Welcome to the July Edition of
Quaff Drops
Quaff Drops has become truly Anglo-French now that I am living in the Languedoc for the summer. I became a Francophile when my partner John introduced me to this wonderful country over 20 years ago. We visited various parts of France when the children were small and one year John made plans to take us to the Languedoc which in those days was little known in England. We hired a little cottage in the village of Fraissé-Corbières deep in the Corbières and in early July 1992 we set off in our car for a 2 week holiday. It was a long drive which we made over 2 days and we were all very weary when we turned into Lagrasse at around 7pm in search of refreshment. I will always remember my first sight of this little town nestled in the valley and bathed in sunshine. We drove along the main street taking in the sight of people sipping wine, laughing and relaxing and the sound of live jazz playing at one of the bars. As I looked around me at this pretty town full of smiling people I felt that I had come home.
In those days John was the wine buff in the family, I knew very little and tended to stick to well known wines such as Sancerre or Chablis and therefore the wines of the Languedoc were very new to me. But John knew of them and it was during this holiday that he took me wine tasting for the first time and told me to watch out for what was slowly taking place here. He predicted that the simple country wines we tasted would be replaced by some of the most exciting wines France would produce. That this place had everything needed to make superb wine the only missing element was people with a passion to make top class wine and that this was starting to come. Since his death in 2000 I have followed in his footsteps, made wine my passion, studied the subject and have achieved a complete change of life through wine and France and now that I know a thing or two about wine I think he was right.
This months edition of Quaff Drops introduces you to Clos du Gravillas and John and Nicole who make stunning wines from this tiny domain. I have written about the Corbières and Sarah is reviewing a wine from Portugal. We 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
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
Forthcoming Events in France
For those of you already living in the Languedoc or if you are planning a visit to the region you may be interested in some of the events Wendy is running.
Languedoc Long Weekend - 4 Day Tour - August 28th until 31st
Wine Growing & Making Course - 4 day Course - September 4th until 7th
Unsubscribe
We would miss you but if you no longer wish to receive our newsletter or other mailings please unsubscribe by following this link. Unsubscribe
Clos du Gravillas
A few years ago I met John and Nicole Bojanowski who own Clos du Gravillas a small boutique winery of 6 hectares in the tiny village of Saint-Jean-de-Minervois. Over the last 3 years I have regularly visited this little
domain with clients to taste the wines and wonder at this amazing place and in May I paid a visit with Helen, a client who was touring with me. She recently emailed me to tell me her thoughts of that visit and I thought I would share them with you.
'As I sit on a June evening catching up on Wimbledon highlights, a bottle of John and Nicole's Muscat chills in readiness for some new season raspberries and thick double cream. The wine is a souvenir from my recent trip to Languedoc with you and conjures up a particularly memorable afternoon spent in the vineyards of Clos du Gravillas It was fascinating to meet John and Nicole and listen to their story of how they arrived here and how they produce what is, for me, the most delicate and beautifully made Muscat of this sweet wine appellation.
It loved walking amongst the vines with John while his Labrador bounded ahead excitedly as John gave us a guided tour of his vines; wire-trained on top of limestone pebbles, and eloquently spoke of his belief in non-interventionist viticulture. He explained how they are organic and also utilise some of the biodynamic principles to care for their vines. What was also enjoyable was the moment on the short walk back to his house when we stopped outside an unsuspecting barn, to realise that inside was a cornucopia of winemaking equipment - stainless steel tanks, barrels, bottles and labelling equipment - and last year's vintage maturing in barrels. I soon realised that the barn is, of course, the winery, a world apart from the multi-million pound châteaux of Bordeaux or bodegas of Penedes that I've seen on other wine holidays. This is winemaking in the true hands-on style, a labour of love born from a respect for the soil and alchemy of the winemaker. The result is nectar (and is a perfect match for those raspberries and cream)'.
Helen is clearly enjoying the wines she bought that day and in particular the stunning sweet Muscat vin doux naturels wine that the tiny hamlet of St-Jean-de-Minervois is famous for. John and Nicole also make dry white and red wines which have great purity of fruit and wonderful expression of the terroir from whence they came. The couple fly the flag for Carignan that much maligned grape variety of the Languedoc. Their pure Carignan, Lo Vièlh (Occitan for the old one) amply proves that once the vine has become old (theirs were planted in 1911) and in the hands of good wine makers it can produce mouth watering, elegant, deeply coloured wines with flavours of black cherries and liquorice.
You can visit this wonderful winery on our one day tours and long weekends and to find out more about them take a look at their web site Clos du Gravillas.
