SWR: garrigue

M

MLipton

Mark Lipton
OK, so this is mostly a rant. On a fairly regular basis, when I see notes on CT about wines from the S Rhone and Provence they mention in their cornucopia of perceived scents "garrigue." I can't help wondering how many of them actually have any organoleptic sense of what garrigue is or whether they're just parroting a reviewer or shelf talker. I'm being petty, I know... I think it's fair to say that I've had more wines than most from that region and I can count on one hand the number of times I've been reminded of the scents that assailed me while driving the A8 in the heat of summer.

Grumpily yours,
Mark Lipton
 
What is this board for, if not Petty Pedantry.

I think we've had several threads over the years about what irritates us most in other people's TNs!

I can't say that I have deep sensory memories of Southern French garrigue. But, some of those hot sunny grapes (also from CA) do evoke various aromatic dried/baked vegetation notes.
 
It's more of a D6, D7 thing than an A8.

I know what I mean when I say garrigue, but maybe it isn't what other people mean. Could just be one of those things. I'm not sure I can fram eit with words either. It's elusive.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Dried/baked vegetation but with some sense of dried/baked earth as well - for me.
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For me, it's the Southern French equivalent of the NorCal chaparral smell. Lavender and rosemary for sure, but also baked earth.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Everett Bandman:
I have a can of Herbs de Provence from Sonoma Spice Queen that comes pretty close.
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Bingo! That's the sort of thing it is for me, too: there has to be a dried green smell tinged with rosemary, maybe tarragon and thyme, and a hit of lavender.

And I agree with Mark that I've tasted that not even a dozen times altogether across all the Rhone wines I've drunk.
 
See my post under La Milliere if you care. Herbs de Provence is a very good approximation since it is made of the relevant herbs.

I don't know of any D6 or D7 around here. There is a D6 that runs east west around Lyon. The road running through a number of S. Rhone appellations--Cairanne, Gigondas, Vacqueyras--is the D8, which I thought was the road Mark meant.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I don't know of any D6 or D7 around here. There is a D6 that runs east west around Lyon. The road running through a number of S. Rhone appellations--Cairanne, Gigondas, Vacqueyras--is the D8, which I thought was the road Mark meant.
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It's around St. Paul de Vence, I was being cheeky. Mark meant the A8 which goes around Provence.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I don't know of any D6 or D7 around here. There is a D6 that runs east west around Lyon. The road running through a number of S. Rhone appellations--Cairanne, Gigondas, Vacqueyras--is the D8, which I thought was the road Mark meant.
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It's around St. Paul de Vence, I was being cheeky. Mark meant the A8 which goes around Provence.
 
If he says that's what he meant, I'll believe him. But the A8 is an autoroute, not a departmental road. If you stop on it, all you smell is gas fumes. I doubt anyone would get the smallest whiff of garrigue.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
If he says that's what he meant, I'll believe him. But the A8 is an autoroute, not a departmental road. If you stop on it, all you smell is gas fumes. I doubt anyone would get the smallest whiff of garrigue.
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Yeah, I think you’re right and it was the D8. I do recall seeing fields of lavender from the A8 but the characteristic smells were from the roads less traveled.

Mark Lipton
 
I had the great good fortune to spend 2 weeks in Corsica once. I have vivid memories walking in the low hills above the beaches and ocean, a bit west of Patrimonio. The hills were covered with low scrub, a fair amount of which was thyme and rosemary. The herbs were baking under the Mediterranean sun, and the aroma as you brushed through it was intense and unforgettable.
 
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