La Route du Vin

Domaine des Jougla - St Chinian Ancestrale 2005

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Vineyards on the Mediterranean (photo claes lofgren)

It's time to head south again to the wild and wonderful Languedoc Roussillon for amazing wines with price tags like the good old days. Hilltops and scrub and pine trees and deep gorges with turquoise cascading water. And, the wine - colors of deep garnet and flavors of mint, leather, raspberries, pepper and blackberries. Does that sound good?

Bob and I went combing through the vineyards of the Languedoc Roussillon several months ago and found a little stunner of a wine you can de-cork every day. It's that good and it's that inexpensive. It's called Domaine des Jougla and it comes from a wine growing area. called St Chinian which was awarded its own appellation back in the early eighties because of its superior soil (schist, clay, and limestone) and the passion of the winemakers there. If you talk to anyone about Domaine des Jougla, they will tell you the wines are a reference for the area.

The Languedoc Roussillon stretches along the rim of the Mediterranean from Arles westward down to Collioure, which is almost to Spain. there are a lot of wine-growing areas (AOCs) like Corbieres, Minervois. Faugeres, and St. Chinian. Back in the old days in the Languedoc Roussillon, quantity was everything and quality was, well, Plonk, plonk, plonk! Now, the good growers realize that because of the increased competition from all over the world, the Languedoc has to change.

The best growers have come to grips with the fact that quality is what is going to save their livelihoods. By quality I mean low yields, more extraction, riper grapes, hand harvesting, and rigorous grape selection. All of this good stuff is starting to happen in the Languedoc Roussillon today. It's definitely happening at Domaine des Jougla.

Domaine des Deux Roches St Veran (White Burgundy) Beautiful Chardonnay Expression From one of the Best Sources

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The Collovrey & Terrier Families in their St Veran Vineyards

"Fine, subtle St Veran from this domain provides excellent value for money." Andrew Jefford, The New France

There's a buzz about St Veran that should be scaring Meursault a bit. The quality here is coming on strong and any slackers in Meursault had better watch out. Why spend $40 a bottle when you can get the same fleshy luxury for less than half that in St Veran. Sure, you have to look carefully, but with Domaine des Deux Roches in your glass you'll come out ahead.

I consider Domaine des Deux Roches one of my most important conquests of 2007 . I first tasted this wine more than ten years ago. It was absolutely head and shoulders better than any Macon at the time, but when I asked to import it, I was turned down; someone else had gotten there before me and snagged the big exclusive importing contract. I tried again and again periodically but always the same. Sorry "No wine available".

During the same period Deux Roches built a reputation for outstanding quality in St Veran making my pursuit increasingly challenging. But, I kept trying and this March when I phoned the estate, I got a guarded, but more encouraging response.

I was told I could come and visit and taste and then, perhaps, just perhaps, the conversation might drift into a discussion about a small allocation for me" (us). I jumped at the chance and was there a few weeks later in the tasting room with my lips on their St Veran Tradition. Oh, the silkiness and the fruit, so unrestrained. The aromas wafted. The flavors were fresh and pure - citrus, apple and honey. The color shimmered gold in the glass.

Domaine Rene Bouvier's Marsannay Longerois & the Best 2005 Bourgogne Rouge I Have Tasted

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The Chambertin vineyards just below Marsannay in the Cotes de Nuits (photes claes lofgren)

I kept seeing the name Rene Bouvier written up in La Revue du Vin de France (France's Wine Advocate) and Guide Hachette. I read words like: beautiful wines, prettily spiced with suave tannins and good material and lovely long finishes."

You probably know by now that I'm always on the lookout for the great, little wines from independent winemakers who believe first in quality. Particularly from Burgundy. Those wines are the challenges. I spend most of my time hunting down the great winemaker with lesser known vineyards who can turn out wines that out-taste their appellations by a wide margin. When I find a grower like that, I'm all over him.

I was starting to work up quite an interest in Bouvier and that interest mushroomed when he popped up in the all-star tasting I go to every other year in Beaune. I always like to see who gets invited to this. Entry into this group means you are really respected by the best winemakers in Burgundy.

So, here was Bernard Bouvier (son of Rene) pouring among the royalty of Burgundy: Leflaive with her gorgeous Puligny-Montrachet (she will glare at you if you give up any to the spittoon), Hubert de Montille with his reference Pommard and Volnay, Georges Roumier with his rare Chambolle Musigny. I was very impressed with what Bernard was pouring.

Then I saw Bouvier's wine from Marsannay on the menu at Michelin one-star restaurant, Charlemagne, in Pernand Vergelesses and ordered a bottle. This was the deal maker. The wine was stupendous! Rounded, full berry flavors with just the right amount of oak. The man was making wine with Cynthia Hurley all over it. Now I was sure I had to get my hands on an allocation -- often a tricky maneuver in Burgundy because of the miniscule production.

