Wine in Restaurants

Languedoc restaurants have a challenging existence being in a region where the main industry is tourism. Trade is seasonal and, beyond the cities that form an arc along the A9 from Nîmes to Perpignan, markedly so. This means few restaurants can charge the prices or sustain the volume needed to keep regular staff, let alone a sommelier, all year round. Wine consumption in restaurants is also in decline as, quite rightly, customers become more drink-drive conscious. That said, they do have on their doorstep a massive choice of the best value wines France has to offer.

As passionate restaurant goers, cuisine is our first priority and dishes are chosen before any consideration is given to wine. If the wine doesn’t complement a dish we pause our drinking. After all, a classic vinaigrette will ruin the taste of just about any wine while some modern creations have too much going on. Fine wine goes best with simple food.

Can Peio – this delightful Catalan restaurant in a converted train station near Sommières has closed and is much missed, except the wine list that is.

A personal but hopefully realistic wine wish list for the regions mainstream restaurants is: -

• Make the core of the list local wines e.g. Minervois, Grés de Montpellier etc. including one as nearby as possible (that merits listing of course). Source these wines directly from the producers or perhaps a local cavist.
• List wines from growers or even co-ops rather than anonymous blends from large enterprises – those wines should focus their resources on much needed exports
• List wines by the glass and state how much a glass is. Also list 250cl or 500cl carafes decanted from bottles. Do this even if only one white, rosé and red can be offered in this format. These carafes have been a most welcome trend in London but haven’t come across them in the Languedoc yet.
• Stock 50cl bottles, if necessary in preference to 37.5cl halves – a trend that’s growing but clearly needs cooperation from producers. That said, if carafes can be offered for a reasonable selection then these bottle sizes are redundant.
• Use appropriate glasses for the quality of the wine, but definitely nothing heavy and chunky or the wrong shape
• Make sure the bottle is in reach of the diners and don’t be upset if they pour the wine themselves
• Only list wines that can be enjoyed now. A possible exception is when several vintages of the same wine are listed. Especially guilty are lists with a token young bottle of Mas de Daumas Gassac, Grange des Peres, Peyre Rose and the like. Customer demand or not, it must be unfair not to show these expensive wines at their peak.
• State the alcohol by volume of every wine Indicate the cepage. A Vins de Pays could be a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Carignan – obviously a big difference.
• List some wines of the moment, but make sure these are worthy wines. This helps customers choose and can help the restaurant with stock control.
• Taking this further, the Languedoc is a large and far more complex region for the styles of wine made than other French regions. Include a one line description of the wine to at least indicate how rich and full bodied it is. This is especially important unless knowledgeable staff are readily available and greatly helps those of us who read French better than hearing it. If this is impractical for all wines at least do it for the mainstream wines.

The length of the list isn’t important as long as a cross selection of styles is offered at sensible price points. On prices and marks ups all I will say is that while restaurants are obviously businesses, I strongly object to any drinks being a source of profit over food.

Some onsiderations to get value from a list are: -

• Where more than one wine from a domaine is listed the “lesser” wines can often drink much better than the “prestige” cuvees.
• Where there’s a fixed mark-up policy, rather than a percentage approach, then the more you spend the greater percentage of the cost goes towards the wine
• The pricing of older wine needs to reflect the cost of tying up money for years. That said, restaurants can occasionally pick up small parcels of mature wine from growers or simply need to shift older stock. Either way you clearly need to enjoy mature wine
• Where a restaurant buys direct from growers then some will charge the restaurant a wholesale price, others a near retail price. Of course spotting these wines, assuming the restaurant isn’t profiteering, means happening to know their retail price and that the wine is good value in the first place.
• Buying a bottle and taking home what you don’t drink is often better value than a half bottle, plus the chances are the wine will be in better condition.

Coming soon, the Languedoc list that all others are compared to.

Why Languedoc?

The place. Discovering the Languedoc geographically was by chance. After years of taking holidays touring around gastronomic France in a hire car and living out of a suitcase, we took the opportunity through friends of a friend to have a fixed base for a week. On 3rd April 1993 we arrived at a converted manger of a village house in Soubès near Lodève. Despite chilly weather and little evidence of spring we fell in love with the varied countryside, the light, the wine and the amazing Le Mimosa restaurant.

