Friday, September 14, 2012

salt & old vines

Well, I'm back from France. Harvest was about as organised as it's ever been, which is extraordinary. It's looking to be a long ripening season for the reds, which is good. Sadly, it meant I only got to work on whites and rosés while I was out there. Not that I don't like making white and rosé, it's just that cleaning the press is more of a pain in the ass than cleaning the de-stemmer. 

Tasted quite a lot of very good juice and early ferments. Roussanne and Marsanne both looking to once again be exceptional this year. There's a bit more acidity than usual, which in that part of the world is a good thing. As always, I'm excited to see how the wines turn out. I wish I could have been there longer.

I'm heading back in November, to assemble the fermented wines. I've never been back for that part of things, so it should be exciting. Hoping there's enough good Carignan to assemble another Red Socks blend, but you never know. 

November will also be a research trip, for this new book that I'm writing. It should be close to finished by then. It's an exciting project. You see, it's a story about winemaking where the mountains meet the sea. The nice folks at Unbound will be publishing it. If you'd like to read it, I highly recommend supporting it here. You get your name in the book and quite a lot more. 

Saturday, September 08, 2012

Clos Bagatelle La Terre de Mon Père 2007 Saint Chinian

It's harvest in the Roussillon at the moment, so I've not had much time to take notes. My thoughts on wine these days tend towards the interminable time of a press cycle, or the failure of cooling equipment. It's my fifth vintage here. Every time I think I don't know what I'm doing, I do something right almost by reflex. Then I think I know what I'm doing and I bollocks something up. Such is the way of things.

Dark with ruby edges. Deep core.


Nose is wild herbs and ripe blueberries. Meaty, dense and perfumed.

Tight knit, intense and focused. It starts with a dusty, tannic, peppery crunch, which reveals pure dark blueberry and black currant followed by black olive savoury notes. The tannins turn to a rough suede, giving a serious, sexy grip. Delicious.

*****

Tasted at Luvians 23/8/12