Domaine Ninot Rully premier cru Gresigny 2005 Coup de Coeur in Rully

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Vineyards in Rully, source of some of Burgudy's best white wine values

Have some of your favorite wines decided that they're too good for you? Have you watched the price of a bottle of Meursault creep up to the very, very special occasion category leaving you behind empty-handed or two twenties poorer?

Well, there is really no reason to feel that you have to inflate your wine budget just to put great white Burgundy on the table. If there is anything I've learned after traveling la route du vin for over twenty years it's that there is another wine out there that can thrill you if you know where to look. And of course in 2005 some of these unknown beauties turned in very big performances.

Sometimes the place to look is a wine exposition in Burgundy called Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne. It is one of those moments when I congratulate myself for being in the wine business (there are other moments that are not nearly so glamorous). Every other year, the growers from Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos Vougeot, Vosne Romanee, Volnay, Chassagne-Montrachet (you get the picture) all the way down to the Maconnais gather in a central location in each of their villages and pour their wines. It's a non-stop uncorking bonanza for a week.

This is where you find the over-achieving grower who is catapulting his wine (in this case it's her wine) into a category head and shoulders above the neighbors. This is really one of the only times you can really taste everything to see how it stands up against the best known names. And if you're very lucky, her reputation has not yet caught up with the quality of her wine and you can swoop in and grab a bunch before the world wises up.

Domaine Stella Nova Two Stunning Biodynamic Reds from the Coteaux de Languedoc

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The wild and untamed Coteaux de Languedoc around Pezenas Photo: Claes Lofgren

The Languedoc Roussillon is France's current last wine frontier - wild and rugged and gorgeous. The best wines from here are fearlessly rich and deep with berry flavors and structure which will stand up to your grilled meats and spicy, piquant sauces.

I couldn't wait to get down to the Languedoc Roussillon. I spent ten days on large sun-drenched plains that reminded me of Chile and winding through dizzying gorges that looked like Colorado. The vines were everywhere and the wines were good. There is a quality revolution going on down here that is amazing.

Domaine Stella Nova is one of these stunning estates caught up in this tenacious effort to make great wine and earn a legitimate place in the wine world. They are doing it! It's all there in the wine.

The wines from Domaine Stella Nova are Rhone-like - made from Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan grapes. So if you like pure fruit expression, and the headiness of Cotes du Rhone, these are for you.

Guide Hachette One of the most reliable of the French Wine Guides, gives Stella Nova a star and reports that from the beginning "they were a domaine to watch" - citing the wine's intense color, toastiness, ample mouth-filling flavors and solid structure.

Chateau Peyfol Cotes de Castillon 2003 Another Dynamite Thunevin Pick

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Jean Luc Thunevin in his modern chai (barrel aging room)

"A big, concentrated, substantial Cotes de Castillon, this sleeper of the vintage boasts a dense ruby/purple color in addition to aromas of chocolate, black cherries, spice box, and herbs. With medium to full-bodied, concentrated flavors with plenty of glycerin (from high alcohol) and sweet tannin, it should be consumed over the next 6-8 years. Rated 88-90. Robert Parker The Wine Advocate

Yep. Another great one from Jean-Luc Thunevin. The creator of some of the Right Bank's most interesting wines from Presidial to Grand Cru Classe wines. It's gotten so every time I go to Bordeaux (which is more and more frequently these days) I ask Jean-Luc to pull out a few surprises for me. He seems to know exactly what I want: big flavor, roundness in the mouth, small price, earnest grower. He knows what I want because our tastes seem to have been separated at birth.

What he likes, I seem to like. This is unusual. I've tasted through many negociant offerings and not identified with a single wine. If I had to trust anybody's taste in wine, it would be Jean-Luc Thunevin.

Jean-Luc is a real force in the wine business these days. He's come by his reputation honestly and with a lot of hard work. You probably know he started the "garagiste" movement in Bordeaux. It was back in 1989. Garage wines are small production wines from tiny parcels of land that are tended as preciously as orchid gardens.

Jean Luc bought a tiny parcel, on the "wrong side of the tracks" in St Emilion and proved to the venerable St Emilion establishment in a few vintages that one could make a silk purse from a moose's ear if you did things like de- stemming by hand and severe green harvesting and keeping the yields very, very low and selecting the grapes grape by grape. He called his wine Valandraud. It led the way in the quality revolution in St Emilion that persists to this day .

A Sampler of Some of My Favorites Wines Prepacked - Ready to Go!

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Ready for August. Ready for Good Summer Wine

You're about to go on vacation and you've done the one thousand and one more necessary things to get ready. Going on vacation is a lot of work, but being on vacation shouldn't be and that's why you need my Vacation Sampler Pack Rouge et Blanc.

I don't know about you, but when I think of the word "summer vacation" I envisage hours of near paralysis on a lounger somewhere with a stack of New Yorkers nearby and a glass of wine just about to touch my lips - maybe a mountain off in the distance or some waves lapping at the shore thrown into the scene.

