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MILLESIME BIO 2010 – DAY 2
The second day of MILLESIME BIO was very busy. Lots of visitors in the alleys, big queues at the stands, but it was just worth waiting for tasting.
Impression picture: courtesy Clair de Lune
The press agency CLAIR DE LUNE (Marie Gaudel) succeeded to open a big tin of FIJEV journalists from many countries. 25 of us came through CLAIR DE LUNE to MIILLESIME BIO (and some more on their own). After the tasting day on Tuesday, we went to a place in the city center, “Mesdames & Messieurs“, a cozy wine and lounge bar specialized in organic (bio) wines. To match the many wines you can drink there (a few of them by glass), you can also have some tapas, plates to share with more people or simply enjoy on your own. The ambiance is quite informal and warm. The food is pretty good and the prices are very friendly. At the moment the big wine selection is composed of 100% French wine, but I have been told that some Spanish and Italian organic wines will appear on the wine list soon… The world of organic wines should be one without border!
Back to the tasting, with some of my favorites from day 2:
Château Les Miaudoux: another member of the small but very dynamic Saussignac family, Gérard Cuisset, is producing wines since 1986, organic wines since 2003, Ecocert certified. I tasted on the stand a crispy fresh, lovely fruity, juicy and mineral Bergerac blanc sec 2009, a more serious white Inspiration des Miaudoux Bergerac sec 2005, plenty of ripe fruit from the muscadelle and sémillon, a gently kiss of the oak barrels (from Burgundy!), a hint of spices and spring-flowers, nice freshness and juice, perfectly in balance with the creamy oak tones. I just loved it! Back on earth with both feet with the informal Bergerac rosé 2008, very fresh and fruity, round on the palate, pretty dry and clean in the finish. The red Bergerac 2009 was full of fresh fruit, juicy and round in the mouth, for informal daily pleasure. My favorite one was the red Inspiration des Miaudoux Bergerac 2004, very fruity, round, generous and complex, with nice ripe and velvety tannins. A lovely wine from merlot and cabernet franc grapes, meant for instant pleasure or some years of cellaring. Very good value for money! (I didn’t taste the Saussignac this time, I did it many times before and it is just great!). Website
Domaine du Traginer: Jean-François Deu produces wonderful wines for the lovers of real ‘terroir’ wines. His white and red Collioure wines (no rosé) are all full of sun, ripe fruit and minerality. The white Collioure blanc sec from grenache blanc, grenache gris (and sometimes malvoisie) are really fantastic, full of ripe fruit, spices, minerality and positive oxidation, generous and complex on the palate. Depending on the harvest year, it will be more fruity or more mineral. The red Collioure rouge from grenache, carignan, mourvèdre and syrah are always surprising; great ripe fruit, lots of minerality, complex and powerful. My favorite reds are the Collioure Capatàs (capatàs in Català= farm manager), absolutely wonderful! Unfortunately, I had no time to taste the fantastic white, red and Grand Cru Banyuls this time, but they are still fully present in my memory from the earlier tastings… Fabulous! Website
Domaine de Granajolo: I met the two ladies Monika and Gwenaële Boucher many times before and was really glad to meet them again. The wines are made by the daughter, Gwenaële, since 2003 in their own cellars. No trendy Bordeaux or Burgundy grapes here, mainly good old Corsican ones, called vermentinu, niellucciu and sciaccarellu. The first one, a white one, is also known as vermentino (Italy) and Rolle (Provence). It gives really nice wines on granitic sands soils like in Sainte-Lucie de Porto-Vecchio. Fresh, fruity and floral wines, with distinguishing aromas of ripe apple, bitter almond, hawthorn and wild herbs. You have to like it or not, I just love it! The whites of Granjolo are fresh, juicy and appealing. You can get them in two types, without (Granajolo classique blanc) or with oak aging (Cuvée Monika blanc). Both have their charms and are great gastronomic wines. The red grapes, nielluciu (a cousin of sangiovese) and the sciaccarellu (also known as sciacarello nero and many other names in Italy) are doing very well on the granitic soils. They are supported by syrah in the Cuvée Monika rouge and grenache for the Granajolo classique rouge. Don’t expect heavy, jammy blockbusters here, both wines are elegant, juicy, mineral, fresh, fruity and spicy. Also very interesting for gastronomic use, more ‘Italian’ than ‘French’ type. The rosé wines are pretty serious ones, very gastronomic! The Granajolo classique rosé is made of the local barbarossa (also known as barbarossa in Emilia-Romagna and barberoux in Provence), blended with grenache and syrah. Full colored, delicately fruity and slightly spicy, fresh and juicy, very tasty and dry. The Cuvée Monika rosé is made of 100% niellucciu. Even more color, more spices, more fruit, a fattier structure in the mouth, and a long, fruity and juicy aftertaste, tong tickling like a warm French kiss! Unfortunately, no website yet…
