Grape Variety: Picpoul

Colour: White

‘A good Picpoul’, he expounds authoritatively, ‘should be crisp and full at the same time. That’s how the grape got its name: pic as in piquer – to prick – and poul as in poul. (A blank look from me.) ‘An old Occitan word meaning soft and rounded,’ he elaborates, as if he thought everyone fluent in the medieval language of the troubadour poets. But the closet etymologist soon gives way to the more familiar bibulous incarnation, when a second and a third bottle measures up to expectations.

Virgile’s Vineyard – Patrick Moon

Piquepoul Blanc is found particularly in the Languedoc and the southern Rhone. Its best known incarnation is in the wine of Picpoul de Pinet, an appellation situated in the Languedoc roughly half way between Béziers and Montpellier. Specialising in this variety Chateau de la Mirande is located in the commune of Castelnau-de-Guers not far from the Bassin de Thau, a salt-water lagoon dedicated to the cultivation of oysters and mussels. The vineyard spreads through the Mediterranean garrigue with its thousand scents and is in part situated on slopes of red earth covered with pebbles which release the sun’s heat to perfect the maturity of the Picpoul. This is a deliciously understated wine, a touch of savoury brininess, a hint of white flowers, and before you know it, the contents of the bottle have disappeared into history. It is a watery wine in the best sense, thirst quenching and utterly appropriate with linguine of crab with chilli, garlic and parsley/The terroir for the Mirande vineyard is a clay-limestone mix on south-facing terraces with the vines between 30-100 years old. Green harvesting and organic viticulture are part of the estate’s philosophy.

Picpoul itself is an ancient grape variety, which has the sort of green-tinged iodine fruit and crisp acidity one would associate with Muscadet or Gros Plant, but with more vinosity. This version has a spicy aniseed bouquet, green fruits and herbs, is quite resinous with an ample mouthfeel and savoury flavours of iodine, yellow plum and pepper, also a sharp prickle.  It is traditionally consumed with the local oysters (huitres de Bouzygues) from the Bassin de Thau.