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Past tastes and influences. Conversion to near exclusive consumption of Languedoc wine was a slow process. In the 1980s our tastes were pretty broad – the classic French regions (especially Alsace and better Bordeaux), Spain, Italy, Germany with dips into California and the start of the Aussie invasion; even Bulgaria. The early 1980s were also, arguably, the golden age for fine wine – classics were relatively undiscovered and affordable, but there were also plenty of duds. The biggest single influence on our tastes for almost 30 years has to be Mike and Liz Berry who now run Vins Fins de la Crau in Provence. A first purchase in 1980 from their mail order Mulberry Vintners, soon to be La Vigneronne, was a treasure trove of classics – Hermitage, 2nd growth Claret, top Sauternes, 20 year old vintage port. The cost today would be over double in equivalent money.

The most educational wine experience is to attending tastings. Mike and Liz started regular tastings that ran for years while Charlemagne Wine Club in West London (soon to celebrate 30 years) cover more everyday wines with the occasional look at the classics.

As the 80s progressed a change was needed. Old world red wine was often unreliable, hard, closed when young and required ageing. Prices increased as investors, informed amateurs and posers came on board – the 1982 Bordeaux vintage seemed to be the starter gun and it wasn’t long before fashion also encroached on the Rhône. We were also long term Alsace lovers – it was reliable and didn’t have the drawbacks of red, but even that was changing with richer and later harvest styles.

New World fayre didn’t arrive in the UK in earnest until the 1990s. The original Seaview Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Release from Oddbins was a sensation at the time; like a young fruity 1982 claret on steroids. In the white department New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay had similar impact. While not enough to sustain varied drinking it did mark a watershed for the adoption of modern winemaking practices in France. As for the Languedoc, it was just hidden under the bucket banner of “French Country Wine” that seems to cover anywhere vinous south of the Loire that isn’t Bordeaux, Burgundy or Rhône. Wines like Jurançon and Madiran were listed alongside the likes of Faugères and Minervois – and frankly they usually are today in the UK (Adnams is just one example, and they have made efforts over the years to seek interesting Languedoc wines out).

Enlightenment. 1990 was a turning point. The Berrys proffered 1998 Mas de Daumas Gassac (70% Cabernet Sauvignon) as the Claret alternative from a place called the Languedoc. Arguably this is gaining recognition by stealth, but why not – the Guggenheim worked for Bilbao. Liz Berry published The Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon: The World’s Largest Vineyard in 1992 and the Berrys started to seek out and offer growers’ wines from the area.

Having visited the region regularly since 1993, by far our most enlightening guide has been David Pugh of the restaurant Le Mimosa – also described in Liz’s book and credited by the Berrys for many of the wines they listed. David’s extraordinary palate and talent to root out local gems that are well made and simply trying to be themselves is a beacon. His wine list deserves to be and will be the subject of another post.

The wine. For us Languedoc wine, and the reds in particular, combine the best of old and new world characteristics. They are Rhône and Provence style, i.e. full bodied, but better value. Most give great enjoyment when young and there’s great diversity thanks to the many sub-regions, the range of grape varieties planted and large number of growers. Few bad harvests is another bonus with enough vintage variation to give interest.

Of course there is a downside to these fine attributes. The wines are near impossible to classify in a way recognisable to the uninitiated consumer and every conceivable style is made. Even worse, most of the quality wines are only available in small quantities from growers so only small independent merchants stock them. Beyond Internet-only retailers, the most interesting UK selections seem to appear on adventurous restaurant wine lists.

Mas Gabriel - find of the year

There’s plenty of opportunity to try local wines at various events and village fairs, especially in season. By far the most intriguing encounter this year was Mas Gabriel back in May. Three wines were on tasting, their white, rosé and red. The rosé was clean and fresh with gently perfumed red fruits and strawberry yet had a serious stony backbone that could partner food. The white and red didn’t leave any particular impression other than an astonishing purity that underlined all three wines. A couple of bottles of Les Fleurs Sauvages 2008 rosé were soon consumed chez nous and confirmed how delicious it was. Being made from 50 year old vines of Carignan and Cinsault clearly makes a difference.

