|
It was with some trepidation that Sue and I boarded at Stansted and flew
to Perpignan to taste our wine for the first time.
Those of you who have been reading this column will know the history behind
this. Unable to plant on our own land we have rented from Jim and Sarah
Pearce, fruit farmers who have a section of vines amongst their apricots
and peach trees. When Jim originally rang to tell me he had 1.5 hectares
of old vine Carignan (planted in 1950), as well as plantings of Merlot,
Chardonnay and Viognier, I hastily rang Aussie wine consultant David Morisson
and got on the next plane. With David’s go ahead we pruned heavily
in June to reduce the yield and had picked the grapes by early October.
After fermentation the wine was put in a combination of new and one year
old oak barrels and left to develop. Now the time had come to see whether
my investment had been worthwhile or was I a sick fantasist living a dream
and waking to a nightmare.
The vineyard is situated directly off the road between Béziers
and Carcassonne and only 25 km from Narbonne. The aim has always been
to make an approachable fruit orientated food wine. I had no desire to
make a blockbuster - too many wines nowadays will allow you to stand a
spoon up in them. The selection of barrels was important and I was keen
that the wine had oak influence which would enhance the fruit rather than
overpower it. I made the decision (Dave was in Chile making wine at the
time) to put 1/3 into new oak barrels and 2/3 into one year old oak barrels.
In future vintages I see the blend as being 1/3 new oak, 1/3 1 year old
oak and the remaining 1/3 in two year old barrels. Oak barrels are expensive
but no expenses have been spared to try and make a really good wine. Hand
picking is time consuming and costly too, but it means that only the best,
ripest and undamaged grapes are selected. The yield was very small this
year. To some extent this was deliberate and to some extent not. We only
got 25 hl per hectare whereas previously, when the wine was all sent to
the local cooperative, over 100 hl was achieved but of course without
any quality control.
So in theory this stuff had a good pedigree but what did it taste like?
Dave’s French assistant Raphaël had produced two bottles filled
earlier directly from the barrels – one containing the wine in new
oak and one containing wine from the one year old oak. I regretted the
fact that I had a terrible cold but we started with the old oak wine.
It had plenty of rich, vibrant fruit with cassis/plum and redcurrant notes
and was soft and rounded. The wine had great clarity and a lovely mouth
feel – relief all round!!
The second wine from the new barrels was a little dusty, with a strong
smell of smoky bacon, a smell strongly associated with new oak. The wine
was well structured but very different from the other. The same grapes
from the same vineyard but developing very differently due to the oak.
The next stage was to get a measuring jug and pour the wine into a small
container in the proportions that we intended, 1/3 new oak and 2/3 old
oak, and give it a stir with a spoon (yes it really is that simple!).
We waited a few minutes and tasted again.
The final blend had mellow raspberry nuances, jammy fruit and a soft oak
balance; it certainly tasted good on its own and, as I was later to discover,
with food.
The wine is actually being made in a small property down the road at Château
des Herbes Saintes, recently purchased by a Burgundian family and over
going through a bit of an overhaul. They make good red but the jury is
still out on their white, so the decision has been taken to double the
Carignan production next year and also make the same amount of Merlot.
Next year I will have four times the amount to sell!
But we have taken Dave and Raphael’s advice and are going to leave
this year’s crop a little longer in barrel. We hope to bottle in
June when the wine will have had almost 9 months in barrel. The next job
is selecting bottles and designing labels.
By the end of the summer we should have the wine in the shop – let’s
hope nothing goes wrong in the meantime. The price? I’m not sure
yet until all the bills come in and we add the shipping and tax.
However, whatever the case it will be under £10.00. I am not trying
to make a profit in the first year but to establish a style which appeals
and build on the feedback we get. No doubt there will be plenty of it!!!
|