Domaine Le Clos du Gravillas: John & Nicole Bojanowski produce great wines with an own identity, very ‘terroir’ and ‘grape’ characterized. I really loved their white wine L’Inattendu 2007 Minervois blanc, made from grenache blanc, grenache gris and ma(c)cabeu… Crispy fresh, juicy, mineral, warm, generous, positively oxidized… A great gastronomic wine! Unfortunately, the terret wine was not to taste, I would have appreciated. The reds were great too. The Sous les Cailloux des Grillons 2008 was plenty of ripe fruit and minerality, fresh, full bodied, powerful, long and mineral in the after-taste. The Rendez-vous du Soleil 2008 was round, full, spicy, rich in tannins, mineral and aromatic (with a strong liquorice after-taste). My favorite was the Lo Vièlh carignan 2006, a wine with a very high WOW feeling, spicy, powerful, plenty of garrigue and warm espresso aromas, with a long and fascinating after-taste. I certainly do think that carignan is a fully under-estimated varietal in France, may be because of the cooperative past, where everything that was not producing enough was considered as ‘bad’… What a kind of bull-shit is that. This (and some other wines made from old carignan vineyards) just proves how good carignan wines can be. I am a big, big fan of carignan wines and of this very nice wine producing couple John and Nicole. Great job, great terroir, great wines! Website
Château Les Eydins: Serge Seignon is a well-known wine producer in France. He produces very nice red wines in the Luberon AOP range. His Le Petitou 2008 is as usual an unformal wine to drink with friends, fresh, fruity, juicy, generous and slightly mineral. The Fontête 2008 is mouth filling, round, ripe fruity, powerful but not heavy, with soft tannins. The Louvière 2007 is juicy, quite powerful and straight, with high tannins level, minerality and toasted coffee aromas. The Cuvée des Consuls 2006 is concentrated, complex and rich in tannins. Here too you get free espresso in the after-taste. My absolute favorite was the K à part (Cas à part = a distinctive case), made from carignan (I told you yet I love that kind of wines), with a very appealing nose, strongly aromatic, a beautiful taste, fresh, juicy, warm, spicy (garrigue again), complex, with a fascinating long after-taste. Website
Château Haut Garrigue: Caroline (South-African) and Seán Feely (Irish) started their wine ‘love story’ in 2005 in Saussignac. Seán’s family was already in the wine business in South-Africa. They bought the old Haut Garrigue domain, with vineyards on calcareous soil with fossilized sea-shells. Their goal was to make great quality wines, and they did it wonderfully well. Organic since 2006, nowadays Ecocert certified and working biodynamic (Demeter). I was really astonished by the quality of those wines, as well in white as in red. The Bergerac sec sémillon-sauvignon blanc is crispy fresh, very mineral, elegant, juicy and lovely fruity. The Bergerac sec sauvignon blanc is even more refreshing, pure and tasty, with a great crispy bite. They also produce a barrel aged white blend called La Source that I couldn’t taste, unfortunately. Regarding the reds, surprising results as well. Very well made, pure, fruity, elegant, round, well balanced, juicy, mineral La Source merlot/cabernet sauvignon blend… The sticky Saussignac could not be tasted at the moment I visited the stand, but I have been told by my Saussignac friends that it is definitely a good one! The prices of the white and red wines are actually a little bit anachronistically low… especially if you consider the high quality of the wines, the great look of the packaging and the nice story. Warmly recommended! Website
Consorzio TRIMILLII: I follow this group of winegrowers and friends since quite a while, from the beginning actually, Vinitaly 1995! The name of this ‘consorzio’ (sounds better than ‘club’, ‘group’ or ‘association’) derives from Tremelius, one of the very first mentioned vine-growers in Columella’s writings. This bunch of jolly friends share the same passion for quality wine, for their land, for organic viticulture, traditional wine culture and craftsmen skills. They come from two big wine regions of Italy, Piemonte and Toscane. A visit to their stand is always a lot of friendly fun, laugh and good wines. Genuinely nice Morellino di Scansano, Montecucco rosso and Toscana IGT from Poggio Trevvalle, Chianti classico, Chianti classico reserva and Toscana IGT from Buondonno, Chianti classico, Chianti classico reserva and Toscana IGT from Casina di Cornia (all from Toscana)… From Piemonte you will find fantastic mineral and pure Gavi, great Monferrato bianco, Monferrato dolcetto and barbera at Cascina Degli Ulivi (biodynamic), nice Colli Tortonesi barbera, dolcetto, timorasso, cortese and croatina at Valli Unite, wonderful, elegant, mineral and very enjoyable typical Barolo, Alba dolcetto or barbera and Langhe nebbiolo at Erbaluna, good Monferrato, Asti dolcetto or barbera, and sensual, elegant Asti moscato and great Piemonte brut at Mario Torelli (no own website yet), good Asti barbera, sauvignon bianco, riesling Italico and grignolino, as well superior and very tasty grappa and spirits at Fratelli Rovero. Besides those ‘wine-growers’, 3 other members: Minetto Carlo producing torrone, Toccasana Negro and their amazing herbal liqueurs, and Lo Spaventasseri producing lovely jams and home-made preserves, and – surprise-surprise – now also fresh, crispy, zingy Asti wine from the freisa grape. General website of the consorzio. PS: Looking for some exciting addresses for your wine and gastronomy holidays in Piemonte and/or Toscane? Most of the Trimillii members do have very nice places to stay. Look for ‘agriturismo’ on their website!
More comments following very soon on a new page… Stay tuned!
Comments
great blog thank you