This organic and vegan-friendly Sangiovese is ideal for the table. And a refreshing red from Ventoux.

ERA Sangiovese Marche (IGT) 2020, 13% ABV

RRP: €14.60 Stockists include: Quay Co-Op Cork/ Olive Branch, Clonakilty/ Little Green Grocer, Kilkenny/ Mortons of Galway/ Sonas, Newcastlewest.

(Below: Refreshing red from Ventoux).

This organic and vegan-friendly wine is ideal for the table.

You’ll more than likely associate the grape Sangiovese with Italy’s Tuscany where they use it to produce the well-known, well-loved Chianti wine. Immediately to Tuscany’s east is another Italian region called Marche, pronounced Mar-Kay, which has the shores of the Adriatic Sea as its eastern border, and that the region is where this Sangiovese originates.

The aromas of our ERA wine are intense, ripe dark red fruit, floral and herbal notes too, and liquorice also. Flavours are just as bright and intense, full of those red and darker fruits, plus more than just a hint of spice. Tannins are more or less silky and there’s enough acidity to ensure harmony through to the lingering finish. 

An organic and vegan-friendly wine, it is ideal for the table. Try it with Broiled Marinated Pork Chop, Savoy cabbage, Fondant Potato and Mustard Sauce. Winery tips are stewed meat and aged cheeses while other suggestions include Fried chicken livers, Pappardelle pasta with a rabbit and porcini mushroom ragù,  spaghetti bolognese, lamb shank and steak Milanese, and Slow-roasted pork with white bean mash. 

Highly Recommended. Very well priced too, by the way. 

++++++++++++

Charm and character in this Ventoux red by M. Jacques

Jacques Frelin Contreforts Du Delta Ventoux (AP) 2021, 14% ABV, Mary Pawle Wines

This organic red wine, another from Mary Pawle, is a blend of Grenache and Syrah, and comes rom the edges of the southern Rhône. 

The vineyard (soil consists of “Gravel and pebbles”) is under the gaze of Mount Ventoux, the mountain famous for its Mistral Wind and its long-lasting association with the Tour de France. I did climb it once myself - by car! The pebbles referred to above by the way are rather large flat stones.

The colour is a light garnet, a little lighter than you might expect by comparison to your regular Côtes du Rhone. The aromas have raspberry and strawberry notes, a bit on the jammy side, with a hint of spice.

It is immediately refreshing in the mouth, soft, supple and fruity, a really juicy blend and indeed one that may be served cool (not chilled though!). Very enjoyable and an easy-drinking style.

As the label promises, this expressive organic wine exudes charm and character. Well rounded and aromatic. Try with grilled lamb with thyme, or goats cheese with fresh figs. Serve at 18 degrees.

Highly Recommended.

The Oldest Papal Vineyard in France. And it’s not where I thought.

The Oldest Papal Vineyard in France

And it’s not where I thought.

The oldest papal vineyard in France is not where I thought*. Not in Châteauneuf but near Malaucene in the Vaucluse département of Provence, about 40 minutes to the north-east of the former papal city of Avignon. 

Pope Clement V was elected pope in 1305 and his coronation was in Lyons, not in Rome. In 1309, he moved the papal throne to Avignon (on the Rhone) and also planted this vineyard in the Abbey of Le Barroux under the stern gaze of Mont Ventoux, not too far from the famous Dentelles, in an area where you’ll also find the more famous vines of Beaumes de Venise.

The entire vineyard is, as you might expect, mountainous in nature. Lots of hard work on the slopes including the vintage by hand. On their estate, the monks and nuns have raised their cultivation methods to high levels. “More than a motto, Garde et Service (custody and service) of nature are the two main lines of our conscientious cultural approach, in order to make it possible for our vineyards, for Provençal agriculture and the the heart of men to bear their fruit in due course - today and tomorrow.”

And, thanks to the presence of Gabriel Teissier, Directeur du Developpment at Via Caritatis, at last week’s Liberty Wines Portfolio tasting in Dublin, I got a brief history and also got to taste three of the wines: the Vox Domini Blanc, the Vox Caritas Rouge and the Lux in Domino Rouge.

Gabriel Teissier at Liberty Wines Tasting

The Vox Blanc is a blend of Clairette (90%) with Roussanne and Grenache blanc. They have two Clairette plots, one 40 years old, the other just 11 and it is from this second that the outstanding freshness comes. Soft pressing in the winery is followed by a slow fermentation, and the wine is “then rested on lees for six months, giving a lovely texture to the finished wine.” Very impressive, with excellent acidity as well.

The Grenache (90%) led Vox Rouge is expressive with ripe raspberry and blackberry fruit. On the palate, the wine is ample, powerful and well balanced. Again you’ll note the acidity. The flavours are concentrated and layered with notes of spice and liquorice which linger on the finish.

The grapes were hand harvested and subject to a rigorous sorting process upon arrival at the winery. Fermentation took place in concrete vats which are also used for the Lux rouge below. After malolactic fermentation, the wine rested in concrete tanks for nine months before bottling. Another impressive wine.

The outstanding Lux Rouge comes in a deep red. The nose boasts aromas of ripe black fruits  and a touch of liquorice from the oak hint at excellence to come. And it comes. On the palate, the wine has a rich mouth feel, with silky and opulent tannins, powerful but well-balanced with bright acidity. 

This is one to lay down as the concentration of flavours as well as the excellent structure of the Lux Rouge, along with the “thousand and one skills of the art of wine making” will see it age and develop over the next ten years. Fermentation takes place in concrete tanks and then the wine is aged for 18 months, 80% in concrete tanks and 20% in 500L new oak barrels before blending and bottling.

The day I got to the top of Ventoux! But it was warm and sunny down below.

The history of wine in Europe is deeply connected with monastic life. In 2015, united by a wish to revive their region’s winemaking history and support local winemakers, the monks of the Abbey Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux and the local cooperative, Beaumont de Ventoux, joined forces to create a range of wines from their combined 30 hectares of vineyards. The quality of the grapes and the impressive community partnership attracted the attention of illustrious Rhône oenologist Philippe Cambie, who has since become consultant winemaker for Via Caritatis.

The Dentelles. Sunny here, having come down from foggy Ventoux earlier

The men and women of Via Caritatis (the way of charity) are determined that their terroir will produce beautiful wines for hundreds of years to come. Lots of stirring stiff in their brochure but I’ll leave you with just one line by Max Philipe Delavouët. 

“.. We just need to plant trees, in turn: one day they will bear plenty of fruit for those hands already raised in the mists of time…. Let us go, we will never be rich enough, we who are passing, like those who are coming, to let anything be lost.” Garde et Service!

Read all about the excellent Liberty Wine Portfolio Tasting here

* The first pontifical vineyard  was exactly settled in the place-name "Groseau" (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_Notre-Dame-du-Groseau) which used to be a benedictine monastery at the time of Pope Clement V and was given by the monks to the pope. This place-name is located on the land of the municipality of Malaucène, neighboring Le Barroux village. When the benedictine monks resettled in the region, they built their new monastery on the municipality land of Le Barroux. Nowadays the place-name of Chapelle du Groseau is in the heart of Via Caritatis vineyard which spreads on the tree municipality of Le Barroux, Malaucène and Beaumont-du-Ventoux. 

STAR OF THE WINDY MOUNTAIN

Domaine des Anges white 2009, AOC Ventoux, 14%, €13.30 (Karwig)

This is a blend of Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Bourboulenc and Clairette. Colour is a pale honey, clean with hints of green. The pleasantly aromatic nose is full of promise: there are pears for sure, maybe light citrus also, and overall it is really lovely to