The Restaurant Wine list - Le Mimosa

No restaurant wine list in the region I've seen or heard of comes remotely close to Le Mimosa’s. On depth alone the statistics are extraordinary: -

• 11 vintages of Grange des Pères red (3 in magnums) plus 7 of the rare white
  
• 22 vintages from Daumas Gassac (with endless magnums) and 4 whites
  
• 42 different wines from Mas Jullien (Jonquières is just a mile away)
  
• A mere 24 from Alain Chabanon, 20 Aupilhac, 15 Peyre Rose and 14 Clos Marie in the Pic St Loup.
  
• One of our favourites, the good value Grange de Quatre Sous, is represented by 16 specimens.
  

Gems from Provence, notably 32 Domaine Tempiers, along with the Rhone, such as 14 vintages of Cornas (Clape) and 8 Hermitage (Chave), would merit an enviable reputation in those regions. With a particular soft spot for red Loire, especially when a change from Mediterranean power is needed, there are a dozen to choose from.

All of this takes years to amass. Le Mimosa was started in back in 1984 when Bridget and David Pugh finished converting a former wine maker’s property in the centre of St Guiraud into their restaurant and home. David devoted considerable energy seeking out growers each winter when the restaurant closes, obviously starting in the days when few of today’s stars existed.

Prospective wines are always tasted irrespective of vintage and reputations. Bottles are collected directly from the domains to lie in the permanently climatically conditioned cave. Local wine makers who enjoy their own wines from the cellar remark on have fresh they are in relation to their own stocks.

David ensures this is a living list. The popular six course menu “capricieux” is often taken with the dégustation offering of six wines that David will choose based on what will match the guest’s dishes and what’s drinking well. For whole bottles there’s a fixed mark-up of 16€ for most wines which obviously makes the more expensive wines particularly good value. That said, and as David’s suggestions will testify, many diners will end up with a hugely enjoyable bottle for less than their initial ideas.

What of the list's future? With so many excellent and exciting growers in the immediate area I predict the emphasis will be on local wine and the Terrasses du Larzac in particular. In 2007 the Pugh’s bought the nearby Montpeyroux wine bar and cavist they named La Terrasse du Mimosa and only stocks very local wine.

For an excellent article on the Pugh's see this The Vine Route article.

For more on the regions restaurants visit my Languedoc Dining site.

Matured with the same care as the wines, Le Mimosa's cheese trolley.

Mas de Daumas Gassac rouge 1996

Aimé Guibert's Mas de Daumas Gassac single handedly put the Languedoc on the fine wine map back in the 1980s. Cabernet Sauvignon was planted in 1972 and Émile Peynaud hired as consultant resulting in a wine very much in the Bordeaux mould. It seems by luck his property had a cooler micro-climate from being overlooked by the high Larzac plateau. It also needed Aimé's considerable passion and energy to promote his wine and the region in the right circles. For a recent video of him reminiscing on this period don't miss this Love that Languedoc episode.

My first purchase, a case of the 1988 vintage, was a couple of years before first visiting the region (accidentally) in 1993. Having tried it at a tasting I simply perceived it as better value than Bordeaux. It more than fitted the bill and subsequently I bought most vintages until the 1998, of which I have high hopes but have yet to taste - my case lies with a friends in bonded storage. All this said, something changed after the 1991 vintage - leaner more closed wines that have not been at all memorable.

I broached my second to last bottle of the 1996 (80% Cabernet Sauvignon) and consumed it over two evenings. Dark garnet with little browning for it's age. Distant blackcurrant, although this emerged somewhat the next day, and a palate of tight fruit with hints of broom and pepper. Reminiscent of a Medoc in structure with plenty of chewy tannins that I enjoy. More balanced 24 hours later, but ultimately it lacks the richness and generosity of the better 1980s vintages. Further ageing could well help.

Proving that the Languedoc can deliver a Bordeaux style alternative seemed a necessary first step to shake up the fine wine merchant and consumer mind set. There is, of course, still a long way to go for the regions mainstream Mediterranean cépages.

Domaine Les Aurelles, Solen 2001

Looking back over eight months of articles I see that all the wines I’ve commented on I’ve been reasonably enthusiastic about – stimulating wine does get the though processes going. This wine is a bit of an exception, and also one I could find very little about on the World Wide Web beyond the Domaine's web site

I had asked Sue, who has stopped imbibing to recover from a virus, what wines she didn’t particularly care for that I could broach. A rummage through our stocks, many of which are going to need consuming over the next year or so, turned up Domaine Les Aurelles 2001 Solen. I recall this came from a mixed sampler case of the Domaine bought some years ago and is, along with a magnum and bottle of the Aurel cuvee, all that remains.

A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Carignan from the fine 2001 vintage, grown just north of Pezeans and made without oak, certainly reads well on paper. The colour was a healthy dull garnet red. The smell a little dusty and hints of marinated cherry and spice needed to be coaxed out. The taste was more revealing – leather, black olives, rosemary oils. The next day I continued with the second half of the bottle. The nose had all but gone, although this was partly compensated for by more warm spice and richness on the palate.

From memory, this is the house style of Domaine Les Aurelles – quite serious and better suited to drinking with food. Bottle age doesn’t seem to have helped either way. Certainly decent wine, but we prefer reds that are suppler with edgy layers and a better balance between smell and taste. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the Aurel (Mourvèdre, Syrah and Grenache) fairs, but the magnum may have quite a wait.

Most enjoyable of 2009

Much of the media seems to be reviewing 2009 so I’m joining in with wines I’ve enjoyed most.

As the Languedoc is essentially a red wine region I’ll pick three reds.
Aupilhac (Montpeyroux), Le Carignan 1998 (from magnums) was the pinnacle at the splendid Repas Vignerons hosted by Sylvain Fadat and La Terrasse du Mimosa.
Ollier Taillefer (Fos in Faugères), Castel Fossibus 2001 and 2002 enjoyed at several meals with friends chez nous and fully mature.
Mas Gabriel, Clos Gabriel 2006 as the exciting newcomer.

For white I’ll pick just one, a Viognier Clovallon Les Aires (Bedarieux) 2006 severed as an apero on the balmy terrace of Le Mimosa and as rich and balanced as any Condrieu I’ve tasted.

For sparkling wine, plus the bargain of the year, is Clairette de Die Jaillance Tradition purchased at Carrifour’s Foire aux Vins (€10 for three bottles). While actually from next door Provence it’s a blend of Clairette (also grown in our village) and Muscat. Simple, fresh, light, sweet, frothy, low in alcohol and brilliant with any fruity summer dessert in the setting sun.

The wine events of the year have been the aforementioned Repas Vignerons (Mas Jullien especially, Aupilhac, Alain Chabanon, Terrasse d’Elise and Pas de l’Escalette) plus their revealing and fun Dégustations à l’aveugle - informal blind tastings. Also up there, literally, was the Ascension Day walk up and down the Pic Baudille. Here was evidence that Mas Brunet and Mas Cal Demoura are making great strides.

The Pic Baudille at 849m guards the edge of the Larzac plateau and overlooks the finest Herault valley vineyards.

Wines stocked up on, beyond ongoing odd bottle purchases, were the Picpoul bargain Domaine de Bridau, reds from Ollier Taillefer, a selection from Domaine Treloar in the Rousillon and find of the year Mas Gabriel.

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.
• 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 ones.

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 considerations 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.

map loading...

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 1988 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).