Languedoc Masterclass - AC Corbières
The Corbières is a region of contrasts; inland the landscape is wild, windswept garrigue where cigales sing and buzzards circle lazily against a blue sky and vineyards are perched on sides of rocky hillsides. The coastal area has miles of sandy beaches where people are drawn to spend lazy days sprawled on the sand or swimming in the Mediterranean Sea which the maritime vineyards face onto.
This is the largest and one of the most important regions in the Languedoc and produces exciting, dense and herby red and rosé wines and a small amount of increasingly well made whites. Carignan is still the most dominant grape variety here and up to 70% can be used depending upon how much Syrah has been planted in the area. Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault and local varieties such as Picpoul Noir and Terret are also used. White wines are fairly rare but can be refreshing and dry and are made principally from Bourboulenc, Maccabeu and Grenache Blanc but many other varieties can also be used.
Corbières is in the foothills of the Pyrenees and is extremely varied and hilly with many soils types. The area has been divided into 11 terroirs such as Lagrasse, Lézignan and Sigean but the basic distinction between them is those near to the Mediterranean Sea and those inland towards the mountains. Boutenac is regarded as the finest of the terroirs and in 2005 was granted cru status. The landscape is not typical of the region for whereas the majority of the terroirs are craggy, mountainous the small area of Boutenac has low wooded hills and gravely slopes ideal for wine growing.
One of my favourite producers of wines from the Boutenac terror is Ollieux-Romanis which I have visited on many occasions. This is a fairly large producer with vines planted on over 70 hectares. However it is very much a family owned and ran vineyard and on each occasion I have visited I have been met by either the son Pierre or one of his sisters Aude or Florence who very graciously give up their time to show me the vines and the winery and then enjoy a tasting of one of their many cuvees. The wines are well made and expressive and well deserving of the many medals they have won in Paris and elsewhere.
Article by Wendy Gedney AIWS
Sarah's Wine of the Month
'And now for something completely different...' (as a well known phrase goes!). One of the most interesting wines I have tasted this month was the Italian white wine Verdicchio di Matelica La Monacesca 2007 from La Monacesca.
Verdicchio is an interesting, and classic, Italian white grape variety and most commonly seen in wines from the DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) of Castelli di Jesi. This is a fairly large DOC situated just 30km from the Adriatic Sea, near Ancona, in central Italy. However, there are also some fantastic wines produced from the Verddichio grape in the much smaller and lesser known DOC of Matelica. The DOC of Matelica is further inland, towards the border with Umbria, and also higher in altitude than Castelli di Jesi.
The winery of La Monacesca was established in the late 1960s by Casimiro Cifola. His son, Aldo, joined him in 1981 and began to develop the winery and introduce new production techniques. Around 80% of their vines are Verdicchio (the remaining 20% are Malvasia) and the vineyards are situated near the town of Matelica, which the D
OC is named after.
The area is fairly mountainous with rich vegetation and the soil is rich in marine deposits from the era when this part of Italy was still under the sea. The area was actually discovered by monks in the 12th century who decided to settle and make use of the fertile land. Since then, winemaking has developed with some excellent results.
The proximity of the region to the mountains means that the vines experience very hot summers and very cold winters but due to a strong presence of potassium in the soil, the richness of the sugar levels in the grapes is higher and the vine is able to grow stronger branches which, in turn, result in a greater resistance to drought, cold weather and parasites. This therefore means that the vines can be grown almost organically as so little intervention is needed.
Verdicchio di Matelica La Monacesca is the estate's Riserva, produced from hand selected grapes from vines on the northwest side of their vineyards. The grapes are pressed and the juice from the first and second pressings is used for this wine. Fermentation lasts for 15 to 20 days at between 20 and 21 C. After this, a malolactic fermentation occurs which softens the harsher acids in the wine. This usually happens in the spring following the harvest. The wine is then bottled around two months after the malolactic fermentation.
This wine is deliciously crisp and fresh with hints of green apple and green melon with some mineral and slightly vegetal characteristics. On the palate the acidity is fantastic and extremely well balanced with plenty of lime, apple and even green-fleshed melon. The wine has excellent length and a very pleasing finish with well balanced and refreshing acidity, finishing with an interesting hint of oiliness.
As a food pairing, this wine would be fantastic with a rich fish or shell fish dish, perhaps monkfish wrapped in Parma ham or scallops with black pudding or chorizo as the acidity of the wine would cut through fat of the meat. It would also be an ideal match for a light, tomato based dish or salad as the acidity in the tomatoes would be well matched to the wine.
Verdicchio di Matelica La Monacesca 2007 is available for between £10 and £15 per bottle from Bedales (Borough Market), Ocado and several independent wine merchants.
Article by Sarah Long AIWS