Yves Gras, in his fifties, lives in Gigondas, an appellation of the southern Rhone, close to the Mediterranean. His estate, the Domaine Santa Duc, is situated at the feet of the Dentelles de Montmirail, a couple of kilometers outside of the village of Gigondas. Over here, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault are planted up to an altitude of 450 meters. It’s from this altitude and the lime stone soils that Grenache and Mourvèdre get their surprising freshness, typical for Gigondas wines. (…) — Lire la suite.

A white wine with a warm, golden color. An expressive nose with smells of quince, white blossoms and spices. But its real flavours seem to explode on the palate: Apple, backed pears, pleasant smells of fresh barrique, a hint of smoke… Full-bodied and fresh, it has a creamy texture that makes me think of a fluffy vanilla and cinnamon sabayone.
This wine whets your appetite, asking for good food! But it also invites to far niente, lingering in an arm chair, sipping on a glass of wine, (…) — Lire la suite.

At véraison, grapes change color. It’s the beginning of the period of berry ripening — Lire la suite.

I recently reported on a tasting of The Malbecs of Cahors. Whilst in the area I made time to visit perhaps the region’s most influential winemaker, Pascal Verhaeghe of Château du Cèdre.
Pascal (shown right with his wife Patricia) along with his viticulturist brother Jean-Marc, has led the revival of the highest quality Cahors wines, since 1995 following a Burgundian model of identifying specific sites to understand ’micro-terroirs’. He abandoned use of all synthetic chemicals in 2002, to (…) — Lire la suite.

Like every year, Pierre Cros has presented the new vintage of his Minervois wines this spring. Here’s a small selection of wines for summer and for cellaring:
Cuvée Tradition 2012, red Minervois
This wine made principally from Carignan and Grenache grapes is a real delicacy! An appetizing smell of ripe fruit and herbs, smooth, medium-bodied and juicy in the mouth, this wine is the perfect choice for everyday’s taste pleasure: BBQ, roasted duck or chicken, cheese and bread… You name it! (…) — Lire la suite.

Nowadays, the wine world is looking for fruit and minerality. And so are we, but after years of work and reflection, we consider that purity and quality of the fruit are more important in wine than intensity and quantity. And we know at needs a lot of patience and accuracy to improve fruit quality and minerality.
Some of the measures we took in the vineyards during the past decade, allowed us to move into the right direction: Planting Mourvèdre and vineyards at higher altitude (350 meters) (…) — Lire la suite.

After uncorking the bottle I stay perplex, even thinking I took the wrong bottle. But after studying the label again there is no doubt: This is the first vintage of Pierre Cros’ Pinot noir. Let me explain: The first vintage of this Pinot was 2003. A small cuvee of only 3 barrels, that Pierre filled at the same time as his pure Grenache. In the beginning, both wines were labelled “Pierre-Henry”, with only one difference: On the Grenache label the vintage and the AOC Minervois were mentioned, (…) — Lire la suite.