This week we are running a 3-day intensive Intermediate Course. We have students from the UK, Ireland, Paris and Limoux attending. It’s a great course covering the wines of the world and is a real eye opener on the complexities and variations from one country/region to another.

Yesterday we tasted the Chateau d’Armailhac Pauillac Cru Classe 2005 against a Chateau Grand-Pontet St-Emilion Grand Cru and Cape Mentelle Cabernet Merlot 2006 Margaret River. What a fascinating comparison, from the pencil shavings and cedar wood character of the Pauillac to the rich dark fruits and chocolate of the St Emillon to the cassis and mint of the Margaret River. Each wine showed their individual character and demonstrated how the same varieties, albeit in different proportions, produced such variation in taste and aroma.

La Clape Wines and Food for the Summer Weather

The wines of La Clape are predominately red and full bodied not necessarily what you would reach for on a hot sunny day. However these wines although a base of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre retain a fresh acidity and a strong “Garrigue” character and it is that that makes them so enjoyable in the summer as well as in the colder, winter months.

There is something about cooking outdoors that just excites the senses; the smell of the jasmine, the wild herbs and the sizzling meats (gently charring not cremating!) Grenache and Syrah are grapes that produce wines with pepper and spice, a mix of red and black fruits and a good wallop of herby aromas. The Mourvèdre will add dark fruit, a gamey, earthy character and provide the structure to the wine. The resulting wine is full of fruit, ripe not jammy, peppery, spicy, herby with hints of gamey notes and dark chocolate. A bit of a mouthful really so we need to match it with something equally flavoursome, a dish that will enhance the spices and herbs, whilst shaving the edges off any tannins.

The dish that comes to mind is a barbecued leg of lamb with a rich, herby ratatouille. To get the perfect leg of lamb you need a good marinade recipe and time, preferably overnight.

Perfect Leg of Lamb:

Butterfly the leg of lamb and lightly slit the skin, put into a clean plastic bag with 4 cloves of garlic smashed up (skins on), 1 large red onion roughly chopped, 6 large anchovy filets in oil (add a dash of the oil to the lamb), 2 lemons cut in half, the juice squeezed and then add the rest of the lemon to the bag, plus large handfuls of herbs, whatever is in the garden, I always use rosemary, thyme, mint and chives, a good twist of black pepper (no salt is needed due to the anchovies) and a large glug of olive oil. Tie the bag up and give a good shake, pop in the fridge and shake from time to time. Cook on a medium hot barbecue for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on size and personal preference.

Best wine match: Mas du Soleilla Les Bartelles 2006 €15 – 16

Contact: Peter Wildbolz 00 33 (0)4 68 45 24 80

This dish will also work well with one of the La Clape’s Grenache based rosés, they still retain the spicy, herbal character but are lighter and have the bonus of being served chilled to quench the thirst in the hot sun.

The white wines of La Clape tend to be equally full flavoured from a blend of Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Vermentino. Try these with Chinese Spring Rolls, a Comté Fruité or Roast Garlic Soup.

Bon Appetit !

Emma Kershaw

I was once told by a customer at a tasting that she was not able to taste one of the wines on offer as it was made from peaches and she was allergic to peaches. She had read the back label which stated that the wine had aromas of peach and had assumed, quite naturally, that she would have an allergic reaction to the wine. I explained that wine was made from grapes, the legal definition states that it must be made from freshly gathered grapes (fruit wines are not legally counted as ‘wine’ by the EU).

So why is it that the wine had aromas of peach if it was not made from peaches? In fact why do we get the different aromas that we do in wine? This is a question we get asked a lot at Vinécole. But why is that? Well to answer the peaches question it is a simple matter of DNA, the chemical compounds that make up that particular grape variety are similar to those of the fruit and so when we swirl the wine in the glass and inhale the aromas we get wafts of peaches.

Wine rarely smells or tastes ‘grapey’, the only wines that do are those made from the Muscat grape as that is the only wine grape that we actually eat. Next time you buy some grapes at the market ask what variety they are, most likely Muscat or Sultana but never Chardonnay or Syrah. So when we taste wine we get aromas of fruits, spice, floral, vegetal and/or oak. It helps to identify the wines, it is why they are all so different.

