On a recent trip to the South of France we discovered some wonderful wines from Le Domaine de Trépaloup. The vineyards are located about 30 miles north of Montpellier in the village of Saint Clément near the small town of Sommières. The scenery is lovely in this area and the soil and climate are so well suited to viticulture.
Since 2002 Rémi et Laurent Vandôme have been making the finest wines using organic or bio-dynamic techniques. The Domaine produces Appellation d'Origine Protégée Languedoc wines within its range. The Mourvèdre 2015 dry red is, however, of Vin de Pays status but this does not detract from its quality. This wine is a fruity red which can be consumed on its own or with food:preferably. It is perfectly balanced for tannin, acidity, sweetness, fruit flavour and body and it rests long on the palate.
The wine is superb value for money. I doubt that you would ever find this wine in the export markets or even in French supermarkets or wine merchants outside of the area. You really have no choice but to go to the region, and there are plenty of flights to Montpellier. Just allow yourself a little time to explore the surroundings to take in some sun and good food as well as perfect wine.
http://www.domainetrepaloup.com/
http://www.montpellier-france.com/
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Bad Weather in France and the UK
The recent bad weather in France has almost devastated the vine crops in the Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux regions. In some areas up to 50% of the crop has been lost to frost. Similarly, late frost has damaged much of the vine crops in the UK.
Winemakers in France can survive a bad harvest but in the UK wine producers cannot benefit from large economies of scale as the vineyards are small and production is therefore limited. UK winemakers have to charge more per bottle and therefore they are not as price competitive as winemakers in France, Italy, Spain, California and Australia.
Taittinger is to become the first Champagne House to invest in sparkling wine production in the UK, with their partners they have acquired a multi-hectare site in Kent which was formerly an orchard.
They hope to produce their first bottles of English Sparkling wine from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes in five years time. Let's wish them lots of success even though the weather in Kent can still be very unfavourable for wine production.
English Sparkling wine is perfectly capable of competing with sparklers from all over the world including Champagne. Taittinger will have plenty of room to grow vines, so let's hope that the price will be kept down a bit.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/09/champagne-taittinger-to-produce-english-sparkling-wine-in-kent
Winemakers in France can survive a bad harvest but in the UK wine producers cannot benefit from large economies of scale as the vineyards are small and production is therefore limited. UK winemakers have to charge more per bottle and therefore they are not as price competitive as winemakers in France, Italy, Spain, California and Australia.
Taittinger is to become the first Champagne House to invest in sparkling wine production in the UK, with their partners they have acquired a multi-hectare site in Kent which was formerly an orchard.
They hope to produce their first bottles of English Sparkling wine from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes in five years time. Let's wish them lots of success even though the weather in Kent can still be very unfavourable for wine production.
English Sparkling wine is perfectly capable of competing with sparklers from all over the world including Champagne. Taittinger will have plenty of room to grow vines, so let's hope that the price will be kept down a bit.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/09/champagne-taittinger-to-produce-english-sparkling-wine-in-kent
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