I don't imagine myself waiting on line at the local wine shop or staring glassy-eyed at the bins trying to remember which of these hundred bottles I've read something about or even heard of - let alone which wine is good.

Here is all you have to do:

1) Choose which Summer Vacation Samplers you would like and email me.

2) Send it home or send me your summer address and I will arrange to get it delivered to you. Ready to go.

3) The Summer Vacation Sampler is also the perfect house gift to send ahead of your arrival. Wouldn't your host really prefer a case of French wine to those little linen seashell napkins sent so thoughtfully after you're back home? Plus the Summer Wine Vacation Sampler will guarantee you great wine during your stay. Not that that should be a prime consideration, of course, or even flit through your mind.

2005 White Burgundy Pre-Arrival Offer of the " Vintage of a Generation"

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The early morning harvest in Puligny Montrachet. (photos copyright claes lofgren)

2005 white Burgundies "An Excellent Vintage that is highly consistent from top to bottom - the best 2005 white from the Cote d'Or are not only excellent but MUCH better than they've been given credit for to this point - the wines absolutely deserve a place in your cellar - they're concentrated yet elegant, powerful yet balanced" Allen Meadows - Burghound

"2005 Burgundy - a preview of this monumental year finds ripe, fleshy reds that show terroir in spades, plus high quality whites." Wine Spectator

We've already spoken a lot about the 2005 Burgundies. Every grower I spoke with said almost the same thing: "2005 is the vintage of my lifetime." Those growers were not just talking about the reds - they were talking about the Chardonnays as well. They are fantastic!

I've been drinking a 2005 white Burgundy all week. There is something so appealing at the end of a hot day of work to wrap your fingers around those cool, dripping with condensation, sloping shoulders of a white Burgundy. It all slips down so easily leaving behind wonderful, subtle citrus and mineral notes to loiter in your mouth.

I was in Burgundy in April. I tasted the 2005 vintage from Pouilly Fuisse in the Maconnais and Rully in the Cote de Chalonnais to Cote de Beaune' s St Romain, Meursault, St Aubin, Puligny Montrachet, and Pernand-Vergelesses. They were round and opulent with rich flavors - just the way I like them.

Our Friend Arnaud Guichard Gets a Big Promotion in The Cotes du Rhone

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Arnaud & Isabelle Guichard

Domaine de la Guicharde - Cotes du Rhone Villages Massif d'Uchaux Cuvee Genest 2005

"One of the newer villages to keep a watch on is Uchaux which was just granted Cotes du Rhone Villages status. Some of the finest Cotes du Rhone vineyards are situated in and around the villages of Rochegude." Robert Parker The Wine Advocate

Arnaud Guichard is joining the Big Leagues and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. Arnaud has been making impressive wine way above his classification for some time. Now his vineyards have been officially upgraded from simple Cotes du Rhone to Cotes du Rhone Villages-Massif d'Uchaux.

This is a big deal for him It puts Arnaud's domaine in the ranks of Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne and Rasteau, for example. A "villages" appendage on your label is an important cut above Cotes du Rhone in quality and to be able to add your wine-growing area on the end of it is a privilege that only about 20 villages throughout the Rhone share. The Massif d'Uchaux is actually a group of 5 tiny communities who are now officially allowed to put the d'Uchaux on their bottles.

This does not happen lightly. There is an extensive revue process where many experts must agree on the quality of wine from the area and its potential to make wine consistently above the simpler Cotes du Rhone level.

Chateau de la Bourdiniere - Muscadet

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The Tall, Cool, Green Muscadet Bottle - Chateau de la Bourdiniere

On Frances west (Atlantic) coast There is really only one real white wine of Summer: Muscadet. From Normandy (France's Jersey Shore) to Brittany (France's Maine), to Belle Isle (Nantucket without the Mansions), and Ile de Ré (Block Island with fishing villages) it is Muscadet. It is Muscadet for the taste of summer and perfect pairing with sea food.

Here a lot of people just don't take Muscadet seriously preferring to experiment with all kinds of "Johnny-come-lately" whites with jazzy labels and names. Muscadet's been around since the 17th century; we're talking about growers with history and tradition and know- how and appetites.

Muscadet may not be a wine that thrusts itself into the middle of your meal trumpeting oak notes and a full octave of florals, spices, and flavors, but I'll tell you one thing. You will come away with a very satisfied feeling by the time you've eaten that last mussel or oyster or any kind of fish, really, and you'll be back for more.

And, of course, it doesn't hurt that Muscadet is pretty darn affordable these days. We all want wines we can drink regularly and this is one of them. Why, just looking at that tall, green, icy-cold bottle of Muscadet makes me think that of the warm August days at the beach or somewhere in the French countryside. Maybe even Nantes. That's where Muscadet comes from.