Today we headed to the Roussillon region, where had four separate tastings of 60 different wines. We began the day at Domaine Cabirau in the village of Maury. This vineyard is owned by Kravitz himself, purchased in 2007.Kravitz wanted Grenache, Carignan and Syrah grapes - which he got, and we tasted. We tried three of his Grenache's, one Syrah and Grenache, and a Grenache and Carignan. We then tasted seven other Domaine Cabirau wines, with the 2008 Domaine Cabirau 'Serge & Nicolas' Grenache standing out. The wine is ruby in color with a blueberry and floral nose and a great berry palate. There are good tannins and a pleasant, long finish.
From there we tasted the wines of Les Vignerons de la Tautavelloise. We tasted six of their wines, all of good value, clean and fruity. The 2009 Domaine 3 Vallees CdR Villages Tautavel was our favorite - with a deep ruby color, spice and fruit on the nose, raspberries and blueberries on the palate, and overall well-balanced.
(Tautavel was the site of an archaeological dig in 1971, where the world's oldest hominid remains at the time, were found - dating back 450,000 years.)
We then drove to town of Cases de Peñe, or 'Peña' to the Americans. Their wines ranged from a 2009 Cuvee de Peña Rouge with a blueberry and mint nose, to a Rivesaltes Ambre with a nutty, sherry-like nose and creamy palate.
After our tasting they served us a delicious lunch of pâte, grilled bacon, pork, sausages, cheese, and a dessert bread to finish. Pictured are the winemakers taking some time off to enjoy the meal with us.
From there most of the group headed for about a half-mile mountain hike to see an historic chapel at the peek. The site was an old fortified chateau built by the nephew of the king of Mallorca. It was nice to get out of our bus seats and tasting chairs for a bit of exercise. The view was incredible and the story behind the chapel was rich with history. It was the perfect intermission to our tastings - despite my slight run-in with a cactus!**Check back for a video tour of the mountain hike and chapel
We then drove a short distance to sample Domaine de l'Edre wines in Vingrau. The very friendly Pascal Dieunidou with his co-worker Jacques Castany (pictured) poured us 10 of their delicious wines.
We particularly enjoyed the 2008 Domaine de l'Edre. There was a cocoa, fruit, spice and mint nose; raspberry and dark berry palate; and overall well-balanced.(Vingrau is the northernmost village of Roussillon - and a very isolated village at that. In 1990 there were barely 400 inhabitants, but it is growing, reaching nearly 500 today.)
Back at the hotel we had a tasting of Spanish wines. Here are some of the wines we tasted, ranked beginning with our favorite:
*****2007 Puresa Crianza
****NV Miquel Pons Brut Natur
***2009 Gandesa Blanco
**2008 ARCS
*2006 Somdinou Crianza
And of course, I cannot end the post without
mentioning our delicious dinner. It's our last night here at Chateau de Lignan so we decided to get a closer look inside the kitchen. Pictured are the staff preparing our dinner for the night: foie gras with strawberries; beef filet with potatoes, mushrooms, and meat juice with honey and onion; and vanilla macaroons.
Overall we were left very impressed by the wines of Roussillon, and by our stay at Chateau de Lignan. Tomorrow we head to Domaine Le Plan Vermeersch and Domaine du Pegau, then to Hotel Ibis Montpellier in anticipation of our early flight to Paris Saturday morning. We should have good internet service so stay tuned to get all the juice.
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