Tasty Wines at Vinoteca

Some days, and this was one of those, the wines wear flowers in their hair and have a song on their lips. They weren’t even at the right temperature, but somehow the fruit was on its bonniest behaviour. Acidity, which on a bad day, can be tart or metallic, was present in a refreshing capacity; tannins, which can confer astringency, instead gave structure and definition. Wine after wine tasted balanced, and lived up to its billing, from the most embryonic two-dimensional house wines to the subtler, potentially more volatile samples.

2007 Chateau Mourgues du Grès, Costières de Nimes
I don’t often gush Pooter-Parkerishly about gobby wines, but today I tasted the vinous equivalent of a deity of your choice in crushed velvet pantaloons. The Mourgues du Grès Galets Rouges, transcending its ‘umble appellation and ‘umbler price, its sundial set to maximum impact, flaunted its brambleberry credentials with some eloquent fruit. From the Syrah came the blueberry punch, the Grenache yielded wild sweet strawberries and the Mourvedre locked in the finish with a hint of liquorice. It’s rich and it’s chunky yet it’s sassy and fresh, a streetwise punk capable of high seriousness. “Respeck, blood” as they say in the wine trade.

2006 Syrah, Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche, Domaine des Vigneaux

I’m gonna soak up the sun
While it’s still free
I’m gonna soak up the sun
Before it goes out on me

Sheryl Crow

I love this jaunty little number with its ruddy cheeks. Saturated purple it billows and booms naked sun-drenched Syrah aromas from the darkened heart of the glass. The nose is meaty, leathery, packed with wild fruits, but not overly funky (no horses were harmed in the making of this wine), the attack in the mouth is lively, earthy, sweet-fruited and slightly medicinal with present-and-rounded tannins. It is a playful cocker spaniel puppy of a wine frolicking through the undergrowth on a late summer’s day.

2006 Cahors, Heritage du Cèdre
Ah – that non Condor moment; this is the antithesis of the triple-scoops-of-plum-perfect-richness Malbec that Argentina specialises in. Who wants to be bulled by a wine? Dark ruby in colour, Heritage, a blend of Malbec and Merlot, is fruit first but you can really taste the cedar and menthol of Malbec; it is an authentically light wine with a pleasant mouthfeel. You might almost chill it a little. Not so much a Ca-hors(e) as a Ca-pony.

2002 Cahors, Chateau de Paillas
If you blindfolded me I would clomp my schnozz into the glass and murmur Cahors, but of c(ah)ourse. It’s the classic terroir-evocative brew of fennel leaf, earl grey tea, dried garrigue herbs and heather with a handful of gravel thrown in for a good measure. Nice to remake the acquaintance of this slightly grizzled veteran: age shall not wither this wine nor cassoulet stale its infinite drinkability.

2008 Réserve de Gassac Blanc, Vin de Pays de l’Hérault
This mini-me is not reserved at all, boldly preaching a pornucopia of aromatic delights. Let me introduce the nose (spring and autumn jostling in the same glass, la di da). Muscat leaps out first, all grapefruit and orange, then the golden honey-toned Viognier and the waxy Marsanne (warm apricot skins) weigh in.  The texture is full yet remarkably fine; a juicy squirt of natural citric acidity makes this an unexpected pleasure and a serious delight.

2008 Verdicchio di Matelica, Colle Stefano
Shell-dry and flinty this green-white Verdicchio needles the thread between the tip of the tongue and the back of the gullet. Mineral – why yes, it’s as nervous as a bag of weasels with measles. Impressively concentrated for all the just-fermented-and-bottled zing; one can imagine this wine fleshing out after a year and becoming decidedly complex. At the moment it is as a squeeze of lemon juice on an eager bivalve and would be appreciated by walruses and carpenters alike.

2006 Chasselas Vinifié Sans Soufre, Domaine Pierre Frick
Spookily yours, care of CDP. Chasselas probably hails from Switzerland, hunkers down in the Pouilly-sur-Loire appellation and certain intrepid growers toy with it in Alsace. Buttercup yellow, Jean-Pierre Frick’s san soufre version, offers enticing and altogether unusual aromas of dry sherry, medlars, greengage and fermenting cider apples; the palate, however, reveals excellent tension with slithery acidity and almost biting restraint. The retrosnasal aromas provide a haunting coda to the experience.

2007 Pinot Auxerrois, Domaine Albert Mann
After the disorienting ramble on the wild side of Frickish winemaking we adjourn to more tranquil, classical vistas. The wines of Albert Mann are primarily about the expression of glistening fruit. If the sound of Pinot Auxerrois doesn’t get the juices flowing, forget the customary dull, buttered flubbiness (sic) of the Pinot Blah grape and crunch this grape crackling. Tick off pear, green apple and lime citrus on the nose, whilst enjoy the palate which is satisfyingly long and mouthfilling with a grainy, grippy edge. Hark, hark, this Alsatian does bark – and bite.