Sept. 18
First day in Sablet and we headed out to a local town market to pick up food for the next couple of days (lovely escarole salad and lamb shoulder with new potatoes, c/o Jenise for dinner tonight). Spent the morning doing that, had lunch (beef tartare for me) at a very decent local hotel in the town, so less time for wine visits than usual.
Visit to a producer known to us, Dom. Du Boisson. Looked around the winery (very kind of them to take us as they were in the middle of harvest and winemaking chores) with father Regis and son Bruno (who was quite bilingual, which made things go faster, as my French, while very serviceable, can get a bit dodgy when we get into technical oenological terminology).
2009 Boisson C de R Blanc - caramel nose, later with apples, clean and fresh on palate, marred only by a slight mustiness in the nose. 30% roussanne, 20% white Grenache, 10% viognier, 30% clairette and 10% bourbelenc
2009 Boisson Exigence blanc – a selection of wines, this was 50% roussanne, 35% white Grenache, 20% clairette and 5% bourbelenc, and was rounded, forward and richer than the basic white.
2009 Cote du Rhone Rouge – sappy purple wine fair bit of tannin, mostly Grenache (60% Grenache, 20% syrah, 10% carignan, 5% mourvedre, 5% cinsault. I should add that these grapes are all planted together and picked by hand and vinified together.
2008 Cairanne Villages – nicer nose, (syrah makes a difference), pepper and earth. 70% Grenache, 20% syrah, 10% mourvedre. Good length..
2009 Clos de la Brussiere – a wine made from a small walled plot. No syrah, just 60% Grenache, 30% mourvedre, and 10% carignan. Excellent nose of mineral and dark fruit, smooth with soft tannins, an early drinker but also a wine that’s should age well.
2009 Exigence - 70% Grenache, 20% syrah 10% mourvedre, a nice meaty nose with some pepper, and more tannin – needs time but should repay patience.
These wines are inexpensive in France, but head up in North America – the CduR at maybe $18 Can., and the rest above that. Nonetheless, they are good value and I intend to look them up back in Vancouver.
Back home to cook up a lovely wilted escarole salad and a main course of roast lamb shoulder and fingerling potatoes, and to prepare a couple of chickens and a platter of artichokes for the following night. Jenise gets credit on this one as she wielded the golden baton of honour in the kitchen.
). Btw, don't I recall that in addition to their vineyard selection, the Exigence wines both undergo some malolactic fermentation? Also, I thought it notable that the Clos was a vineyard next door to Rayas' Fonsalette.