Welcome to the August Edition of
Quaff Drops
One of the places I planned to visit during my stay here in the Languedoc-Roussillon was the foothills of the Pyrenees and some of the Cathar castles found there . So one day a short while ago I went walking with 2 friends who like me had always wanted to walk to one of the castles. We chose Quéribus and set off one slightly cloudy day armed with stout walking boots and a picnic kindly supplied by Allen one of my walking companions. The walk was tough but we made it and were rewarded with some amazing views. The castle is close to the village of Cucugnan a small village in the southern Corbières and is perched on top of a rocky peak 728 meters high and overlooks the Grau de Maury pass and Roussillon plains. From our viewpoint we could see the Maury vineyards planted on black schist soils stretching out below us and decided that once down we would set off to taste these delicious wines.
Maury is famous for its sweet red wine similar to Port in both production method and taste but not so fiery. Those of you who have heard me speak of it will know that I adore it and especially drinking it with chocolate. One of the finest producers in the region is Mas Amiel which is where we headed. The domain not only produce the sweet wines of the region but also dry red and white and all of them are superb. One of my favourites is called Altair and is a Côtes du Roussillon AC made from old vine Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu and is a dry white wine with fabulous flavours of lemons, orange flowers and spice that will linger with me for a long time. The minerality and freshness of this wine is stunning and totally unexpected in this hot and arid region but of course it’s all down to the amazing schist soils in this region which hold the acidity and promote the minerality of the wines. They also produce a lovely dry Muscat which Chris, Allen and I enjoyed that evening over supper, the nose is amazing, very grapy with honeysuckle and blossom. La piéce de la résistance was the Maury. Sweet, red fruit with chocolate, dried fruit and superb minerality and with a hint of smoke and cigars on the nose. Sumptuous! If you are tempted to try it why not join the sweet wine course I am running on September 26th at the Leicester wine school where 
amongst others we will be tasting the Mas Amiel Maury.
This months edition of Quaff Drops brings you news of the events we are holding in the UK commencing in September. I know its still holiday time and none of you will be thinking of Christmas just yet but I have brought you news of our third Annual Christmas Wine & Dine event which this year is being held at Underwoods Wine Warwhouse in Warwick with the theme Burgundy v Bordeaux v California. Sarah has written about a wine from Portrugal and Lena recounts her experiences of the vineyard tour she joined in July. I hope you enjoy the read.
Forthcoming Events in England
Our autumn season of wine appreciation courses gets started in September and it’s a good idea to grab your place now. Book on-line or call Wendy on 07880 796786
Sweet Wines - September 26th - Leicester
European Wines (6 week course) - October 5th - Warwick
Burgundy - November 14th - Leicester
Annual Christams Wine & Dine Event - December 5th - Warwick
Christmas Food & Wine - December 12th - Leicester
Christmas Food & Wine - December 7th - Warwick
WSET Courses
WSET Intermediate - 3 day course - October 10th - Leicester
WSET Advanced - 5 day course - October 17th - Birmingham
WSET Advanced - 5 day course - November 16th - Leicester
Harvest Tours
During the second half of September Vin en Vacances is offering one day tours in the Languedoc that give you the chance to get involved with the harvest but only for one day!
This one day tour will immerse you in this years vintage at a superb boutique vineyard in the Minervois. Meet the harvesting team and the wine maker, have a go at harvesting a vine or 2, have lunch with the team and learn how wine is made and how to taste it.
The price is 70 euros per person and includes a fabulous harvesters lunch in the vineyard, transport and tastings. To book this tour as part of a trip to this region or if you are already here book your place by calling Wendy on 06 42 33 34 09 (French Mobile) or 07880 796786 (English Mobile) or email wendy at wendy@vinenvacances.com.
Sarah's Wine of the Month
My Wine of the Month this month is a delicious, full bodied Portuguese red from Sogrape; Pena de Pato Red 2005, Dão DOC.
Portugal is a fascinating country with an ancient wine making tradition. The country is currently enjoying a period of rapid growth and development in terms of wine making and there are some really interesting wines from unusual, indigenous grape varieties now being produced.
The region Dão DOC (Denominação de Origem Controlada) is situated inland, towards the north of Portugal and halfway between two of Portugal’s most famous rivers; the Douro to the north and the Tejo further south. HQXAXtBZhdEMStXpXtBasdsDFfnbsp;
The Dão is one of Portugal’s most established and interesting wine regions and is particularly interesting in that the only grape varieties permitted for DOC wines are the wonderfully named, indigenous Portuguese varieties. For this wine, a blend of three red varieties are used; Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Alfrocheiro Preto.
Touriga Nacional is most famous for being one of the grape varieties used in the production of Port. It is considered to be the finest variety in the Port blend. It is a variety which grows very vigorously but yields very little fruit and the wines tend to be very dark in colour due to the thick skins of the grapes. In Dão DOC, all red wines must have at least 20% Touriga Nacional in the blend.
Tinta Roriz is probably more familiar to many people under its alter ego of Tempranillo. Again Tinta Roriz is another variety used in the production of Port. The third variety in this blend is Alfrocheiro Preto, another red variety grown mostly in the Dão which is used to add fruitiness and depth of colour to a blend.
Around 90% of wine from the Dão is red and since the early 1990s, there have been huge developments in wine making technology and styles of wine produced which are helping the region gain more international recognition.
This wine is produced by Sogrape, one of the most famous Portuguese wine producers. Since the company was founded in 1942, it has grown to become a huge international wine making venture with interests now as far a field as New Zealand, Chile and Argentina.
