Languedoc trip, spring 2003
Domaine les Yeuses, Vin de Pays d’Oc
Domaine de Valensac, Vin de Pays d’Oc
Château d’Exindre, Coteaux du Languedoc AC
Domaine Comps, Saint Chinian AOC


Domaine les Yeuses, Vin de Pays d’Oc 1/4/03
The house and cellars are reached along an avenue of olive trees and stand on a bluff overlooking the oyster beds of the Bassin de Thau, with the Mediterranean in the distance. The vineyards are spread around the house and beyond are the vineyards of the Picpoul de Pinet, most of which is drunk with the local oysters. In front of the house is a grand but slightly sad-looking pair of wrought iron gates with a palm waving in the breeze behind. The house and large farm buildings are old and have just recently produced a medieval olive press from their depths.

The Domaine has been owned by the present family for several generations and is now run by two brothers, Jean-Michel and Jean-Paul Dardé. I was taken around by Jean-Michel. The property has 70 hectare of vines, producing about a third each of red, rosé and white. The cellars are cavernous with ample capacity as yields, and thus production, have fallen sharply since the cement vats were built in the 30’s. The red wines are made in the cement vats while the white and rosé wines are made in the stainless steel tanks. A separate cellar houses the barriques for the barrel-fermented Chardonnay and for some of the red wines.

The estate has some old Black Hamburg vines, normally eaten as table grapes but interestingly at les Yeuses made into the Rosé Muscat wine. They also have the Muscat more typical of the area, the Muscat aux petits grains, which here is made into a dry white wine. Recent plantings include Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and some Grenache.

We tasted through the range of wines together.

Sauvignon Blanc 2002 – very attractive wine with excellent Sauvignon typicity. Lovely gooseberry fruit and racy acidity. Crisp and well balanced
Vermentino 2002 – Nice juicy vinous style, quite restrained with good fruit beneath. A more austere wine than the 2001 at present, but better balanced.
Chardonnay 2002 – juicy and vinous with typical unwooded Chardonnay appleyness.
Chardonnay Chêne 2001 – big, aromatic with evident new oak
Rosé Gazelle 2002 (80% saignée of Syrah, 20% Grenache) – nicely balanced juicy wine with Syrah spiciness and some “gras” or weight from Grenache
Rosé Muscat 2002 (from the Black Hamburg grapes) – juicy, vinous wine with a very white wine like balance
Muscat Sec aux Petits Grains 2002 – nice fresh dry style with pleasant Muscat grapeyness
Syrah 2001 – quite a big ripe style with typical Syrah spiciness
Syrah les Épices 2001 – spicy peppery Syrah with nice oak integration
Merlot 2001 – nicely balanced wine with nice ripe berry fruit and leathery tannin
La Soure 2001 (60% Syrah, 40% Merlot, 12 months barrique) – fairly serious wine with good integration of spicy Syrah, berry Merlot and oak

Back to top

Domaine de Valensac, Vin de Pays d’Oc 1/4/03
The domaine lies a few miles inland from the sea in gently rolling countryside. Large mature plain trees shade the courtyard formed by the simple but elegant farmhouse and cellars. Here I met the young manager, Edwige Thuile, who is in charge of the vines and the winemaking. The estate itself is owned by a rich industrialist, M. Lafon who was born nearby and who has dedicated himself to creating a model property.
The chais is very impressive. The large elegant barn houses the most up-to-date cellar imaginable and where the aesthetic appearance has counted for as much as the technical advancement. The beautifully clean tiled space is divided into two with a mural at each end. One half houses the red wine vinification and the other the white. One example of the perfectionism employed throughout the estate is the stainless steel vats. There is a wide range of sizes to give the greatest flexibility to the winemaker, but to make the cellar look more attractive the smaller vats are built together so that all the tanks look the same. Some of the tanks are divided vertically and some horizontally.

The white wine fermenters are of a square design with cooling sheets hanging down on the inside. To give the greatest flexibility there are also fermenters with movable tops that can slide up and down to accommodate varied contents and that are sealed pneumatically. There is also a traditional open top wooden fermenter for the red wine. The grapes for the white wine are de-stemmed and then put into pre-presses to allow skin contact of the must. These pre-presses contain pneumatic bladders and cooling elements to help express top quality free run-juice for the best wine. The presses themselves lie below the pre-presses. There are three qualities of Chardonnay; the tradition, the Grand Valensac which is 50% barrique fermented and 20% given malolactic fermentation, and the Cuvée Lafon which is hand picked, whole cluster pressed and barrique fermented.

One of the features of the Valensac wines is their excellent natural balance and much of this is achieved in the vineyard. Low yields are part of the equation and these are arrived at through choosing low productivity root stocks, quite severe pruning and growing cover crops in the vineyard to create competition for the vines. These cover crops are grown between every other row and help reduce soil fertility, particularly for the Sauvignon and Merlot. Merlot is a difficult variety to grow in that within 18 hours of perfect maturity it can change to being overripe, so close monitoring and speedy harvesting are essential.

I tasted the wines with Edwige and was impressed by all of the wines that she makes.

