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- Thraz - 09-01-2005
I had a chance to spend a few days in Roussillon last week and to taste a few wines. Wine tasting was not the point of the trip (unfortunately) so I did not do as much of it as I would have wanted, but here goes. I did not write anything down at the time so please excuse the brevity of the notes. Moderators, if this belongs in another section (travel?), feel free to move the topic.
Hotel: Ile de la lagune, in St. Cyprien. They have a great restaurant called L'Almandin, where we had our first dinner. Among the wines we had:
- Domaine Piquemal, Cotes du Roussillon Village "Terres Grillees" Blanc 2003. 50% white grenache, 50% macabeu, aged in wood. Apparently this is a predominant style of white in the region (white grenache in wood). Very nice. I was happy to taste a wood-accented wine that was not chardonnay. Very nice with fish actually, and a very different experience. I liked the wood there much more than with chardonnay.
- Later in the same meal, Domain Pouderoux VDP des Cotes catalanes Blanc 2003. 100% white grenache. This was a discovery. Wooded also, but tasted more like viognier to me. Great wine. I was also glad to find out that I do like wood in certain white wines.
The next day, we visited them both. Pouderoux is in the town of Maury, and they make conventional wines as well as the sweet reds of the Maury appellation. Very nice people, although clearly not a big operation so calling ahead is advisable. Great wines, and the town of Maury is beautiful (they recommended we visit nearby Cucugnan but we didn't have time). It's about 20 miles inland from Perpignan. The best sweet maurys they had in my opinion were the regular cuvee of the 2004 Maury, and the NV (both around 10 euros). They have other vintages, including some more expensive "reserves", but they did not impress me as much. Very nice alternative to port. In the courtyard they have big glass jars containing some of the wine. Apparently they do this so the wine cooks, and it is eventually a small part of the NV blend. The effect is called "rancio" and is also used in some muscats de Rivesaltes. I'm not sure I can describe rancio properly (or if I even picked it up) but it was a very nice wine. I got some of the white from the night before (7 euros I believe).
It is a domaine worth visiting for the Maurys and the white Terres Grillees - and the people there. They also have very good reds, including a Cotes du Roussillon Villages which I thought was really good (12 euros - I remember excellent blackcurrant). They had one at 30 euros, better but not worth the price difference. They do not have an importer in the US though. If in the area I highly recommend paying them a visit.
On the way back, we drove through Espira de l'Agly, the home of Piquemal. The picking had started for some of the white grapes, so they were all at work. However, the doorbell linked us to a cellphone apparently and a few minutes later the owner appeared on a bike, fresh from the vineyard. They have their information at:
http://www.domaine-piquemal.com/
They have two importers in the US (New England and West Coast). They make a muscat de Rivesaltes, which I did not particularly care for. Their red wines were extremely wood accented. Both the Cotes du Roussillon and the Cotes du Roussillon Villages use a similar grape mix: syrah, grenach and carignan, usually with some mourvedre. It was nice for the style but the wood was a bit overwhelming for me in this case. They had one red that was not aged in wood but they are well known for their wood cuvees apparently. I would not go out of my way to visit them, although the owner was very nice and I did like the white from the night before - but the I liked the Pouderoux even better.
Also in Espira, we had been recommended Mas Cremat. They are outside of town, and when we get there we see the entire staff at work: the three children of the family (they looked from 20 to 30) working in the vineyard, and the mother receiving us in the farm. Great welcome, and very nice wines. They are at:
http://www.mascremat.com/
I particularly liked their reds. I thought the best one was the Cotes du Roussillon Villages Cuvee Bastien 2002 (12 euros). Some well integrated wood, great length. I asked about 2002, they said that it had not been nearly as bad in the extreme west of the mediterranean coast - and the wine was great for sure. All their wines are on black stony soil, a very interesting sight. I highly recommend this visit.
Final evening in the region: in Collioure, a small town on the coast. Aperitif: white banyuls from Mas Cornet. A revelation. i had never had a white banyuls, only the red kind. Sweet, but not cloying - fantastic aperitif. Then a white Collioure (the town has its own appellation), that was forgettable.
About the region: I found out that the coast has two beach areas, sand beaches (Argeles and north, including St. Cyprien) and stone beaches (Collioure to Spain). The sand beaches are surrounded by mass tourism infrastructure and the towns are nothing special, and overwhelmed by beachgoers. The towns by the stone beaches are much, much nicer. In particular, Banyuls sur Mer, Port Vendres and Collioure are really worth the visit. I can't say enough about Collioure. At some point in your life, treat yourself and go. Sit at the San Vicens restaurant, on the cafe side by the beach, watch the sunset with that white banyuls in hand, look at the bay ahead, the stone lighthouse to your left, the vauban fortification to your right, an old windmill and another fortification in the not so far distance, and the little port and seafroont in between. Tell them I sent you, get a gallic shrug, pay full price. The town probably gets a lot of tourists at the height of the summer, but it has not been discovered as much as some of the riviera towns have, and at the end of August it was really nice. One of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen. The small towns further inland are also really beautiful.
We drove along the coast to spain. Beautiful drive, with the mountains meeting the coast all along. I was impressed at the surface used by grapevines. If all the wine was good it would be a powerhouse - but much of it is still not I think. In my opinion it is not worth crossing over to Spain unless you can go beyond the border area: the little towns across the border lacked charm, definitely not the best side of Spain, and not a vine in sight. Beyond there is Barcelona, quite another story of course but we didn't have time to go all the way there.
- TheEngineer - 09-01-2005
Very Nice! That must have been a good trip!
- hotwine - 09-01-2005
And you wrote all of THAT from memory, without notes? I'M impressed!
- Thraz - 09-01-2005
Yes I should know better than to start by saying I will be brief, and then ramble on forever. But I did keep the brochures from the vineyards so that helped.
- wondersofwine - 09-02-2005
Good trip notes. You make the town of Colliure sound very inviting indeed. I just attended a Languedoc-Rousillon wine dinner and will post on that under wine events.