We soon made a trip to Caux for more supplies and the opportunity to taste the white and red again, although this time from pre-opened bottles. Clos des Papillons 2008 is made from old and rare Carignan Blanc and fresh almonds, lemon peel and rosemary were all evolving in the glass with a fresh hay finish. Clos Gabriel 2006 is 63% Carignan, 28% Syrah and 9% Grenache. A soft ripe blackcurrant and blackberry start becomes classy boot polish. Mouth filling and robust without being heady and the finish is balanced with reassuring tannins. When we returned in the autumn the rosé and white were sold out, although lovers of fine food should note that O-Bontemps in nearby Magalas will be listing the white. Just bottled in October was the Les Trois Terrasses 2008 Carignan – my bottles will rest over winter before I broach them. Cellar door prices are 6 € to 12 € and offer better value than most growers in the more fashionable Montpeyroux triangle.

Alchemy in action

2006 was Peter and Debora Core’s first vintage having been lucky enough to purchase some extraordinarily diverse parcels of vines from parts of the esteemed Domaine de la Garance. Now expanded to 6 hectares with some new plantings the vineyards, which were tendered organically, are currently in the three year “bio” certification paperwork marathon. The Cores also practice bio-dynamic principles. Before starting Mas Gabriel over two years were spent in New Zealand and Bordeaux learning the practicalities of viticulture and winemaking – yes this was a complete career and lifestyle change.

Mas Gabriel is easy to visit – on summer weekend afternoons just turn up, otherwise phone or email first to avoid disappointment (details here).

Domaine d’Aupilhac tasting and dinner

Sylvain Fadat started Domaine d’Aupilhac back in 1989 and along with Olivier Jullien (see Mas Jullien posts) was a pioneer for the area. In addition to his vineyards around Montpeyroux, Syvain’s big investment has been in forging new vineyards out of the garrigue at altitude above the village. This means a broad range of wine styles are produced, ideal for what was the last tasting and repas vigneron evening of the season at La Terrasse du Mimosa in Montpeyroux.

13 wines were tasted over the evening, 5 with the delightful dinner.

Les Cocalières blanc 2005, 2007
Roussanne, Marsanne, Vermantino, Grenache Blanc. From vines 350m above sea level on dolomitic limestone overlooking Montpeyroux. Aromatic floral with gentian and fennel leading to a palate of lemon peel and apple. The 2007 was fresher – lemon balm with lime and a fine partner for risotto with mussels.

Mont-Baudile blanc 2008, 1996 Ugni blanc, Grenache blanc and Chardonnay. Creaminess of youth with fresh, citrus, fennel and churned butter in the 2008. Worked well with marinated salmon. The 1996 was the first vintage. Nuts and figs with vanilla but done dry and in perfect balance, extraordinary. There were two bottles, one of which did not have a malolactic fermentation. With only one tasting glass I couldn’t detect a difference.

Montpeyroux rouge 2003, 1997 Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignan with 10% Grenache and 5% Cinsault. Simplistically clay and chalk (argilo-calcaire) vineyards with lots of oyster fossils apparently. 2003 was the year of the canicule and many fine reds have not aged well but this isn’t one of them. Animal with ripe cassis and a pepper finish. 1997 was a difficult wet and cool year but this wine was a masterpiece – Burgundy sweetness and delicacy with some liquorice, good length and poise. Would be impossible to place if tasted blind.

Le Carignan 2008, 2000 (Magnum), 1998 (Magnum) A landmark wine for the region. Sylvain was generous enough to credit les anglais for buying it in the early days and I was one of them. Most vintages show best when young or older with a closed run of years in between. The 2008 was heady ripe fruit propped up by good acidity and a tannin canvas. The 2000 still had a dense colour, damsons and soft spice. The 1998 was my wine of the night – spices, olive, bay, brambles and damson and just so complete and satisfying.

Les Cocalières rouge 2005 Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre grown at 350m altitude. Quite sweet and heady with elegant brambles. The lighter style went well with the duck.

Le Clos 1999 (Magnum), 1989 (Magnum) Mourvèdre and Carignan with 20% Syrah. Fresh farmyard with mushroom. Herbs and supple oak tannins - will keep. 1989, the first vintage for Le Clos, was earthy, sweet and elegant with garrigue herbs.

