…or, according to Eric Asimov, wine critic of the New York Times, “the most exciting wines in the world”.
That might have been a quote – everything else about the Club tasting on 20 March 2012 was fresh, generous and memorable – and very quotable in its own right.
Since the evening was being led by Sir John Hegarty, one of the most successful ad men of our generation and founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, it was never going to be dull. He claimed to enjoy speaking to fellow “Cork Dorks” and the room certainly warmed to him. He was ably assisted by Richard Walford’s Madeline Mehalko and Adnams’ Camilla Nash but Hegarty is a scene stealer and wonderful communicator with a deep commitment to his 25 hectares in Minervois. If anyone can make you believe that opening claim to excitement, he can.
He was, he said, a City boy, for whom the countryside meant only ‘farmers and foxhunters’ – not his taste at all. But, somehow, he found himself buying that isolated 25 hectares of Languedoc hilltop. There had been vines there in the past but by the time John and his family arrived there were only a few old concrete tanks and some abandoned vines. The first few years were spent working out which parcels of land were best adapted to which vines. That was part of the attraction. It was a space to do the things he wanted and what he wanted to do was to grow vines and make wine in the most natural way possible. You can’t, he told us, just go cold turkey. The vines are temperamental, they have to be weaned off chemicals gradually over three years and now John and his wine-maker, Samuel Berger, are close to getting full biodynamic
certification. Each vine is its ‘own universe’ and has to be allowed to express itself fully. You don’t, he said, ‘wake someone up in the middle of the night and stuff them with chemicals or food’. That’s why everything is done according to the biodynamic calendar.
Wine is a ‘mad’ business and a generational business. As a grower and winemaker, ‘your partner is God and he is not always benign’. You only get one chance a year to alter the product and the guiding principle is to get closer to be able to ‘drink the place’ not just ‘drink the wine’. It’s ‘morally wrong’ to use chemicals and the essential thing – not too hard in his view – is to be ‘honest to the land. So there’s no filtration, no irrigation, no artificial yeasts and no drinking the chemicals (a dig at Bordeaux this last). But, while ‘making great wine isn’t difficult, selling it is’!
There are over 60,000 registered vineyards in France and finding a name for your wines isn’t easy. His solution was to go back into his ad agency background and start the long, slow process of building a brand – a reputation. Much of the wine world doesn’t think this way and for them when ‘you say the word brand you are the devil incarnate’. At the core of the brand is the ‘black sheep’ that serves as the logo. It symbolizes his determination to go against the grain but it also links to the ‘montagne noire’ that is his land and – coincidentally – to the name of his wine-maker, Samuel Berger. The black sheep is part of what makes the brand memorable. Another is the ‘Open Now’ name of the entry level wine at the amazing price of £7.99. At that price it’s superb value – as our notes below testify.
Labelling laws and AOC regulations make life yet harder. His solution, like many others, is to put the ‘required’ information on the back label – and call it the front label to keep the bureaucrats happy. Wine needs, he argues, to ‘lose the mystery’ but ‘keep the magic’.
If, he suggests, you could have only one region in the world from which to choose your wines, Languedoc – Roussillon lays a good claim to meeting all your needs, from crisp whites, to fuller mellower offerings and impressive sweet wines, from bright light reds perfect for chilling, to serious weighty Parker approved offerings. Our speakers chose 11 wines to show us what L-R could do.
We started with three whites – one from Hegarty Chamans and the other two from Richards Walford’s intriguing list.
1. Le Soula Blanc 2008, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes, 14% alcohol, £15.67. Le Soula is Richards Walford’s own label, made by them and for them. From vineyards high up in the Fenouillèdes with decomposed granite soils. Very interesting, flinty, minerally, spicy, savoury nose with some bright citrus fruit. The palate is savoury and structured with fresh apple and citrus notes, as well as white peach and nice minerality. Complex and savoury (grilled sesame notes) with some nice matchstick reduction in the background. This blend of Vermentino, Macabeu and Sauvignon Blanc has creamy oak notes and is both intriguing and profound – though not to everyone’s taste on the evening.
2. Hegarty Chamans Blanc 2008 is an attractive Marsanne / Rousanne blend which sees 11 months in oak. Medium yellow colour, good depth and flavor, citrusy, smoky quince and peach notes and reasonably long – like a Hermitage blanc but at £12.50 a fraction of the price. Biodynamic practice gives these wines a vivacity and vitality that’s hard to resist.
3. Domaine de la Rectorie, Coullioure Blanc l’Argile 2004 (£12.97) was another of the Richards Walford wines. This one is a barrel fermented blend of Grenache Gris (90%) and Grenache Blanc (10%). Grenache tends to go heady with generous sunshine and alcohol levels can be a problem however this balances its rich and oaky mouthfeel with generous fruit and clean acidity. Hegarty’s answer to the excess alcohol risk is to pick some grapes early to maintain acidity and then to drink less rather than to change the method of production as most available methods, such as “spinning” damage the wine.
