Farmstead Cheeses and Wines

This month, we present an allocation of three red wines, with each representing a different varietal: Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah.

First off is Domaine de Terres Blanches Les Baux Rouge, a wine that has been in the shops since we opened our Alameda shop in 2003.  The fruit from this mostly Grenache blend (60%, rounded out by Syrah, Cabernet and Cinsault) has been farmed organically since the vines were planted in 1968 (in fact, with the exception of two growers, the entire Les Baux appelation is organic!). Les Baux AOC is in Provence, located nearby to Arles. Deep fruit driven flavors, but never over the top, this wine has crushed red fruit, tobacco and garrigue nose, an Intense midpalate filled with cocoa powder notes, finishing with plenty of mineral. Offers excellent balance and quality for the money. 

Next up is Chateau la Roque Pic St Loup Veilles Vignes  Mourvèdre, from Pic St Loup, nearby to Montpellier in the Coteaux de Languedoc AOC. This wine is 100% Mourvèdre, and has brambly blueberry fruit, pencil lead and minerals on the nose, a nice midpalate,  medium body, firm acidity, smooth finish. 

Our selection for Syrah is also from the Coteaux de Langeudoc  - Château Lascaux a mostly Syrah blend that offers great depth and balance.    Jean Benoît Cavalier took over the family owned Château de Lascaux in the sleepy village of Vacquières in 1984 and started replanting with Syrah and Grenache. Named Lascaux after the stones in the vineyards, his terroir is composed of pebbly soil ‘caillouts’. He has a genuine passion for and special bond with his environment. He still produces his wine in the Château’s 12th and 13th century caves although the domain has been in a state of evolution over the past few years and now has modern, state of the art wine making equipment. Aromatic nose of dark, ripe fruit, licorice, and garrigue herbs. Plenty of spicy, round and succulent Syrah fruit together with spice and menthol notes on the palate. Smooth tannins with a long and round finish.

I was able to find another superlative '07 CDP for the club - in fact, this month's selection is the first Châteauneuf that I ever tasted many years ago - Vieux Télégraphe.

Parker gave the wine 96+ points and raved:  "the 2007 Vieux Telegraphe may be the greatest wine made at this property since the 2005 and 1998. Dense ruby/purple-tinged with an exquisite nose of salty sea breezes, licorice, ground pepper, jammy black cherries, black currants, figs, and plums, this is a full-bodied, rich, Provencal-styled offering with lots of sweet, ripe tannin. It is surprisingly accessible for a Vieux Telegraphe (this wine normally shuts down several years after bottling), but it should have great longevity (25+ years) given its power, full-bodied mouthfeel, and enormous length and richness. This is a brilliant effort from brothers Frederic and Daniel Brunier."

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe does indeed derive its name from an old telegraph station, one which was once sited on the hill where this Châteauneuf domaine now stands. The station was one of Claude Chappe's optical telegraph relay towers, erected in 1792, part of a system of such stations spanning the whole of France which utilized a semaphore system to relay information. Each station was equipped with two telescopes, pointing up and down the line, to view incoming messages. The French Government opted for replacement by an electric telegraph in 1846, despite some fears that such a communication system was more open to sabotage as a cable was easily cut, and thus the station at Châteauneuf has long since been demolished. As for the vineyards, the history of the domaine itself begins with Hippolyte Brunier in 1898, who planted vines on the Plateau de la Crau, situated in the triangle between the villages of Bédarrides, Châteauneuf and Courthezon, thereby establishing the vineyard that today remains the prime source of fruit for Vieux Télégraphe.