What we've been drinking this Christmas...

Some good bottles …actually some great bottles …were done justice to this Christmas, and theres still New Year to come. Highlights: La Gitana Manzanilla, my favourite sherry bought for me by Jude from Spain – cant buy it here unfortunately as the french don’t seem to acknowledge the existence of sherry; Vatican La Sixtine, rich white CnduP, the perfect foil for Christmas day guinea fowl and Bonnefond’s 2005 Cote Rotie still a bit tight but delicious nonetheless with the civet de biche (female venison) on Christmas Eve; a great lime zesty and honey Zind Humbrecht 2002 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl, very moreish and popular with the boxing day cold spread; and finally a Christmas pudding in a glass – the Warre’s 1977 vintage port immaculately stored in Emmanuel college’s wine cellars. Still a few glasses left in the decanter. Cheers!

Tasting with Laurence Feraud, Domaine Pegau

To Chateauneuf du Pape..again, such hardship..for a meeting and tasting with the village’s arguably most eminent female winemaker Laurence Feraud of Domaine Pegau. This is a property that has risen to stellar hights in quite a short period…her father Paul only started bottling their own wines in the 1970’s, the name Pegau (derived from the Provencal for a drinking vessal) only came into being in the late 80’s. Still today the property is modest, the cave is something of a mess by Laurence’s own admission and the only signs of commercial success aside from Laurence’s Audi are the heavy diggers working on a brand new cellar adjacent to the existing one due for completion before next harvest. Pegau is a fine example of a family estate..father Paul at close on 70 still works the vines (spread around the appellation at different locations) and assists in the cellar, Laurence who has an Oenology degree and joined the business in 1987 has led the wine making since the early 90’s and travels widely as part of her marketing remit, whilst Mme Feraud looks after the books in the office. There are only 3 other full time employees. The estate comprises 19 hectares of CnduP, including just 1 hectare of white varieties, plus a further 6 hectares of an excellent vin de table red “Plan Pegau”. Laurence also buys in wines she likes from Gigondas and Seguret, marketing them as “Selection Laurence Feraud”. Around 85% of the CnduP production goes into the Cuvée Reservée. The cepage: 85% Grenache, 9% Syrah, 4% Mourvedre plus a sprinkling of the other authorised varieties. Average age of the vines is 60 years. These wines are made in as traditional a manner as it gets in the appellation – hand picked, whole bunches in the tanks, natural yeasts, a relatively short maceration of 7-14 days, and maturation for a minimum 18 months in 50 hectolitre foudre. No barrique interlopers here. There is a minimum of fining and filtering. The cuvée Laurence is made in exactly the same way but is aged for longer whilst a premium cuvée the Da Capo is made in fine years from a selection made from the better plots and aged for 18-24 months. The white is made from 60% Grenache, 20% Clairette, 10% Bourboulenc/10% Roussane. With Laurence and her US distibutor JC Mathes of J et R Selections I tasted all four wines from either barrel or bottle. The wine with most immediate appeal was the current release of the 2006 Cuvée Reservée, pronounced leather and spice on the nose, super sexy velvet tannins and herb infused red fruits and an elegant long finish. The body is medium to full, definitely a Chateauneuf trying to seduce rather than blow you away with its power. Unquestionably delicious now, it will last another 10 years or more. Parker score: 91-93. I put any thought of economic restraint on hold and purchased a case…for La Madelene Rhone Wine Holidays customers naturally!

Chaume-Arnaud : a great Vinsobre producer

Excursion this afternoon to the village of Vinsobre, one of the 7 Crus of the Southern Rhone and for me the least well known. I visited Philippe Chaume of Domaine Chaume-Arnaud. This is a producer that I came to know via their excellent white wine La Cadène as its on L’Oustalet’s list at Gigondas and I’ve often selected it as the aperitif for clients when we’ve had dinners there.
The domaine is on the long straight road going up to Nyons via St. Maurice, though their best plots are up on the hill, to an altitude of 400 m overlooking the road and across to Mt. Ventoux. There is no marketing pretension here. Having been to Mourchon at the weekend the contrast is what first strikes one…the tasting room compises a barn housing the fermentation tanks, an old barrell positioned inside the barn door in front of the tanks (the only wood as it turns out in the winery as Philippe is strictly a beton/innox man) with some bottles arranged on it, no brochures, literature or other flim flam, not even a sell for their organic/bio-dynamic status. The wine here speaks for itself. Philippe who I disturbed tinkering with the tanks along with his rugby playing son – off soon to Ireland to complete his studies, learn english and play some rugby – talked me through the gamme, and I tasted the 2007 blanc, so popular it seems that there is a quota system, you need to buy two reds to every white purchased, then the 2005/2006 Vinsobre and then the haute gamme “La Cadène” reds, the 2000 and the 2004, these are old vine Granache + Syrah, Mourvedre, very concentrated and long, the 2000 animal/herbal the 2004 a little closed but very pure red berried fruit and great structure, will be a treat in a few more years. Great value is to be found here, the white (a 50:50 Marsanne/Viognier with a hint of Clairette – rich stone fruit cut with remarkable acidity for this part of the world) is just €10, the Vinsobre 2005 that I bought was €8.50 and the La Cadène, equal of many top Gigondas was €14. I regretted not buying more as soon as I drove away. By the way Philippe and his wife Valèrie who is equal partner in the wine making itself are part of the fascinating group of like minded (many organic, all fiercely independent artisans) known as the “Toques des Dentelles”…literally the Dentelles crazies!

Mourchon gets us in the Christmas spirit

With great elan Domaine de Mourchon's annual Marche de Noel has kicked off the festive season. Wonderfully decorated the winery has been given over this weekend to about 25 stalls selling everything from Christmas decorations, antiques to books and toys. Lily and I went along and enjoyed catching up with some friends, a mince pie and some retail therapy: our haul - a National Trust victorian advent calendar, a magnificent looking Christmas pud and a 1982 Armagnac - gorgeous rich prune/pudding spices - from the oenologist Sebastian's family farm. With Hugo I tasted the 2007 Mourchon family reserve from the barrel...already showing an expressive savoury nose and great structure. Lovely outing, shame that the mistral/rain spoilt it for the stall holders who had set up outside.

Alary comes top in Decanter tasting

Decanter’s December issue includes a blind tasting of named Cotes du Rhone villages…the 18 villages that have the right to show their name on the label and that sit within the aoc heirarchy between Cotes du Rhone villages – no name – and the Crus of Gigondas etc. I was delighted to see that Domaine Alary at Cairanne, one of the domaines in our tour portfolio, came out as the most highly scored wine in a field of 100+ wines. Congratulations Denis….much deserved. The slightly odd feature of the article to my mind was the comment that the tasting revealed many disappointing wines: “Cairanne was the biggest disappointment” commented taster Andrew Shaw the wine buyer at Waitrose. Yet when I look at the wines showed it seems incredible that most of the stars of the commune were not represented…where were Oratoire St. Martin, L’Ameillaud, Rabasse-Charavin and Marcel Richaud for example? A tasting without these present just isnt go to do it justice…perhaps Decanter should consult with those here on the ground that drink these wines everyday