"La Boda" Rouge 2006 Mourvèdre and Syrah with 10% each of Carignan and Grenache. An assemblage from Montpeyroux argilo-calcaire vineyards and the altitude Cocalières. Dark and brooding with cassis, liquorice and spice. Clearly needs time and will no doubt please important export markets.

Great winemakers make good and interesting wines in difficult vintages and d’Aupilhac is the best proof of that I've come across for years.

A good week

It’s always satisfying when wine exceeds expectations and this has been a satisfying week.

Ollier Taillefer (Fos in Faugères) makes consistently good wine at a fair price and seems to know how to market it. Castel Fossibus is their oaked Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blend designed for ageing and the 2002 is still at its peak. A browning rim and a soft, ripe herbal nose leads to a mouth filling rounded and gentle spicy palate. It’s mature enough to perhaps come from anywhere, but was delicious. The 2002’s have proved to be a most elegant year, at least to the west of the Gard that suffered a severe harvest deluge.

My experience with tasting reds from Saint-Saturnin (Terrasses de Larzac) has yet to particularly excite me. I find the characteristics to be rich dark fruits and chocolate and this was exactly what I found drinking Virgil Joly 2001 - notes of black olives, chocolate and even hints of coffee were not for me. That said, it was beautifully mature and balanced with a soft mouth feel and good length; the last bottle and more enjoyable than expected.

Viognier has been trying to become fashionable for decades despite being tricky viticulturally. In the Languedoc it has made some successful everyday wines - the Cotes de Thongue between Beziers and Pezenas produces good bottles (as it does Chardonnay as well). Domaine La Condamine L' Evêque’s Viognier for example has always been a reliable restaurant wine list spot. A touch also works well in white blends adding fat and exotic perfume. Of the pure Viogniers from the region Domaine de Clovallon Les Aires has consistently come closest to good specimens from Condrieu Rhone territory. Vintage differences are more pronounced up in Bedarieux and the 2006 is exceptional – apricot, hints of peach stone with (unsweetened) Chantilly cream and linseeds in the mouth. Normally a one glass then move on wine, but not this bottle. My thanks to David Pugh of restaurant Le Mimosa for the tip off and being prepared to part with a couple of bottles. Alas, this was the second bottle.

La Terrasse d’Elise tasting and dinner

Xavier Braujou started La Terrasse d’Elise in 1998 but it was 2001 before his range started to expand. I was introduced to his wines through a mixed tasting case bought in the UK back in 2004 from Mike and Liz Berry who now run Vins Fins de la Crau in Provence. This was another terrific repas vignerons at La Terrasse du Mimosa in Montpeyroux with Xavier there to introduce his wines.

Saint Jean de Fos is where the Herault gorge exits to the plain having swathed through the high Larzac plateau and this results in a microclimate of cooler nights. Nature dominates Xavier’s total approach from minimal vineyard treatments through to several of his cuvees even avoiding the use of sulphur.


Le Puech n°8 (Chardonnay) 2008 A cask sample hence the slightly foggy grape juice colour. Grapey and honeyed with a lemon sherbet palate and gentle bitters finish. Not at all varietal, just as I recall a much earlier vintage was.

Rose 2008 Luminous garnet. Rose hips and raspberry. Sorbet like freshness. Delicious but feels alcoholic. Cinsault and Carignan.

Le Pradel 2005 (Cinsault) Light colour. Vegetable, beetroot and boiled sweets make it intriguing and attractive to smell. This was the wine I mistook for Pinot Noir at a blind tasting in the spring. Palate seems new world in style – fine tannins, clean and relatively simple fruit. Doesn’t seem Languedoc, probably because so little quality Cinsault red is made in the region.

Le Pradel 2006 (Cinsault) Red fruits, quite spirity. Plumy fruit body with good structure – serious yet remarkably fresh. Developed well over a few minutes.

Le Pigeonnier 2004 (Carignan) Fuller colour. Liquorice and soft leather. Berries and chunky but evolves all the time and is extraordinarily fresh.

Le Pigeonnier 2005 (Carignan) Rhubarb, cherry and lychees (Nico’s observation). Lemon balm palate with great acidity and finish. Yes it is red wine. The finest Carignan I recall tasting and my wine of the evening.

