Better Red from Med
Very rarely does my tongue venture north of 13%, but here are three wines drunk in the last week that really delivered so much else along with the alcohol.
2007 Cotes du Roussillon Villages, Segna de Cor, Domaine Roc des Anges - 14.5%
Le Roc des Anges is an estate of approximately 22 hectares in the village of Montner in the Agly valley (Pyrénées-Orientales, South of France, close to Spain), on the north exposed side of Força Réal mountain. Montner derives from Monte Negro (Montagne Noir) is so named because of the dark schists. The soil is composed of old rotten schists (which are the best sort of schists!) and traditional grape varieties dominate the cépages. These decomposed flaky schists allow excellent drainage but encourage the vines to form deep root systems. The first (Carignan) vines were planted in 1903 and 55% are between 40 and 90 years old. Densities of 4000-plants/ hectare on the old vines and 7,000-10,000 on the young vines to encourage competition, thereby reducing vigour. The origin of the name Roc des Anges refers to the Carignan vines planted on a vein of brilliant quartz, a slope of white soil in the midst of black schists. This lieu-dit is known as the white rocks.
The Segna de Cor (Occitan for the blood of heart) comprises 50% Grenache, 30% Carignan and 20% Syrah. The relation between the Grenache and the terroir of Roc des Anges yields fruity and fleshy grapes. To balance this generosity, they are blended with some old Carignan (60-80 years) and some younger vines, and Syrah completes the blend giving firm structure and dark colour resulting in a tender (as the French would say) and fruity wine sustained by a real texture of tannins
Everything done in the vineyard is traditional from the use of local stone to create low walls to divide the parcels of land, part of the philosophy of respect for the cultural heritage of the region. This is extended further into viticulture where respect for the environment is paramount. All work is based on seeking equilibrium for the vine and allowing it to find its “autonomie” (defined by vigour, yield, nutrition and natural defence), an essential factor in the expression of terroir. Other than leaf thinning and pruning of the vine to encourage the microclimate, operations in the vineyards are strictly limited. It is the light permeable soils themselves from where the wines obtain their unique texture and vibrancy. This is a work in progress, according to the vigneron; only a truly living soil will be able to liberate the essence of the terroir. The work in the vineyard respects nature and purity of expression; each year, accordingly, more of the vineyards are being converted to organic viticulture.
In the cellar simplicity and authenticity are the watchwords. A traditional press is used, exerting the mildest of pressure, extracting limpid juice. Vinification is in concrete tanks ranging between 24 and 50hl, and the shape of the tanks and the level of the fill determine appropriately gentle extraction. Ageing takes place in two types of containers; concrete – which exalts the aromatic purity and freshness of the wine - and wood (for about 30-40% of the elevage) in the form of one-to-three year old barrels.
The Segna de Cor has an exotic crimson-purple colour and a nose of hot stones, roasted plums, tar and oregano. It is fresh in the mouth, gentle flavours of red grape and sweet berry, dried spices and roasted herbs. We had it with leftover lamb stew, but it would complement more robust dishes like saddle of hare, wild boar or civet of venison.
Monte di Grazia Rosso, IGT Campania - 14%
Alfonso Arpina’s vineyard holding is tiny, a mere 2.7 ha located in the commune of Tramonti, in the heart of the Monte Lattari and a stone’s throw away from Costa d’Amalfi while 45 km from Naples. The terraces on which the vineyards have been planted consist of volcanic ashes, originating from former eruptions of the nearby Vesuvius as well as red clayey soils. Although a secluded spot, well hidden from Naples, there is continuous ventilation coming from the nearby coast as well as inland winds blowing from the north, which not only have a mitigating effect in summer as well as winter, but the constant thermal movements provide to the special micro climate in this part of the hills. The wine is a delicious regional peculiarity. Consider 120 year old vines from ungrafted vines unaffected by phylloxera. The organic methods used at Monte di Grazia also further limit the yields. The vines were planted in the traditional “tendone method”, their leaves trained to form a canopy that protects the grapes from the sun. It is like a pergola with an overhead trellis from which the grapes hang down. The poles that hold up the tendone are made of chestnut wood from trees in the nearby hills and the vine “branches” are attached to the tendone by willow shoots. All the grapes are naturally picked by hand (usually in the first ten days of November) and yields are typically low: 30 hl/ha. Different vineyards are vinified separately and, while malolactic fermentation is hoped for it does not always occur. Sulphur is never added to the wine.
