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Estranhièrs in Languedoc-Roussillon
25 May 2010 by Tamlyn Currin
The Occitan word for stranger is estranhièr – a hauntingly beautiful word. And the broad swathe of Mediterranean coastline from Nîmes to the Spanish border has certainly been strongly influenced by successive waves of foreigners passing through, many never really leaving.
The Greeks arrived in 600 BC bringing vines and wine; the Romans stayed for 400 years, leaving aqueducts, an amphitheatre, temples and roads; the Visigoths hung around Toulouse for many years; Louis IX decided that the Languedoc belonged to him; then came the Cathars, leaving their deliberately inaccessible castles such as this one.
Of course, that’s a potted history and it doesn’t include the modern invasions. On my recent trip to Vinisud, care of Sud de France, I was struck by how many winemakers there were not originally from the region. Not that it was immediately obvious; the ex-pats I met seem to have so deeply embraced ‘their’ region that I think they’d have to check their passports if asked their nationality. A flying winemaker I once met called it ‘going feral’ – perhaps the wild garrigue and rugged windswept terrain of Languedoc-Roussillon is the best place to do just exactly that.
Here is a selection of tasting notes and profiles of some of the many domaines settled by outsiders.
CH RIVES-BLANQUES, Limoux - Dutch and English
‘Welcome to paradise!’ were the first words of Caryl Panman as she walked down the path of their Limoux estate. I turned, and looked at the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees against a cornelian-blue sky, vineyards falling away to snowy white with clouds of wild rocket flowers, and I thought, that’s not a bad description.
Caryl (English) and Jan (Dutch) swapped a high-flying globe-trotting cosmopolitan life for the backwaters of Cépie in Limoux – a place where the most exciting event seems to be the two-month-long carnival called Fécos starting in January and involving a lot of masks, costumes and twice-daily parades around the square. They bought Rives-Blanques - named after one of the mountains visible from the winery - about 10 years ago. The owner at the time was Eric Vialade, forced to sell because of a divorce. Through foresight and wisdom, the Panmans asked Eric if he would stay for a bit to help with a smooth transition. He signed a short-term contract. Ten years later he’s still there... the estate manager and winemaker and now happily married to Nathalie. It’s clearly a close-knit team and the Panmans obviously think very highly of Eric. We also met the celebrity member of the team: Bruno the Springer spaniel, much written about, virtuoso of tricks, and Decanter Top Dog of the Month Sep 2008. Mauzac, the other hound (of which canine variety I cannot quite recall) is rather less respected, but he outran Jan’s Landrover with ease and is le chasseur bien sur.
The estate has 20 ha of vineyards and they were the first in the region (one of the first in France) to be given the agriculture raisonnée accreditation. 2.4 ha of Chenin Blanc were planted in 1970 in anticipation of the 1972 blending-regulation changes and there are 7 ha of gnarled old Mauzac vines, gobelet trained, looking for all the world like armies of tiny Tolkien Ents.
The 9 ha of Chardonnay are divided into several vineyards, of which one in particular was a classic illustration of the difference between organic and non-organic farming – it just so happens that the barren-looking, heavily sprayed rows (stranded in the middle of the dandelion-studded Rives-Blanques vineyard) make up one of the famed Toques et Clochers single-vineyard Chardonnays.
The Panmans are lucky enough to have unusual terroir in their highest Chardonnay vineyard. While galets roulés stones are commonly found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and even Roussillon, it is very rare to find them in Limoux. Yet here they are, competing for space below the vines with myriad wild flowers. Finally they have 2 ha of Sauvignon Blanc. Yes, you read right. Sauvignon Blanc in Limoux. Planted in 2006 for a Vin de Pays (those AC rules, of course).
The Panmans have learned, invested and done a lot in just 10 short years. They cultivate wheat, wild flowers, clover and oats between the rows of vines, and the estate has become a beautiful natural habitat for wild boar, birds of prey and deer. The wines have won awards and accolades all over the world and the Panmans work tirelessly to promote their region, of which they are very proud. Caryl has a newsy blog on their website which she updates regularly, and this year she has started a fascinating project – a video journal of The Vine, a curvy 40-year-old Chenin Blanc vine that we will be able to watch bud, flower and grow throughout the 2010 vintage. Please note, The Vine is female. I was soundly told off for asking Caryl what she had decided to call him. But I stand by my question. I think The Vine is lacking in imagination and would welcome any creative naming contributions in the comments box below from our Purple pagers.
It is difficult to imagine, because we ate lunch outside in early April overlooking a valley alive with flowers and sunshine, but Caryl tells me that they were snowed in twice this winter (and as I write this a month later in May, I hear that they had snow a couple of days ago). Limoux can be a cold place – high up and hilly, far from the typical heat we associate with Languedoc-Roussillon. Perhaps that is why their wines have such elegance and restraint.
www.rives-blanques.com
Ch Rives-Blanques 2008 Blanquette de Limoux 16.5 Drink 2010-2011
The font on the label is 'borrowed' from the calligraphy of a document dated 1544 placing an order for 'four pinctes of Blanquette'. This is the first written reference in the world to a sparkling wine, and it is kept in the national archives in Carcassonne. 90% Mauzac with 10% Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. 15 months on the lees. 5g/l dosage. I asked Caryl where they stored the bottles while they were ageing on the lees and she explained that there are specialist 'blanquettiers' who store, riddle and bottle the sparkling wines on behalf of the wineries making Blanquette de Limoux.
