WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It is time, once again, for the longest, strongest and most superfluous wine newsletter of the week for Carpe Vinum and announcement for the raciest, tastiest and z– uh . . . zaniest wine tasting in town! At the time of writing of this, it is currently: A Nice Day! I’d say Spring has sprung, but I hate clich?�s and spring has never seemed to me a “springy” action, but more of an agonizingly slow process of all green living things cracking open with an itchy nose full of pollen. The end result is ultimately nice, but if everything really did “spring” in an instant, it would probably freak us all out quite a bit. But speaking of nice and spring-like, this week we’re tasting the wines of the French Languedoc and Roussillon!

At the time of writing, the temperature in nice, balmy, sunny Languedoc is: . . . 41 degrees?!? Waitasecond . . . It’s supposed to be warm there! Ooh, right. Round Earth. 8 hour difference. Nighttime there. Gotta ease off on the coffee. In that case, were it daytime, imagine Languedoc as nice, balmy and sunny. Perfect for growing vines. Grapevines. In fact, perhaps the climate is a bit too perfect for growing vines, as production is so high in the area, it has surpassed consumption, at least on the French domestic scale.

In relatively recent years, the Languedoc area has been considered a “Wine Lake”, a major contributor in the overproduction of French wine. This is due to the fact that in Languedoc the production remains high, but on the domestic level in France wine consumption has gone down. There are millions of unsold bottles every year. Much of this surplus is made into ethanol for fuel. (Because, y’know, cars are thirsty for the stuff too.) Languedoc and Roussillon have long been known for their inexpensive wines. This is not to say that all wine that comes out of the area is “plonk”, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now if it were. Indeed, there are many producers creating wines of depth and authority that can compete with many of the greatest wine regions of the world. This crisis, however, is causing the EU to consider the outright removal of many vines in lieu of other industries.

All things considered, though, perhaps the result of this restructuring of the area will be more of a focus on the overall quality of the wines rather than a focus on the “budget” wines they had been so well-known for in the previous ten years. I’d say that niche of the market is a bit flooded already. Flooded like a lake. I’ve seen an awful lot of inexpensive wines from Languedoc and Roussillon. Most of these were “branded” wines, or “grocery store” wines that I wouldn’t touch anyway. Much of that stuff probably is better off powering someone’s Peugeot. I don’t want the reputation of those wines to taint the reputations of some of my favorite Languedoc and Roussillon producers.

We’re here to focus on the quality wines of the Languedoc and Roussillon. We can automatically assume that if the wines have made it across the oceans to our humble doorsteps that it’s certainly worth the trip. Some of these wines featured here tomorrow are old favorites, plus some new and interesting wines thrown in. Plus, the extra-extra charity pour is a dessert wine again! Its a delicious sweet wine from Domaine Joliette coming from Roussillon. Come join in the decadence!

So Friday, March 23rd, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Languedoc and Roussillon!!!
Domaines des Schistes 2004 Tradition, Cotes du Roussillon
Le Casenove 2004 Masia M, Roussillon
Tour de la Roque 2004 Pic Saint Loup, Coteaux du Languedoc
St. Martin de la Garrigue 2004 Tradition, Coteaux du Languedoc
Domaine d’Aupillhac 2004 Montpeyroux, Coteaux du Languedoc

Languedoc!!
Rene Rostaing 2003 Peuch Chaud, Coteaux du Languedoc
Mas Champart 2003 Clos de la Simonette, St. Chinian, Languedoc

And the Super-Special, Delicious-Dessert-y Pour For Cystic Fibrosis!!!
Domaine Joliette 1990 Riversaltes Ambre, Roussillon

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours,
and $5 for the Charity Pour.

Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Italy’s Veneto!

M