The red grape, Tintore di Tramonti (90%), (the remainder being Piedirosso) is grown almost exclusively in the Monte Lattari Valley and belongs to the Teinturier family. The flesh and the juice of these grapes are red in colour. The anthocyanin pigments accumulate in the grape berry itself. The free run juice is therefore red. The ageing period is brief and takes place in big barrels followed by a further twelve months in bottle before release.
The Rosso is dark in colour, almost black-violet. The nose is very inviting with bright cherry and stalky dark fruits. Plum, spice and lots of dark fruits, with succulent red and dark fruit palate, with hallmark freshness. The impression you get when smelling a wine just finishing fermentation with notes of hay. Lovely stuff – we’re back in Marcillac territory with a touch more oomph.
Some wines start on the front foot and end crumpled in a heap. The Monte raised its game on the third day, revealing freshness and an agreeable herbal quality that lifted the wine. Still a gawky youth, but acquiring wisdom all the time.
2006 Domaine Matassa Rouge, Romanissa, Roussillon - 13.5%
In 2001 New Zealander Sam Harrop and South African Tom Lubbe purchased a small vineyard high up in the hills of the Coteaux du Fenouillèdes, in the Roussillon region of France, called Clos Matassa. The vineyard was a hillside plot planted with old-vine Carignan, and because of the altitude, 450 metres, the growing season is around a month longer than the lower vineyards in this warm region. Soils are schistous with some slate surrounded by garrigue.
Lubbe has experience of making wine in both France and South Africa and is renowned for making fascinating Observatory Syrah from the Swartland region of South Africa. From 1999–2002 he made wine at Domaine Gauby, a celebrated estate that’s led the way in this part of the Roussillon. Harrop is a consultant winemaker and MW who previously worked for six years as winemaker and buyer with the wine department at UK retailer Marks and Spencer.
Vineyard management here employs biodynamics, and the winemaking here aims to be as natural as possible. The only addition is a bit of sulfur dioxide, and handling is gentle. They are all old vine vineyards, with half high up in the Coteaux des Fenouillèdes and the other half around the village of Calce, lower down (at around 150 m). Lubbe and Harrop say that the lower vineyards contribute power and the higher ones minerality and finesse.
The Romanissa is a blend of Grenache Noir, Carignan, Mourvedre and Cabernet and yields are typically 15hl/ha. After triage the grapes are de-stemmed and then transferred by hand into tank. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, with only gentle foot-treading of grapes the wine completes its malolactic in French oak barrels of 228 and 500 litres. This is followed by twenty months aging with light filtration, no fining, before bottling on a good moon.
Lovely clean black fruits on the nose with a hint of mineral reduction with touches of thyme and white fennel. The palate is medium-bodied, very well balanced and again with a sense of natural “being” with lovely simple, off-dry finish of raspberry, wild strawberry and loganberry with just a hint of hung game.
I read this the other day and it tickled me somewhat…
e-mail from Tom Lubbe on Dr Vino Website
This is the kind of lunatic (no positive connection to lunar cycles) assertion that the Bordelais, or those who spend too much time in the environs, are prone to making. A difficult vintage should have no bearing on the basis of your cultural method in the vineyard. The assumption that no “truly” biodynamic (and organic?) vigneron could make wine in 2007 shows a paucity of comprehension for what biodynamics (and organics?) actually entails and the multiple benefits that issue from a more holistic, natural approach to viticulture. A naturally farmed vineyard’s ability to resist pathogens is dependent on the condition of the soil. If the soil is alive with a rich diversity of microbial activity (and the oft forgotten earthworm) the vineyard’s resistance to disease is naturally stronger , much like the bacteria we need in our gut . In fact, the real grape when fighting off pathogens such as oidium or downy mildew without the interference of systemic chemicals produces increased levels of polyphenols, which as we now know affect not just taste but our health and nutrition as well. In real wine I like to think these three elements (taste, nutrition and health) are as intimately linked as they are in real food.
Indeed, if a vigneron labours through the years to regenerate a living soil and still cannot take in a reasonable harvest this would be a sure sign that they are working a mediocre terroir for grapes and they should either relocate their viticultural efforts or plant rice. That Bordeaux was originally a swamp developed by the English and Dutch, two essentially mercantile/military nations with insatiable thirsts for cheap booze, does come to mind when regarding the nature and frequency of bad vintages in Bordeaux.