A tasting trip to the Languedoc
Paddy Partridge | March 12, 2010The American food writer, Waverley Root, said of the Languedoc cuisine “it fits intimately the character and the history of the country. It is solid, like the strong Romanesque architecture of the south, never elaborate like the flamboyant gothic buildings of the north. It is not the cooking of a poor country, for its raw materials are substantial and they are put together with gusto”. The same can be said of their wines, and crucially the two complement each other perfectly.
On a three day tasting trip to the region last week, Esme and I worked our way through a vast array of ‘solid’, rich, earthy red wines, produced with real passion from small family owned estates. Most of these wines were all the more remarkable for their modest prices- with the exception of a few aspiring ‘cult’ wines (Mas des Daumas can fetch up to £50 a bottle).
The Languedoc is the largest wine region in France, indeed the world, and yields wine from a multitude of different grape varieties. Almost every Mediterranean variety is on display, including some extraordinary regional hybrids like Macabeo, Aspiran and Terret. Three grape varieties however predominate: Carignan, Grenache and Syrah.
The reds made from these ’Rhone varietals’ are on the whole rich, robust, tannic and cut like a knife through the fat of a local cassoulet. Particularly exciting were the wines of Jean-Michel Arnaud from Minervois la Livniere, Chateau Virgile and Domaine la Liquiere.




Outside of 2005 and 2000 – 2008 may represent the best vintage of Bordeaux with a 2 on the front of it. The low crop (in our case a figure of 29hl/ha across all wines) was a direct cause of poor fruit-set and frost damage early in the season, and this ensured that the wines had sufficient concentration. At Teyssier we have never harvested as late as we did in 2008. We picked from the 6th October to the 23rd – almost into winter! It was this lateness that gave the vintage its uniqueness.
FVD had a stand at the Game Fair this year in the grounds at Belvoir Castle. It was a very jolly affair with lots of our more sporting customers & friends whom we entertained with a broad selection of our wines – and a very talented young Bag-Pipe player. Our neighbouring stands were an exotic mix – a holiday company with a beach in their stand and the Abu Dhabi Tourist Board with a couple of camels who looked slightly out of place in the Leicestershire countryside, to name but a few.
Liv-ex has 250 + trade members around the world who can buy and sell fine wine on the exchange in the same way that other commodities are traded. They also provide an independent valuation service for wine funds and collectors around the World. They have an enormous data base on all fine wines so if you want to find out what Chateau Lafite 2000 is worth now – and its trading history over the last 5 years, Liv-ex is the place to go.
The dinner at Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou was hosted by Bruno Borie, the dashing showman Proprietor, to celebrate the ‘fete’ of Saint Jean for about 250 lucky guests. It was a perfect balmy night that started with a champagne reception (Dom Perignon 2000 in magnums) in the gardens overlooking the Gironde River. At the bottom of the garden there was an enormous glass marquee which looked as if it might have been borrowed from Kew Gardens with 25 tables of 20, each with its own Chef & Sommelier.