Elise 2002 (Syrah and Mouvedre, aged 2 years in barrels) Blackcurrant with lemon. Elegant, racy, great length. Felt like there should be more, but that’s probably from tasting too many Languedoc blockbusters – this is more Northern Rhone. Worth keeping to see if the flavours start to layer.

Elise 2003 (Syrah and Mouvedre, aged 2 years in barrels) Sweaty, animal with mouth coating tannin. Quite baked. If the 2002 is cool Rhone this is Spain. 2003 was of course the difficult year of the canicule. Went very well with the sublime roast lamb later in the evening.

Mas de Blanc 2003 (Merlot) Prunes and chocolate. Baked and hot. Not good evidence that Merlot is at home here – would have been nice to try a cooler year.

The reds all show an underlying personal style – freshness, elegance and a racy acidity. These were also drunk after the tasting with the delightful meal and were not phased by red mullet, chocolate roulade or even the strong herbed fromage Boulette d’Avesnes. My only gripe would be that after four hours of tasting and drinking the style began to tire – as would any style. I much preferred the Le Pradel and Le Pigeonnier - the latter a very reasonable €13, nearly half the retail price of the Elise.

Dégustation à l’aveugle (Blind tasting)

La Terrasse du Mimosa in Montpeyroux is running blind tastings on the second Monday of the month. It’s an informal stand-up tasting around the bar and there’s no charge. One brings a bottle (disguise the label of course) and sommelier Nico orchestrates proceedings, which is to say he pours the wine and does much of the analysis. Guessing as to what the wine is isn’t really the point. It’s to personally decide whether you like and enjoy the wine without any preconceptions generated by seeing the label and knowing the price.

This tasting was well attended; I counted 17 of us, including local star Alain Chabanon, and there were 10 wines. There’s no theme to the wines people bring so the resulting selection can be pretty eclectic.

1. Ballade en Straminer (Gewürztraminer) 2007 Domaine de Bachellery.
   Aromatic but fresh and quite racy. At the grapefruit end of the Gewurtz spectrum that I like. Alsace on steroids – only on revealing the bottle were the more tropical flavours apparent.
   
2. Malaga Blanc, Thailand Unlabelled bottle.
   Can’t recall a wine with so little colour. Dry, strange herbs and minerals. The panel though it could be Muscadet. Clearly needs some spicey Thai food. Apparently Louis XIV gifted the Malaga vines to the King of Siam 200 plus years ago.
   
3. Picpoul de Pinet 2007, Domaine St. Martin de la Garrigue
   Full straw colour. Sweet oak nose (despite being no use of oak....), dry elegant acidity. Bitters finish with a touch of pine. Certainly surprised everyone.
   
4. Domaine de la Petite Gallée, "Vieilles Vignes” (Gamay), Coteaux du Lyonnais
   On to the reds. Garnet colour. Firm fruit, metallic mineral, redcurrant. Good structure but straight. Could well be worth ageing. Apparently made from gamay vines planted in 1896.
   
5. Domaine du Grand Crès 2002 (red), Corbières
   Ripe blackberry fruit leaps out of the glass. Delicious liquorice palate. Everyone heaped praise on it. I though it very much like Domaine Barroubio Cuvée Marie Therese
   
6. Domaine Saparale Casteddu 2006 (red), Corsica
   Mulberry fruit. Hot, tannic, noticeably alcoholic. A bit edgey, almost clumsy, perhaps needs time to settle down – or is it just rustic?
   
7. Domaine Croix de St Privat ''Cuvée du Papé Laurent '' 2007, Aniane
   Quite rubbery with some mineral. Peppers and cassis, brazil nut sweet ripeness. By now most peoples palates were becoming a little disorientated (Aniane is only a few kms away)
   
8. Gigondas Cuvée Prestige 2006 François Arnaud
   More constrained nose than the predecessors. Soft berry fruit, quite hot finish. Food wine. I would keep this.
   
9. TMV Syrah 2006, Swartland South Africa
   Spicy and leathery, smokey. Fine tannins and good balance. Not obviously Syrah – one taster suggested Cinsault.
   
10. Teófilo Reyes Crianza 1996, Ribera del Duero Spain
    Browning red. Sweet ripe farmyard. Mature, long and flavoury. À point now, but old enough to be from anywhere hot.