My dad and I sit down to taste two unusual Languedoc whites. These are two winemakers who offer an innovative perspective on two different white wine varietals.
Rives Blanques has their old school Sauvignon Blanc that doesn’t follow the typical rules and carries a fair bit of structure and kick for a little VdP. And then you’ve got Treloar’s very interesting dry muscat which can age a couple of years without any problem.
The wines: Sauvageon 2008, Château Rives Blanques, Vin de Pays d’Oc
One Block White 2007, Domaine Treloar, Vin de Pays Cotes Catalanes
I visited Château Rives Blanques where the Panman family had prepared an outstanding tasting. Not only were the wines fantastic, they told a story and made two ambitious arguments. Firstly, Mauzac is a great varietal that can be used in several interesting ways (a single varietal still wines, a fizz, or even a late harvest dessert wine). Secondly, you can do white wine with cheese, or as Caryl says, you OUGHT to.
The Domaine is in Cépie, in the aire de Limoux, and there are gorgeous mountainscapes everwhere you look. Rives Blanques, the highest peak visible from the cozy tasting area, lends its name to the Domaine.
We start off with a Blanquette de Limoux, one of the first sparkling wines referred to in the entire history of wine. The Appellation d’Origine Controlée Blanquette de Limoux consists largely of Mauzac, and it is only produced in and around Limoux. The second wine is a pure still mauzac, the only one of its kind. In part 2, we’ll taste a late harvest dessert white with Mauzac in the blend and we’ll talk even more about cheese.
Hello there! We tasted three wines that feature Grenache prominently. And as you may realize Grenache comes in many colors. We taste them all! Grenache blanc (a white wine grape), grenache gris (a red-skinned grape used to make a white wine), and a grenache noire (a red wine grape).
The wines:
2002 Cuvée Virgile, Domaine Virgile Joly, Vin de Pays de l’Herault
Naïck 7, Domaine L’Oustal Blanc, Vin de Table (non-vintage, but it’s totally from 2007)
2007 La Réserve de Monsieur, Château la Chaussée, AOC Corbières
See Also: Terroir Fontfroide, a specific area in the very large Corbières Sadat X, a musician and wine reviewer who speaks from the heart and tastes straight from the bottle
My parents and I taste three AOC La Clape wines from Château de Camplazens. While we all have a clear favorite, tasting all three wines proves to be very educational and entertaining.
We talk about some questions we have about carbonic maceration, both the process and its effect on the wine, and we discuss Christmas and muggings and whatnot. I should’ve posted this closer to the holidays but there was a huge queue and I didn’t want to skip Camplazens to the front of the line. Anyway, enjoy that Languedoc!
Les vins:
Guarrigue 2006, Château Camplazens, AOC La Clape
Réserve 2006, Château Camplazens, AOC La Clape
Prestige 2007, Château Camplazens, AOC La Clape
See Also:
La Clape – An Appellation d’Origine Controlée that takes its name from an occitan phrase that means something close to “pile of rocks”. It’s near the Mediterranean coast and pretty high in altitude. They get very rich, spicy wines with a surprising amount of freshness.
English | Ryan O'Connell February 1, 2010 | 
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