Languedoc could be France's most exciting region, writes Mary Dowey
The Languedoc is at last being recognised as the most exciting region in France for interesting wines at everyday prices. That's the good news. But it is vast, stretching in a wide ribbon around the Mediterranean from Montpellier to Perpignan. It is complicated, too, embracing a dozen appellations. So the impact it makes on the minds of consumers couldn't be fuzzier.
How can wine lovers begin to unlock the Languedoc? Not long ago I made a brief trip to Saint-Chinian and Faugères, two small appellations northwest of Béziers, whose wines are increasingly visible in Ireland. If you want to get a fix on the flavours of the deep south, these two regions make a great starting point. Both are stuffed with passionate, quality-oriented producers. If you fancy a wine-flavoured holiday, fly to Carcassonne; within an hour you can devour dramatic landscapes and stirring wines.
Saint-Chinian and Faugères are like Co Donegal or Co Kerry with vines and a lot more sun. Theatrical vistas open up at every turn, with craggy outcrops, sweeping hills and acres of garrigue, the wild scrubland whose scented vegetation is said to add character to the wines. It was unlucky that, the day I arrived, rain more torrential than anything ever witnessed in Ireland made it impossible to see a thing. Vignerons struggled to cook a Sunday lunch of robust local foods on a barbecue under umbrellas. They all looked ridiculously cheerful: the vines were in need of a good soaking.
The next morning the sun was switched back on in time for the first vintage festival of Saint-Chinian and Faugères, held in the pretty Saint-Chinian village of Roquebrun. It was an impressive affair, with 80 producers from Saint-Chinian and 32 from Faugères showing the first of their wines from the 2004 vintage alongside more mature bottlings. The tables were lined mostly with reds, backed up by a generous sprinkling of rosés and a smattering of whites.
The main red grapes down here are Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan - blended in varying proportions but usually more or less in this order, to produce rich, spicy wines with a touch of the garrigue about them. Hints of thyme, rosemary or juniper often seem to waft from the glass.
In Saint-Chinian two very different types of soil create wines with distinctive personalities. Schist, a coarse rock in the north of the region, is associated with deep colour and a smoky, liquorice character; clay, further south, generates wines with brighter colours and fresher fruit flavours, especially blackcurrant, raspberry and cherry.
"Faugères' wines have the smoky, mineral overlay that is so typical of Syrah planted on schist, but they have a little less body than the wines of Saint-Chinian," said Jacques Lesineau of Château Moulin de Ciffre at the reception he hosted to show off the best of Faugères. (His own wine seemed to me to be among the most impressive.) He came to this pocket of the Languedoc in 1998, from Bordeaux, when his family property, Château Haut-Gardère, was sold to neighbouring Château Fieuzal, the Graves estate now owned by Lochlann Quinn.
Wandering among the crowd, both at the evening reception and at the festival the following day, was René Renou, who is regarded as the most formidable figure in French wine. He is the new head of the organisation responsible for the appellation system, to which he has vowed to deliver an almighty kick in the pants. Why was he down in the depths of the Languedoc? To honour the fact that Roquebrun and Berlou, two of the 20 communes in Saint-Chinian, have earned the right to put their names on labels because of the superiority of their wines.
Quite a number of the producers whose wines were on offer sell their wines in Ireland, including, in Saint-Chinian, Domaine Rimbert, Domaine des Pradels Quartorini, Domaine Les Eminades, Clos Bagatelle, Domaine du Tabateau, Domaine La Croix Sainte Eulalie and Château Cazal-Viel and, in Faugères, Domaine du Pigeonnier and Domaine des Estanilles.
Father and son Henri and Laurent Miquel have made the biggest impact on the Irish market, with the Chateau Cazal-Viel wines developed by Henri on sale at Tesco (see Pick up a bargain, above) and the Laurent Miquel range, more international in style, a major success at Dunnes Stores.
After only two days I was sorry to tear myself away from the wide-open spaces of Saint-Chinian and Faugères. The vineyards were just beginning to burst into leaf, their new foliage like lime-green candles sitting on the twisted black candelabra of old vines. Purple Judas trees were in blossom and the plants of the garrigue were springing into life, perfuming the pure air. This is real wine country, a world away from the flavour factories that pump out so many bottles for supermarket shelves. Remember it. Better still, visit it and drink wines with the imprint of nature, wines with soul, from the minute you arrive.
WHERE TO STAY
L'Hacienda des Roucans, in Murviel-les-Béziers, (00-33-4-67329010, www.haciendadesroucans.com) is a delightful B&B in the heart of wine country owned by the Irish wine writer and consultant Jacinta Delahaye and her French husband, Thierry, and run by their son Tristan. It has six bedrooms, with a pool and exotic gardens stretching down to the glossy-green River Orb. Doubles start at €69, including breakfast.
La Vigneronne, in Faugères (00-33-4-67957849, www.lavigneronne.com) is a cosy B&B in a restored old vigneron's house that doubles as a shop selling wines from 34 Faugères producers. It has five bedrooms. Doubles start at €64, including breakfast.
GETTING STARTED
La Maison des Vins, in Saint-Chinian (00-33-4-67381169, www.saint- chinian.com) is not only the source of all the information you will need for a tour but also an excellent wine shop, selling more than 150 bottlings from Saint-Chinian producers at cellar-door prices.
PICK UP A BARGAIN
Château Cazal-Viel Saint-Chinian Cuvée des Fées 2003, which was a bottle of the week in March at the usual price of €10.49, is on special offer at Tesco until July 12th at €9.49. It's a fantastic price for this smooth, round, well-crafted wine. The super-ripe 2003 has all-round appeal, so stock up for a season of stylish barbecues.