Wine with Leslie: Some value-for-money wines for the darkest month of the year
Wine columnist Leslie Williams: has the modestly-priced vino in hand
Just one more week to go in the darkest month of the year and like many of you I’m almost out of cash so my focus this week is on value-for-money-wines mainly from the Languedoc.
The Languedoc is easily France’s best spot for bargain wines with a bit of variation. You won’t ever see the word Languedoc on a label as it covers a vast area from the Côtes de Roussillon on the Spanish border, east to the Limoux region and North all the way up to Montpelier and Nîmes. The general appellation for branded and varietal wine is Pays d’Oc but there is an increasing number of wines labelled Vin de France which allows for innovation and unusual blends, sometimes with grapes from outside the region.
Every style of wine you can imagine is made here: from weighty Chardonnay to light crisp whites (e.g. Picpoul de Pinet) to complex reds (Saint Chinian, Corbières, Minervois), to dessert Muscats, and rich chocolatey Banyuls and Maury fortified wines. The wine-growing tradition is ancient and dates to at least the Roman era and can even claim the oldest traditional method Sparkling wines in France in Crémant and Blanquette de Limoux.
Selections this week all push above their price point with two from Spar, two from Dunnes and two from Boutique Wines. The Dunnes Stores ones are brand new in the shop in recent weeks and from an innovative Languedoc producer I mention often: Laurent Miquel run by Neasa from Dublin and her husband, Laurent.
The Laurent Miquel ‘Côte 128’ name comes from the altitude mark on the French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey map. On the label you will see the phrase ‘Pech Sévignac’ which is the old Occitan name for the slope. There will soon be three more wines with similar designations and marked by their ‘Côte’ number including a new Albariño and two reds.
Viognier's weighty floral fruits suit this time of year so there are two below, two ripe reds from Corbières and a rogue Chianti for budget pasta dinners. Corbières covers a large area around Narbonne with some low lying areas but also stretching into the Pyrenean Foothills. Wines from here used to be rather rustic but with modern winemaking that is no longer the case — expect complex spice and wild thyme aromas and old vine Carignan and Cinsault blended with Syrah and Grenache.
New to Dunnes from Neasa and Laurent Miquel who are based in the Languedoc, this is only available as a case offer of 6 bottles for €50, a mere €8.33 per bottle. The Night Harvest Rouge is a soft, easy-drinking Merlot with some chocolate tones and soft plum fruits. The Blanc is a Sauvignon-Colombard blend with a pleasing citrus and green apple crispness.
The Languedoc is one of the best places for bargain wines with character for less than €15. Corbières is large and covers 13,500ha but the growing conditions are particularly well suited to vines which seem to taste of the garrigue landscape — herbal and slightly wild. This is from the Northern part of the AOP near Mt Alaric and has clove and black cherry aromas, herbal juicy fruits and good complexity for the price.
This is one of my favourite value Chiantis from a large but reliable producer. Made with organic grapes — 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo which is native to Tuscany and a common blending ingredient here. Ripe cherry and red fruit aromas, round and supple on the palate with that classic Chianti freshness and acidity making it perfect for pasta with red sauces or for hearty Tuscan style soups.
This is new from Laurent Miquel and from a cluster of vineyards of similar terroir at Cóte 128; ‘côte’ being the name for the altimetric contour line of the vineyards on a map. Grapes are night-harvested to preserve aromas and part-fermented in oak. This has aromas of peaches and cream with some heady floral touches, fruity and crisp on the palate with lingering lemon zest and peach.
Viognier can be tough to get right with many inexpensive versions tasting flabby and dull but this and the one above I think show that it is possible to make Viognier with freshness as well as aromatics. This has fine apricot and apple pie aromas with ripe peach on the palate and creamy lemon flavours and a pleasing citrus zing on the finish.
Pre-Covid, Boutique Wines mainly supplied the on-trade but as you might expect these days they are selling online and through independents. They deliver nationwide and Southern France is one of their strongest areas. This has wild blackberry and herbal aromas, ripe, dense dark fruits with texture and weight.
This was the first Black IPA beer I think I ever tried and I’ve been revisiting in recent weeks during lockdown. The rich spicy dark flavours seem to suit dark winter evenings and hearty food with the added bonus that it also matches any chocolates leftover from Christmas.
Black IPA is a sort of hybrid beer with the dark malt of a stout fused with the a hop-forward IPA. This pours a light coffee colour with aromas mocha and dark malt, bitter chocolate flavours hit the palate first followed by ristretto espresso and liquorice and a spicy hop-driven finish.