In this region we often get hints of the ‘garrigue’ in the wines especially the reds, the garrigue is the mix of thyme, rosemary, lavender and pine that grows prolifically all over the Languedoc-Roussillon. This is not because they have added anything during the wine making process it is simply due to the fact that the soil has absorbed these herbs and then passes these on to the vine as it searches for water and nutrients.

We have 10,000 senses of smell and only 5 senses of taste (sweet, salt, bitter, sour and the newly introduced umami) so we actually do most of our tasting with our noses, hence the reason that wine people make that terrible slurping sound when tasting, they are aerating the wines. Next time you have a glass of wine, pour a sample first and swirl it around in the glass and then inhale the aromas and take a deep sniff and think about what you can smell is it fruit, spice or floral?

One of the easiest wines to identify is Muscat due to its pungent aromatic qualities, and at this time of year it is a delightful end to a dinner with roasted peaches.

Roasted Peaches

Wash and halve the peaches, removing the stones and place in a roasting tin. Sprinkle a mix of cinnamon, vanilla powder and brown sugar onto each peach half and dot with butter. Roast in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile in a small pan mix a tablespoon of  honey (local lavender or acacia honey is best) with a vanilla pod and a large glass of Muscat de Rivesaltes, boil and reduce until you are left with a rich sauce. Add some finely shredded mint leaves and drizzle over the peaches and serve with a chilled glass of Muscat and possibly some vanilla ice-cream.

Wine recommendation:

Muscat de Rivesaltes Domaine Cazes 11.50 €

Tel : 04.68.64.08.26

Made by the largest Biodynamic producer in Europe, this is a beautifully balanced wine combining sweetness with fresh grapiness and floral characters. Great as an aperitif or dessert wine.

by Emma Kershaw

Rosé Wines with Food

Rosé wine has always been popular here in the Languedoc-Roussillon where so much of it is produced, but in recent years the rest of the world has caught on and rosé wine is now a fashionable drink all year round. It comes in all styles from dry to sweet, full-bodied to light, fruity to herby, frivolous to serious.

Matching rosé with food works better than you might think. The sweeter styles such as the Anjou Rosé from the Loire or the Californian Zinfandels tend to work better as aperitifs, however. Here in the Languedoc-Rousillon the style is drier and these wines really work with an array of dishes. Tuna and rosé are a match made in heaven, tuna is a “meaty” fish and needs a wine with some weight and body and rosé fits the bill perfectly: It has the acidity that fish needs, due to their salty character and the fact that they are often served with ether a citrus or vinegar dressing, and has more weight and depth of flavour than most whites without any oak character which would clash with the salt in the fish. Rosés also work with other seafood, particularly crab and squid, why not try with a seafood salad, most traiteurs sell these and they make for an easy picnic.

These wines are not just for seafood lovers, try a herby style such as the Domaine Gayda or the Plan de L’Om Rosés with a barbecued lamb and rosemary, and note how the herbal notes in the wine compliment whilst the acidity refreshes the palate and lightens the fattiness of the meat. Or even a fruity style such as the Combebelle St Chinian Rosé with a ripe Brie de Meaux, although this wine is dry, the ripe fruity character compliments the cheese, similar to a chutney (UK) or a confiture de cerise (local).

Lastly, one of my personal favourites at this time of year are tomato based dishes, tomatoes should really only be eaten in the summer when they are bursting with flavour and natural sweetness. Tomatoes have high acidity and high acid foods need high acid wines otherwise the food will cause the wine to taste flabby and dull. White wines are an obvious choice but they need to be full flavoured to cope with the tomatoes sweetness and, as it is usual to use herbs such as basil and thyme when cooking with tomatoes, the wines need to cope with these aromatics too. So again rosé comes out tops, plenty of natural acidity, fruit and herbaceous aromatic qualities.

Top Match: Domaine Clavel Mescladis with a Tomato Tarte Tatin

Contact Details:

Domaine Gayda

04.68.31.64.14

Plan de L’Om

04.67.10.91.25

Chateau de Combebelle

04.67.38.09.86

Domaine Clavel

04.99.62.06.14