Smells like spring. White blossom and crisp apple. Delicate, fine and so delightful. Cotton. Cool as a sunlit breeze. Utterly refreshing. (TC) 12.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Blanc de Blancs Brut 2008 Crémant de Limoux 16.5 Drink 2010-2012
60% Chardonnay, 40% Chenin. 15 months on lees. 5 g/l dosage.
Apple-cream rich nose. Long and with real depth. Thrilling acidity and life and a fine mousse. Apple-brioche notes. Absolutely delightful. Who needs champagne? (TC) 12.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Vintage Rosé 2008 Crémant de Limoux 16 Drink 2010
Has a rose-petal/nasturtium nose and palate. Pretty delicate. Dry and elegant. Pink Lady apples. (TC) 12.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Domaine Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc 2009 Vin de Pays d'Oc 15.5+ Drink 2010-2010
Bottled Jan 2010. 90% Chardonnay, 10% Chenin Blanc. Machine-harvested at three o'clock in the morning, and sorted at five am (says Caryl ruefully).
Fruit is clear as a bell on the nose. Ripe and clean and expressive. Tropical notes, rounded, bright and cheerful. Bright citrus and good length. GV. (TC) 13.2%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Dédicace 2008 Limoux 16 Drink 2010-2012
100% Chenin Blanc, bottled in Jun 2009. Fermented and matured for six months in 8% new French oak barrels (Limoux is the only white-wine appellation in France that requires fermentation and maturation in barrel). Yields 40 hl/ha. Their Chenin is dedicated to someone different every year. In 2007 they dedicated it to Eric Vialade who planted the vineyard, in 2008 it's dedicated to ‘the good neighbour’ who lent them the compressor out of his own press when theirs broke down in the middle of a Saturday night - even though he was going to be needing it the next day!
Fresh, quite precise, lots of acidity, and green peach notes. Golden apple and rounded at the core with floral edges and just a tantalising smudge of the honey to come. A prickle of spice on the finish. Elegant. (TC) 13%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Dédicace 2007 Limoux 16 Drink 2010-2012
100% Chenin Blanc.
Slightly more smoky on the nose than the 2008. Firm minerality and more wood spice perhaps? Richer. But still thrilling acidity. Quite tightly wound still. Notes of honey and apricot slowly unfolding in the glass. Real richness and roundness. This is a wine to drink slowly, perhaps even decant for short while. (TC) 13%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Cuvée de l'Odyssée 2008 Limoux 17 Drink 2010-2014
100% Chardonnay. This wine is from a vineyard with a very particular terroir: it's 350 m high (with a beautiful view) and is covered in galets roulés from the glacial age of Pyrenees. Just 20 m down the slope from the vineyard, these stones disappear. The vineyard is adjacent to one of the Sieur d'Arques Clochers vineyards. Hand picked with selection at picking and sorted again before pressing. Fermented and aged in French oak barrels for six months, one-third new and batonnage twice weekly. On the label is a quote by Titus Livius, a 1st-century Roman historian, describing 'Limoux's wines of light'.
Mandarin zest and saffron with rich creaminess on the nose. There’s a floral lift to this wine that is simply beautiful. Full and rounded, baked pears finely etched with dramatic spice. Powerful but not heavy. Fabulous acidity and length. Patrician. (TC) 13.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Cuvée Occitania 2008 Limoux 17 Drink 2010-2015
100% Mauzac. Big bunches and big grapes, all hand picked. This is from a certified-organic vineyard on a low, south-facing slope and is picked very (unusually) ripe. 'Mauzac is difficult to vinify as an interesting still wine for the same reasons that make it such a good base for sparkling wines: high acidity and a fairly neutral taste' hence the extra ripeness and concentration they look for. Fermented and matured for six months in seasoned French oak barrels with batonnage twice a week. The only 100% barrel-fermented Mauzac in the appellation. In handwritten script, the label bears an old Occitan proverb 'Nostra terra mentis pas' (our soil tells no lies). First made in 2002.
Lots of intensity! Perfumed, like burying your nose in yellow mimosa blossoms. Minerality and lemon citrus with honey-tinged saffron and acacia, gorse flowers and delicate spice. Quite defined texture, almost tactile. So unusual. Richly curved and creamy but finishing long and lifted and fine. I know I get a bit romantic, but sipping this is like turning the pages of an ancient story book complete with hand-painted pictures. I fell in love with this wine! (TC) 13.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, La Trilogie 2008 Limoux 17 Drink 2010-2012
2,000 bottles made each year out of one or two special barrels from each of their Chardonnay, Chenin and Mauzac. They started making it in 2005. 50% Chardonnay, 30% Mauzac, 20% Chenin, fermented and aged for six months in oak barrels.
Pale gold, and the heady perfume surges out of the glass. Gleaming fruit. Rich and powerful and utterly delicious. A nuttiness with firm acidity, there are layers and layers here; mango notes overlay creme brûlée, a shimmer of spice, the merest brush of chantilly cream. Yet for all that there is still beautiful definition. Complete. (TC) 13.5%
Ch Rives-Blanques, Xaxa Vendange d'Hiver 2004 Vin de Pays d'Oc 16 Drink 2007-2012
60% Mauzac, 40% Chenin Blanc. Named after their daughter Alexandra (their son Jan couldn't say her name when he was small, hence Xaxa) and made for her 21st birthday. Harvested in January! RS 90 g/l. It took more than six months to ferment.
Deep gold. It smells of golden sultanas and honey, orange and lemon peel. Lovely pithy bitterness with toffee and honey flavours. Very very fresh. Smoky dried fig, toasted cumin and caraway. Dusty carpenter notes on the finish with the echo of lemon peel. Delicious. (TC) 14%
25 May 2010 by Tamlyn Currin
