Languedoc Representing

T

Todd Abrams

Todd Abrams
A couple of friends and I are organizing an intro to French red wine tasting at a letterpress studio in Eastern Market this month. It’s really just a reason to drink a few good wines in a cool space and hang out with some friends that aren’t quite as into wine as we are on a slightly larger scale than a house party. Like any good wine drinkers, we’re obsessing over fine details.

My pick to represent Languedoc is the 2011 Les Vignes Oubliees Terrasses de Larzac (60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Carignan). It has a nose of mixed red berries on top of subtle notes of pepper and dried herbs. A sip is balanced through a range of fresh fruits across silky tannins and then all rounded in the end with a packet of spices. Lovely, sturdy stuff.

“Tastes too much like Southern Rhone, not enough black fruit” and “You can’t use a higher elevation wine to represent Languedoc” are the protestations I’m hearing from one collaborator in particular, although the wine is generally considered pretty damn good.

Since he wouldn’t arm-wrestle to prove superiority we hastened to open a 2007 Mas de Chimeres Coteaux du Languedoc (NOT the Terrasses de Larzac, also more syrah than grenache). It drank similarly, if not quite as serious. I win.

There’s just a shit-ton of wine produced across a lot of different terrain in Languedoc. I think the main point to get across is how big and relatively diverse it is. And I’d rather do that while drinking a singular wine than a more generic.

What red wine would you choose to represent Languedoc?
 
My favorite Languedoc wine is Peyre Rose, but it's hard to find and quite expensive.

I've been a big fan of Ferrer-Ribiere's old-vines Carignan ("Empreinte du Temps"), from a vineyard planted over 130 years ago. It really shows how great old-vine Carignan can be, and it's very reasonably priced.
 
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
Languedoc Representing

There’s just a shit-ton of wine produced across a lot of different terrain in Languedoc. I think the main point to get across is how big and relatively diverse it is. And I’d rather do that while drinking a singular wine than a more generic.

What red wine would you choose to represent Languedoc?
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Kind of like trying to pick a single red wine to represent California. I think you should exercise what the Languedoc truly represents - great value and go ahead and open up a whole bunch of bottles
 
Todd, as Jason says, the Languedoc is a huge, huge, place and produces more wine than any other French wine region (most of which is eminently forgettable). For wines from the region that I like, I'd turn to most of the Kermit Lynch imports (Leon Barral Faugeres, Mas Champart St.-Chinian, Dom. d'Aupilhac Montpeyroux, Ch. La Roque Pic St. Loup*) or Grange des Peres as the most representative (but also drinkable) examples of the region.

Mark Lipton

* My favorite of their stable is the Cuvée Mourvedre, which ain't exactly typical, but avoid the Cupa Numismae, which is too spoofy for my tastes
 
There used to be an inexpensive Lancyre I thought was rather nice, though whatever I see with that label on it these days is expensive. My encounters were seven or so years ago.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
I'd turn to most of the Kermit Lynch imports
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Les Vignes Oubliees is a Kermit Lynch import so I'll consider that an endorsement. The d'Aupilhac Montpeyroux is going to be a little too grippy for some folks in this crowd, I'm sure of it.

I loved the Maxime Magnon Corbieres, it seems progressive in comparison to most of the others suggested.

I know there's no real answer here. Just wanted to see what the sage denizens of Wine Disorder thought. Though now I really want to try carignan from 130 year old Catalano vines.

Also, can I pair this with a grilled burrata sandwich?
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Going to bring any Banyuls, Maury, or Rivesaltes?
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This is a very general tasting of French red wine. Not just Languedoc-Roussillon. It's not easy picking one wine to represent an entire region.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
My favorite Languedoc wine is Peyre Rose, but it's hard to find and quite expensive.

I've been a big fan of Ferrer-Ribiere's old-vines Carignan ("Empreinte du Temps"), from a vineyard planted over 130 years ago. It really shows how great old-vine Carignan can be, and it's very reasonably priced.
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Both of these are very good, but, like you said the Peyre Rose is very hard to find.

Because of the carignan (100%) makeup of the Ferrer, I'm not sure I would use that to represent the Languedoc: it's very distinctive and there are not many wines that have that raspberry component to them as this one does.

I would try a mixed case and see what sticks. There are so many new producers here and this is as good as any way to try them.
 
Aupilhac
Barral
Montcalmes
Mas Jullien
Clos Fantine
Clos du Rouge Gorge
Clos Marie
Mas Champart
JB Senat
Yannick Pelletier
Zelige-Caravent
M Magnon

Can't go wrong with any of those. And there's plenty more.
 
Hmmm.

Chateau de Lascaux Coteaux du Languedoc. It's made by Jean-Benoît Cavalier, who is, after all, the head of the Languedoc AOC.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
There used to be an inexpensive Lancyre I thought was rather nice, though whatever I see with that label on it these days is expensive. My encounters were seven or so years ago.
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I stumbled across a bottle of this and bought it to try for old time's sake. Yech. Processed for smoothness; practically pasteurized.

What a difference seven or eight years of thoughtful drinking makes.
 
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