Sauvignon Blanc 2002 – a well structured wine with good extract and balance with some elderberry fruit
Chardonnay 2002 – nice ripe wine with good acidity and autumnal Chardonnay character
Riesling 2002 – very attractive wine with ripe tropical fruit and racy acidity
Rosé 2002 (saignée after 24 hours fermentation of 50% Cabernet, 50% Merlot) – nice fresh easy juicy wine with good balance and some raspberry fruit
Chardonnay Grand Valensac 2001 – excellent lightly oaked Chardonnay with good balance, varietal tipicity and structure
Chardonnay Cuvée Lafon 2001 – highly impressive wine with structure balance and concentration; rich, nutty, buttery Chardonnay
Merlot 2001 – very pleasant wine with ripe berry fruit and good balance
Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 – lovely expressive wine with lots of fruit, tannin and acidity; needs time
Grand Valensac Rouge 2000 – (65% Cabernet, 35% Merlot, 8 months barrique) – very ripe dense wine with berry fruit, firm structure and some oak flavour
Triade 2000 – (44% Merlot, 36% Cabernet, 20% Petit Verdot, 12 months barrique 1/3 new) – lovely ripe dark fruit character with balance and structure

Back to top

Château d’Exindre, Coteaux du Languedoc AOC 2/4/03
The property is owned by Madame Sicard-Geroudet, seventh generation of the family that bought it during the Revolution, and her husband. It sits just above a small plain that runs out to the sea and the Massif de la Gardiole. To the north is a rare and protected wetland full of wildfowl and the odd Camargue horse. The house is on the site of a Roman villa and its foundations date back to Merovingian times when it belonged to the royal family. It then passed to the local bishop of Maguelone who fortified it with a small tower and built the rest of Château in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The whole has a delightful slightly dilapidated aspect.

The estate consists of over 250 hectares, 42 of them under vine. Of these 20 are on the plain and make Vin de Pays d’Oc, 20 mostly around the Château making the appellation wine and two higher up the Massif growing Muscat de Mireval. Just below the Château are the old Carignan vines whose gnarled arms reach out of the ground like the remains of a half interred grotesque army. The poorest soils are in the vineyard planted above the house in the garrigue, surrounded by aromas of thyme and rock rose. Yields in these conditions are low; about 40 hl/ha for Carignan, 35 for Syrah and 25 for Grenache. The low yields for Grenache are particularly vital for spice, concentration, colour and character.

Château d’Exindre is particularly proud of its Muscat de Mireval. Made from Muscat aux Petits Grains, the grapes are picked fully ripe in September, much later than most other producers in the area. It is vital not to let the grapes rot, and for this good viticulture is essential and the use of anti-rot sprays disastrous. Some growers let their grapes rot but they then shrivel very quickly giving rise to very uneven ripening. The grapes are pressed and the must is fermented naturally until it reaches about 9-10% alcohol, at which point pure spirit is added and the wine is finished. The secret lies in the fully ripe grapes. These produce a wine of much higher potential alcohol (Exindre reaches 18-20% against an appellation minimum of 15%), which in turn means much less fortification, and this results in a wine with much greater finesse and not just grapey sweetness.

I tasted through the appellation wines at the small humble kitchen table, surrounded by the aromas of wood smoke.

Magdalia 2001 (Carignan 60%, Syrah 30%, Grenache 10%) – lovely sapid yet sweet wine with ripe plum fruit
Magdalia 2002 (Carignan 40%, Syrah 50%, Grenache 10%) – much more spicy Syrah in style with some ripe leathery plum fruit Carignan
Amélius 2002 (Syrah 90%, Grenache 10%, tank sample with no oak) – nice juicy yet dry style with good concentration
Amélius 2001 – delicious wine with rich ripe fruit, ripe leathery oak tannins, concentration and structure, slightly lower acid than 2001
Muscat de Mireval 2002 – lovely balanced wine with concentration and richness, marmalade fruit
Muscat de Mireval 2001 – tremendous concentration and marmalade fruit again with an evolved honeyed character

Back to top

Domaine Comps, Saint Chinian AOC 31/3/03
The house and chais are sited in the middle of the village. They were bought by the great great grandfather of Jean-Christophe Martin who runs the estate as well as teaching at Monpelier University. Behind the grand town house are the courtyard and cellars. These are housed in the old stables and distillery of the original farm. The vineyard covers 18 hectares of which six are Saint Chinian. These are mostly in small parcels as they were bought piecemeal by the family. There is one plot Jean-Christophe is particularly proud of where the Syrah and Grenache are picked together, for they mostly ripen at different times.

Jean-Christophe explained the make-up of the wines. The main grape variety planted is Syrah, a newish variety for the area, enshrined as the backbone of the AOC. At Domaine Comps up to 15% of the Syrah is run off early in the fermentation (or saigné) to help concentrate the wine. This becomes the basis of the Rosé wine. The Carignan was the main variety of the area, but at Comps only 1/2 hectare survives. Mourvedre was added to the appellation list of permitted varieties to add interest without much actual presence, while Grenache had always existed but not in great quantities.

Wine has been domaine bottled at Comps since 1963, which was early for the appellation. The old stables and distillery have been changed into the winery and cellars, because the old cellars were lost when the property was originally split in two. There are four large cement vats and a smaller modern stainless steel tank. Here as elsewhere opinion is swinging back in favour of cement vats, largely due to their inherent thermal inertia that prevents sudden changes in fermentation temperatures. Jean-Christophe is also the proud owner of an ancient basket press, less efficient perhaps but incapable of extracting the bitter tannins from the pips.

I tasted the appellation production with Jean-Christophe. Le Soleiller represents a third of production now but this will slowly grow. It is made principally from Syrah, with some Grenache.

Les Gleizettes 1999 – still quite youthful, rustic with attractive cherry fruit
Le Soleiller 2000 – nice ripe wine, quite aromatic with cherry and cassis fruit, quite tannic and serious, evident oak
Le Soleiller 2001 – nice pure berry/plum fruit, aromatic, quite rustic tannins
Le Soleiller 2002 (barrique sample) – lovely spicy juicy wine, raspberry, plum berry fruit
Vin Primeur 2002 (90% Syrah) – very attractive lively fresh juicy almost grapey wine

Back to top