Ever heard of Terret, Oeillade noire, Ribeyrenc noir, Aspiran gris or Ramounen? No – neither had I.
What about Marselan or Mauzac? Yes – vaguely.
Cinsault, Grenache, Piquepoul, Maccabeu or Carignan? Then, yes is the answer.
These were the grapes in the wines at last week’s Sud de France tasting of traditional grape varieties at the Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillon in London. And what a good tasting it was too. The brand of Sud de France really does help bring together the wines in an identifiable way.
I suppose I should have known Terret as Terret noir is one of the 13 permitted varieties in Chateauneuf-du-Pape but it is also a grape that comes in different colours – gris, blanc and noir. To be fair the others only featured in one wine although it was a wine I enjoyed - Domaine Henry’s Le Mailhol 2007. It was all red fruits, herbs and undergrowth on the nose followed by red fruits and a touch of black fruit on the palate along with something herbal. Lingering complex and intense. 86/100.
Marselan isn’t even in Oz Clarke’s book Grapes and Wines. You have to look it up in The Oxford Companion to Wine to see it is simply as a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.
Mauzac is described in Oz Clarke’s book as having “rustic, green apple skins flavour that is not always delicious”!
As for the others – well, they are pretty common really.
I’ve put a couple of reviews up on Adegga of the wines I tasted. I concentrated on the whites simply because I had limited time and fancied tasting what I expected to be fresh wines rather than work my through reds which may have ranged from rustic (code for a bit "rough") to those of higher quality such as Chateau Cabezac’s Carinu 2006 from the Vin de Pays du Val de Cesse.
And this was something else. Most of the wines were Vin de Pays yet of a reasonable quality. Remember, you don’t need to look for an AOC on the label to get reasonable French wine.
What about Marselan or Mauzac? Yes – vaguely.
Cinsault, Grenache, Piquepoul, Maccabeu or Carignan? Then, yes is the answer.
These were the grapes in the wines at last week’s Sud de France tasting of traditional grape varieties at the Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillon in London. And what a good tasting it was too. The brand of Sud de France really does help bring together the wines in an identifiable way.
I suppose I should have known Terret as Terret noir is one of the 13 permitted varieties in Chateauneuf-du-Pape but it is also a grape that comes in different colours – gris, blanc and noir. To be fair the others only featured in one wine although it was a wine I enjoyed - Domaine Henry’s Le Mailhol 2007. It was all red fruits, herbs and undergrowth on the nose followed by red fruits and a touch of black fruit on the palate along with something herbal. Lingering complex and intense. 86/100.
Marselan isn’t even in Oz Clarke’s book Grapes and Wines. You have to look it up in The Oxford Companion to Wine to see it is simply as a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.
Mauzac is described in Oz Clarke’s book as having “rustic, green apple skins flavour that is not always delicious”!
As for the others – well, they are pretty common really.
I’ve put a couple of reviews up on Adegga of the wines I tasted. I concentrated on the whites simply because I had limited time and fancied tasting what I expected to be fresh wines rather than work my through reds which may have ranged from rustic (code for a bit "rough") to those of higher quality such as Chateau Cabezac’s Carinu 2006 from the Vin de Pays du Val de Cesse.
And this was something else. Most of the wines were Vin de Pays yet of a reasonable quality. Remember, you don’t need to look for an AOC on the label to get reasonable French wine.
5 comments:
Good thing there are trade events and public wine tastings! I would be scared to buy those wines if I see them on a shelf.
glad you enjoyed it, i look forward to meeting you in london next week! best wishes, louise
I wanted to go to that tasting but just ran out of time. Looks like I missed a good one, I so enjoy trying those little known varietals. Will certainly keep a lookout for them. Cheers!
Do you remember which wine had some Ribeyrenc in it? (I'm curious as the grape is also called Aspiran, the name of my village).
Graham, the notes show it was Le Mailhol from Domaine Henry. The blend was Oeillade noire, Morrastel noir, Terret noir, Terret gris, Ribeyrenc noir, Aspiran gris and Ramounen.
It's interesting that the blend separately mentions the Ribeyrenc and the Aspiran as though they are different varieties or maybe in this case its simply the colour that makes them different? And I'm impressed that you know of them both but from reading your blog (excellent by the way) I can see you are something of an expert in wines from the region.
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