Adventures in Wine > Southern France
Chateau de Paraza
Winery: Chateau de Paraza
Region: France
Sub-region: Minervois
Minervois ‘Cuvée Spéciale’‘
The estate stretches over 130 hectares . The vineyard is located on sloping ground with a southerly orientation and a soil suited well to the vine. The vineyard extends over 65 hectares, 50 of which are given to vines classified as A.C. Minervois and 15 to the local vin de pays d’OC.
Chateau Routas
Winery: Chateau Routas
Region: Southern France
Sub-region: Provence
Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah ‘Agrippa’
Grenache/CS/Syrah ‘Infernet’
Syrah ‘Cyrano’
Viognier ‘Coquelicot’
Rosé ‘Rouvière’
Chardonnay/Viognier ‘Wild Boar’
Chateau Routas is located in the heart of Provence, between the French Riviera on the Mediterranean coast and teh foothills of the Alps. It is surrounded by tiny medieval villages that cling to steep cliffs and overlooks miles of spectacular hillsides, woods and rivers.
Categories: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grenache, Syrah-Shiraz, Viognier
Domaine Carrel
Winery: Domaine Carrel
Region: France
Sub-region: Savoie
Jongieux Blanc
The Jongieux Blanc, made from the native Jacquère grape, exemplifies Hugh Johnson’s characterization of this varietal: “you are drinking bottled mountain air”.
Laurent Miquel
Winery: Laurent Miquel
Region: Southern France
Sub-region: Languedoc
Chardonnay-Viognier
Syrah Nord Sud
Syrah-Grenache
Viognier Nord Sud
Laurent Miquel, a talented young winemaker, hand selects the best grapes from his family’s estate near Beziers, in the South of France. The Chateau, Caza Viel, is in the St. Chinian appellation. The estate has been in the Miquel family since the French Revolution in 1789, when it was purchased from the local monks at Fontcaude. With over 135 hectares of mature, naturally low-yielding vines, this estate is among the most prominent independent producers in the Languedoc. Laurent crafts these premium wines as a testament to the distinct terroir of the site and to reveal wine with exceptional personality and character.
Categories: Chardonnay, Grenache, Syrah-Shiraz, Viognier
Mas Sainte Berthe
Winery: Mas Sainte Berthe
Region: Provence
Sub-region: Les Baux de Provence Rose
Les Baux Provence Rose
Mas Sainte Berthe (“Mas” means estate in the Provencal dialect) is a family property owned by the David family, located in the picturesque town of Les Baux.
The David family’s 40-hectare estate lies at the foot of the mountain, which is a great tourist attraction because of the spectacular ruins of a medieval town on the mountaintop. The estate began as a fruit-growing property in the 1950s and was converted to a vineyard in the early 1960s. The south-facing vineyard lies on unique, rocky, white clay-limestone soil at the foot of the Les Baux cliffs, which have a warming effect.
The winery maintains a profound respect for its environment: for example, no nitrates are present in their organic fertilizers and natural insect predators are encouraged. The winery was completely renovated 10 years ago and the half of the vines are now over 30 years of age, a fact which adds further depth and complexity to the wines. Meticulous winemaker Christian Nief, originally from Nuits St-Georges, is making the finest wines of the region.
The Rose, called Cuvee Passe-Rose is made by the saigne method in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. It is a blend of 65% Grenache, 24% Syrah, 4% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 3% Cinsault, and 4% Mourvedre. The grapes are hand-harvested, de-stemmed, and sorted at the winery. After a brief period of cold maceration on the skins (about 12 hours) to begin the extraction of color and flavors, the juice is bled off (about 10% of the total volume of each cepage) and fermented at very low temperature, as if it was a white wine. The young wines destined for the Rose are assembled at the end of fermentation and then “aged” in tanks on their fine lees (for the development of flavor and complexity) until bottling in February after the harvest. The Rose is not acidified, nor does it go through malolactic fermentation so as to preserve freshness.
It is remarkably dry and fruity, with pink-grapefruit, watermelon, strawberry, kiwi and spice notes. The Rose is a perfect match for poached salmon with watercress sauce, Thai and Chinese dishes, as well as all summer provencal-type foods such as brandade and pissaladiere. The Mas Sainte Berthe Rose has established itself as the leading dry Provencal Rose in the market.