Backpacking Through the Languedoc Wine Country (Part II – Chateau de Brau)
After perhaps a not so profitable tasting day in Narbonne I decided to hit Carcassonne with gusto. One of my favourite memories here has to be of La Cité at dusk – absolutely stunning and a carafe of vino and wild boar casserole followed this. Yum! So after sending a few e-mails out we decided to hit 2 vineyards the next day in the Villemoustaussou area (5-10mins by local bus from the Carcassonne train station).
First stop was Chateau de Brau where we were lucky enough to have a guided tour through the winery from the owner – Wenny Tari who has run the vineyard with her husband Gabriel since 1982. The vineyard sits on a beautiful location with the Pyrenees as a backdrop to their 40ha of various grape varietals (there were even a few in there I had never come across such as Egiodola & Fer Servadou). The winery even though being upgraded over the years still has its authentic charm and really gives the place a lot of character from the large concrete tanks being used to the upstairs barrel room.
In 1989 Ecocert certified the vineyard as being organic and to this day Wenny & Gabriel name this as one of their top priorities – and through speaking with Wenny you can tell they have a strong passion to produce as healthy and well-balanced grapes as possible on the vine. Through sticking to these methods they have found that they are not only producing better wine but their grapes are a lot healthier than before they went organic.
So let’s get into the tasting part of the visit;
First up was the Slightly Oaked VDP 2009 Chardonnay; the oak showed through on the nose however on the palate beautiful medium bodied tropical fruit notes, particularly pineapple emerged. The length was spot on and I must say this is the first Chardonnay I have had in a while that made me stop and think ‘WOW’! Love it! Euro 6.90
Secondly was the AOC Cabrades 2010 Rose made from a blend of Syrah and Cab Franc – I actually wasn’t fussed on this one by itself as nothing really jumped out at me except for the acidity and quite hefty alcohol punch (13%). However saying that I would be interested to try it out with a lovely fresh seafood platter.
Lastly we tried the 2008 ‘Cuvee Exquise’ which is an AOC Cabrades that is a blend of Cab Sauv, Grenache, Merlot & Syrah aged for 12 months in oak casks. This is the type of bottle I want as company on a cold winters night – being full of blackcurrant, chocolate and black pepper it warms you up in a heart beat and leaves you weak at the knees (from taste-bud love at the start to ‘oh-dear I have finished the whole bottle, do I really need to stand up??’ ) with an exquisite finish that drags on and on, in an extremely good way!!
All up it was a great morning spent with Wenny and I would highly recommend anyone to stop in for a visit to see a real organic vineyard at work. Yet again I seem to have babbled on a bit so I will save my trip to Domaine O’Vineyards till next time. Bonsoir.