Then came the first two reds – one from Richards Walford and one from Hegarty Chamans.
4. Le Soula Rouge 2008 This first red was a Vin de Pays with 13% alc and priced at £15.67. Made by Gérard Gauby in collaboration with Richards Walford in his precipitous vineyard high up in the Agly Valley around the enclave of St Martin Fenouillet. The high altitude – between 450 and 600m above sea level gives the freshness in the wine and the schist and limestone soil (similar to Hermitage) gives minerality. The blend is 35% Grenanche 30% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Carignan and 10 Syrah, aged in demi-muids for 18 months. Notes of garrigue and dried macerated fruits with touches of sloe and blackcurrant, good structure and ripe tannic backdrop. Good ageing potential.
5. Hegarty Chamans Open Now 2008 Follow the instruction on the label and be rewarded with a pat on the back from the cork - “Well done” written on the side. At £7.50 this Syrah and Mourvèdre blend is one way to ‘lose the mystery and enhance the magic’ of wine. It is rich but not huge, with open black fruit flavours and warmth and spice. It’s a good wine for the money, too good he suggests, for he loses £3 on every bottle at this price.
After these we had a pair of reds from Hegarty Chamans, followed by another trio from Richards Walford.
6. Hegarty Chamans Cuvée No2 AOC Minervois at £12.75. This wine is a Grenache dominated (70%) blend with 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Cinsault. This one suited Parker’s palette and received 92 points. It has rich black cherries and mulberries on the nose with a rather alluring spice and sweetness and a hint of coffee. It is big and mouth-filling suited to cassoulets and spicy pizza. This is Hegarty’s favourite; he feels Grenache is the grape for L-R.
7. Hegarty Chamans Cuvée No1 AOC Minervois at £13.95 was my favourite of the night. Jancis Robinson described it as having a firm Carignan corset and luscious Syrah fruit. We tasted the 2004 and it takes ages, in fact it rather needs time. It is kept three years before release and has much to suggest will reward waiting longer. This, romantically, is bottled on a descending moon, reducing the amount of sediment Hegarty insists. He does not know why all the biodynamic things work; he just finds they do.
It was suggested to the committee that all tasting should be in keeping with Rudolf Steiner’s principles, but I am not sure the suggestion was given or taken very seriously. We did hear on good authority that several supermarkets only do tastings on ‘Fruit’ or ‘Flower’ days.
8. Domaine de la Rectorie Collioure Côte Montagne 2008 £15.17. This Richards Walford wine was a firmer, more serious red but still rather closed. It’s a Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre blend finished in oak which gave a vanilla note. Grown on schistous soil. Hint of bitterness and elegant length with suggestions of plum and blackcurrant but difficult to judge as it refused to offer up enough of its fruit even after a firm swirl or two.
9. Pinot Noir 2008 Vin de Pays at £12.00. Due to a mix up in loading Madeline’s car this was a substitute for the advertised Cuvée en Auger from Domaine Perdiguier. L-R makers sometimes grow what they want to drink and the Feracci family found some Terre Blanche soil on his vineyard to plant Pinot Noir. It was introduced as typically truffle and rose scented but LR does many varieties better than it does Pinot Noir.
10. Roc d’Anglade VdP du Gard Rouge 2006, £17.17 50% A blend of 50% Carignan, 25% Syrah and 25% Grenache. A little bit stinky at first but a good shake and it revealed a ripe seductive fruit with strawberries and red cherries on the nose, and a little spice in the finish. It is well balanced with soft tannins, and good length. Produced by Remy Padrano using Biodynamic methods, if this were a Rhone red it would be twice the price. A good finish to the reds.
11. Hegarty Chamans White Knight Vin de Table £12.60 (50cl). To prove LR can do good stickies too John Hegarty brought us a delicious 80% Marsanne 20% Rousanne blend with a little bit of botrytis. Heady with tropical fruit and a tang of orange peel it was as sweet as you might wish.
We may not want to limit ourselves only to Languedoc-Roussillon but on this showing it’s clear it is both exciting and diverse. Compared to Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone it proves it can offer high quality wine at very competitive prices. It may be that as Andrew Jefford says in The New France ‘half of Languedoc’s wine is unsellable’ and much is ‘overproduced and mediocre’ but if you know your producer in a market where the Vin de Pays is often better than the AOC wines, there are gems to be found. We left better educated about the Languedoc-Roussillon’s potential, we’d tasted some fascinating wines and we had been very well entertained. Well done OWC committee.
SR: 30/3/12