The grapes for this wine were sourced both at Sogrape’s Quinta dos Carvalhais Estate and from private vineyards. They were then taken to the winery on the estate where they were de-stemmed, crushed and transferred, by gravity, to stainless steel vats where they fermented for about a week. The wine then underwent a malolactic fermentation in stainless steel vats to transforming the harsher malic acids to softer lactic acids.
Pena de Pato red is a big wine, with lots of deep colour. On the nose there are plenty of rich, ripe blackberries and black cherries with hints of liquorice and pepper and a slight earthiness.
On the palate, there are lots of juicy blackcurrants and damsons with hints of spices and stewed plums on the finish. The tannins are very well balanced and there is a good level of fresh acidity.
In terms of an ideal food match for this wine, I tasted it with a barbequed leg of lamb and the combination was delicious. The tannins and acidity in the wine worked really well with the richness of the lamb and the spicy hints and red and black fruits also complemented the meat very well.
I think that this wine is fairly versatile so it would also work well with lighter but quite earthy flavours such as wild mushroom or a stew of lentils or even a good, stone baked pizza with a topping of fairly strong flavours and perhaps even a little chilli…
And for anyone who is unfamiliar with the new styles of wine coming out of Portugal at the moment, this is a brilliant introduction at a very affordable price.
Pena de Pato Red 2005, Dão DOC is available from Waitrose for £6.99 per bottle
Article written by Sarah Long AIWS
Just a Sip
The July wine trip to Carcassonne was absolutely fantastic! Our multinational group made up of Russian, English, Latvian and Indian folk arrived to Carcassonne on a very beautiful sunny Friday. Straight from the airport we went to visit our first vineyard - Domaine Borie de Maurel tucked away in the village of Felines-Minervois. The tastefully decorated wine coloured tasting room greeted us with welcome cool air, black olive tapas and plenty of red wines. As I didn’t have chance to have breakfast in UK I was overcompensating with bread and wine, forgetting the golden rule of spitting! The sound of cicadas, hot scented air and of course wine made me giggly and jolly. Lunch was waiting for us in the 1000 years old village of Aine where all the buildings are grouped in the shape of a snail. Le Cagarol is a typical French café/restaurant with not too much spent on décor but an absolutely fabulous range of delicious dishes of superb quality for very reasonable money! For me it was by best meal of the whole trip, and sheepishly finished by a little snoozette in the corner! 
Our next stop was Clos du Gravillas with its vineyard planted on white limestone rocks and squeezed between the canyons of St.Chinian and Minerve. Wendy has written about John and Nicole Bojanowski in previous editions of Quaff Drops which is where my favourite VDN Muscat – Douce Providence 07 is produced. They produce some divine wines and we spent a lovely afternoon chatting and tasting and after observing their cosy winery, admiring the work of two ladies labelling the bottles with deft fingers we headed to our chambres d’hotes – Domain Palatz - a wonderful picturesque collection of buildings on a hill in the fields of Minervois area owned by a Welsh lady called Iola. On our observational trip round the grounds we were ecstatic to see a wide and clean swimming pool which is an indispensable item for us vineyards trekkers on blazingly hot days.
Wendy had prepared a weekend packed with loads of knowledge absorption, wine tasting, food consumption and a bit of open air culture to also. This included a visit to the impressive Domaine Gayda a vintage looking modern development with beautifully tended vineyards, winery, restaurant and a Wine school called Vinecole where we spent a morning with Matthew Strubbs MW. Throughout the weekend we tasted some lovely wines and visited some beautiful wineries including Rives Blanques in Limoux to taste their Blanquette which pre-dates Champagne! 
Towering over the town of Carcassonne is an incredible medieval cite surrounded by fortifications, complete with restored ramparts and towers. During July the Festival of Carcassonne was offering opera entertainment and Wendy had arranged for the group to attend and see Verdi’s Rigoletto with its multinational cast in the La Cite. The warm velvet night, scents of southern flowers, beautiful and captivating voice of Gilda enchanted me. I was still under the magic spell until I was brought back to reality by the need to get a taxi home and was trying to explain to a very tipsy elderly French lady my desire not to share taxi with her.
Monday morning was hectic, we had to pack the bags, say our goodbyes, settle the payments and head to the Cabardès area and to O Vineyards. Here an American family from Tampa does wonders with the grapes and create the most delicious red wine I ever tasted. Visiting Joe, Liz and Ryan O’Connell’s charismatic place was most entertaining and definitely the highlight of the whole trip! Gorgeous red wines were complemented by homemade hors d'oeuvres prepared by Liz. Ryan and Joe were pouring the wine and amusing our party with tales from the terroir and all this was accompanied by live guitar music played by one of Ryan’s friends.
Vive Languedoc! Vive le vin!
Article by Lena Reynolds
Visit our web site for more information about our vineyard tours in the Languedoc
Languedoc Masterclass – AC Fitou
The two areas of Fitou are found half way between Narbonne and Perpignan set amidst a wild and rugged landscape. It is a windy and fiercely hot region producing wines that are warming and rugged, masculine and muscular and emanating garrigue perfume and flavours that pervade your senses and take you straight to the South of France with every sip.
Fitou was the first appellation to be drawn up in the Languedoc in 1948. Local politics at the time caused the appellation to be delimited in two areas bisected by an area of the Corbières. The southern coastal area known as Fitou Maritime has limestone soils and the mountainous area 20 minutes away is known as Fitou Montagnèe and the soil here is schist. Carignan is the dominant variety in both areas with Mourvèdre adding to the blend in Fitou Maritime as here it finds the hot growing conditions it needs. These wines are are tannic and aromatic and more age worthy than the wines from Fitou Montagnèe where Syrah has replaced Mourvèdre and the wines are flowery with flavours of red fruit. So two distinctly different wines.
Article by Wendy Gedney AIWS