by Peter Dunkley
US$1 equals 0.80 euro
From my hotel window in the western part of the Corbières, I looked out onto thousands of vines, stretching to the distant, mist-shrouded foothills of the Pyrenees. The vendange (grape harvest) had begun and nimble-fingered pickers were moving through the bushes, plucking clusters of purplish Mourvèdre grapes in a ritual enacted annually here for more than 2,000 years.
The Corbières vineyards are in France’s Languedoc Roussillon region. Also known as the Midi, it stretches 120 miles from the Rhône Valley, west to the Pyrenees and the Spanish border. Along the way, it takes in the Mediterranean destinations of Cap d’Agde, Port-Leucate, and Collioure, as well as the historic inland cities of Montpellier, Perpignan, and Carcassonne.
The Corbières, together with hundreds of other vineyards, make Languedoc-Roussillon the largest wine-producing region in the world. I had short-listed the wines I wanted to taste. Now, starting from Nîmes, I was sniffing, sipping, and spitting my way west, to the Pyrenees. Well, not always spitting. In the tasting room at Mas de Daumas Gassac-whose 1997 would set you back $180 a bottle in the wine store at home-swallowing suddenly seemed a great idea.
Back on the map
It was Daumas Gassac that salvaged Languedoc’s previous reputation for producing vast quantities of undrinkable plonk. In the 1970s, even if you could find something from the area on the wine list at a "fine-dining" restaurant, to ask for it would invite a thinly veiled sneer from the sommelier. A decade later, Aimé Guibert, the founder of Daumas Gassac, had, according to one wine-writer, "…almost single-handedly put Languedoc back on the map of quality French vineyards." In 2001, Robert Mondavi came to the Coteaux du Languedoc, checkbook in hand. The accepted version of what happened is that local politics wrecked the deal, but Mondavi’s readiness to make a multi-million-dollar investment endorsed the credentials of the entire region.
Although there are some 14 areas in Languedoc-Roussillon with AOC (Appellation d’Origine Côntrolée) status, they account for only a small percentage of total output. Most wines are Vins de Pays. They are not necessarily inferior in quality to the AOC’s. One of the conditions for AOC qualification in Languedoc is that wines should be made only from a blend of two or three grapes traditionally grown in the region. However, many owners prefer to experiment with other grapes such as Merlot or Pinot Noir or, as in the case of so-called "varietal wines," only one grape.
The choice often comes down to money. When Pierre Clavel, owner of Domaine Clavel, rented his first parcel of land, all his grapes were "SGM" (Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre), a classic AOC combination in Languedoc. "After I bought all the equipment," he said, " I searched my pockets every day, looking for coins. Since I couldn’t afford to replant, I concentrated on improving the quality of what was already there."
Regional cuisine, robust and Provencal
Wine was not my only reason for visiting the Midi…it has great food, too. As well as the classic French-cuisine available in the more expensive restaurants, there is a distinctive regional cuisine all the way along the coast. In the west, it draws on local produce for tasty, robust dishes such as cassoulet, a casserole of white haricot beans, preserved goose or duck, pork, and sausages. In the east, there is a Provençal influence with its accent on herbs, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onions, artichokes, and sweet and hot peppers.
Many of the ingredients come from the Mediterranean. In addition to the crustaceans, there are monkfish, red mullet, tuna, sea bass, and anchovies on every menu. In the hands of a master chef, even the humble anchovy can be a visual and gastronomic treat. At a restaurant in Carcassonne, the hors d’oeuvre is a dish of anchovies, banded with strips of sweet, red espelette peppers, all presented on a crusty pastry bed. Alongside on the plate was an emulsion of herbs and spices and a shot-glass of sorbet. Three days into the trip, my trousers were unaccountably shrinking around the waist.
After the first couple of days, I became expert at gauging as many samples as I could swallow without red-lining the breathalyzer. The test was the tasting notes. "Imagine Naomi Campbell in latex," a reviewer once wrote of a Cabernet Sauvignon. Another had described a Shiraz as "a Chippendales dancer in leather chaps-tight, full-bodied, and ready for action."
When you feel the urge to write stuff like that, it’s time to start spitting.
The vineyards of the Languedoc-Roussillon
For reds:
Mas de Daumas Gassac, 31450 Aniane; tel. (33)467-577-128; e-mail: contact@daumas-gassac.com; website: www.daumas-gassac.com.
One writer described the Daumas Gassac Rouge as "the most famous Vin de Pays in France." At the winery, the 2001 costs $25.
Domaine de Clavel, Mas de Périé, 34820 Assas; tel. (33)467-869-736; e-mail: info@vins-clavel.fr.; website: www.vins-clavel.fr.
Its best red is La Copa Santa, classified as AOC Coteaux de Languedoc. At the winery, the 2001 costs $17.
For Viognier:
Chateau Etang des Colombes, 11200 Lézignan-Corbières; tel. (33)468-270-003; e-mail: christophe.gualco@wanadoo.fr; website: www.adom.fr/palais-du-vin/gualco/gualco.htm.
The Viognier grape is a relative newcomer in Languedoc, but varietal-Viognier wine has become popular with thousands of ABCers (Anything But Chardonnay). At the winery from $10.
For Banyuls:
Domaine de la Rectorie, 54 avenue du Puig del Mas, 66650 Banyuls; tel. (33)468-881-345; website: www.la-rectoire.com. At the winery from $10.
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