm really looking forward to it.

I've received my course material already and am going to set a weekend aside to review it before my first session. Exciting!!!

More details on the course can be found here: http://www.wsetglobal.com/qualifications/22.asp

First trip to an English Vineyard

So despite visiting vineyards all across the New World (Australia, New Zealand and the US) I hadn't been to an English winery before!

Having tried some Bacchus from Sharpham near Totnes in Devon a few weeks before, when I found myself in Devon I thought it would be rude/bonkers not to pop in! So I left Brecon bright and early on Friday morning and hooned down to the South West. All was going well to just after Exeter, but when I got into the countryside proper I had no mobile signal - no great when the Vineyard is hidden away up a plethora of country lanes.

Totnes in the distance along the river Dart

Fortunately my perseverance paid off as I wound my way down a very narrow drive on the side of a hill towards Sharpham. The outdoor restaurant and seating areas were busy but I was able to book myself in for a 1pm tasting. The young girl was enthusiastic but very nervous and not particularly knowledgable about the wines. Strangely we were allowed to taste 3 out of 6 wines offered. Why they don't just do a 25ml pour for each tasting and let us try all 6 I don't know!
I tried a Sauvignon esque white (which was actually 100% Madeleine Angevine) and the two reds (50% Pinot Noir & 50% Pinot Noir Précoce and 100% Rondo). The reds were exactly what I was expecting - light/medium bodied very young, rather thin and not all that! I much prefer a medium to full bodied red wine. The white was nice enough and I bought a bottle of that.

The cheeses were delicious (a goat's cheese and a brie type), but as I was heading off to a hotel I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them anywhere cool to take them home.

So I set off on one of their self guided tours around the vineyard. It was a very warm day and a very warm walk (I took off my cardie!) but well worth it. It was lovely! And I could have been in France.

So after this lovely walk in the English Countryside surrounded by grapes that will soon be wine, I decided to pick up a few bottles from the store, before hot footing it to the coast and the heady heights of Torquay! 

If you are in the area I would definitely recommend you take a look. It's not as swish or organised as many of the tasting rooms and vineyards I went to in California, but it is a really lovely area, particularly when the sun is shining. 

For more information go to the website: http://www.sharpham.com/