The Winegeese. A New Generation.
Languedoc winemakers at L'Atitude
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| Bottom (l to r): Leslie Williams (Irish Examiner), Neasa Corish Miquel and Philip Grant. |
Neasa Corish
Miquel is originally from Dublin and married into the Miquel family. They have
two vineyards, one near Beziers, the other south of the Narbonne to Toulouse stretch
of the A61 autoroute.
The big
surprise from Neasa was her 2012 Albarino, the only one in France (at least for
the present!). The Miquels took a big gamble here, planting 14 hectares “all in
one go”. But is looks like paying off. This is an elegant fresh white wine with
a lovely fragrance. Matched with a mix of smoked and fresh salmon, one of the
many excellent bites from the L’Atitude kitchen, it went down well.
Her opening wine,
the 2011 Viognier, has been harvested by night and “handled gently”. Its
freshness was evident and it went well with the cheese. Neasa said it keeps
well for days in the open bottle and is even decanted in some restaurants.
Then Philip
who, after a successful business career, bought the large Chateau Bellevue estate
in November 2007 (just before the crash!), spoke about the main grape grown
there. It is the little known Négrette which has “fabulous colour and fabulous fruit” but “is tricky
to grow”.
Worth it though
as illustrated through his wines. The first was his 2012 Rosé. Some forty per cent of his wine is rosé and this beauty went very well indeed with Jack McCarthy’s
classy Pastrami. Bren Smith of Mackenway, who distribute for Grant and Miquel,
said it was also a terrific match with curry.
Philip then
produced his first red, his 2009, a gold medal winner and his best seller. It
is fifty five per cent Négrette, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and
Syrah also in the blend. It is fresh and fruity, soft, and matched very well
with the mushrooms.
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| The Canal du Midi flows through the Languedoc and was once used for carrying wine. |
Then came the
big hitters. Neasa’s introduced us to her Larmes des Fees (the tears of the
fairies), a 100% Syrah from 2006 and under the St Chinian appellation. It has been
aged for 18 months in oak and much the same in bottle, is very high quality and
will age well. The tears of the fairies, Neasa told us, flowed when they heard
a group of washerwomen bad-mouthing absent colleagues. Probably still flowing
so.
The 2009
Optimum is powerful and fresh and age worthy and another award winner for
Philip. Indeed, it has been awarded a very hard to get Coup de Coeur by
Hachette. This Fronton AOC red is from low yield vines and has “an enormous concentration
of flavour. “It has taken off very well, “he said, “and the biggest buyers are
the Vietnamese”.
It was quite a long
evening but we didn’t notice the time going by, thanks to the good company and
the good wines. More of the same next Wednesday (7.00pm) when the wines of Domainela Sarabande (also from the Beziers area and owned by Australian Paul Gordon
and his Irish wife Isla) will be featured. Tickets from L’Atitude at 021 2390219.
