 November appears to be Taiwan's wine-promotion period each year, probably because European producers traditionally release "new" wines at this time. Although very few of these wines are actually on the shelves, there is a large range of wines from one of world's more interesting regions.
Stretching along the Mediterranean coastline from just east of Montpellier in the east to the Spanish border in the west, the Languedoc-Roussillon region is France's largest in terms of production. It is in the middle of a transformation, from producer of huge quantities of thin, red table wine of a very basic level to a producer of medium to high quality wines in far smaller quantities. As France industrialized, particularly in the north, a large demand for cheap, everyday wines developed. By the 1980s, this region was responsible for more than 10% of the world's wine production and the vast majority of Europe's infamous "wine lake", where farmers were paid subsidies by the EU to produce wine that nobody wanted to buy.
Obviously, this wasn't sustainable and the last 30 years have seen some exciting developments as producers look to new styles, grape varieties and equipment. While there is still far too much poor-quality "Vin de Table" wine which generally only has a 6-9 month shelf life before becoming acidic and characterless, many good wines are now being made. One important development has been the use of the "Vin de Pays" categorization, where the wine makers effectively make a wine one step up from the Vin de Table level but are free to use new varieties, single varieties and in essence make the wine they want to make. This has led to this region sometimes being dubbed "The New World of France".
My top picks for what to watch out for from the Languedoc-Roussillon regions are:
1. Red wines from the Pic St Loup region—fantastic, serious, long-living reds, far better than anything from Bordeaux or the Rhone for the same price, although they have been well and truly discovered now.
2. Fresh, zesty citrus and mineral flavours from white wines made in Picpoul de Pinet—excellent with shellfish and very good value.
3. Fitou—an all-red appellation with excellent-value reds, medium bodied and full flavoured. It is always easy to find them in Taiwan, but look for something that is under four years old.
4. Sweet wines from Muscat de Rivesaltes—often called "Vin du Naturel", these can be great value, too.
Happy Drinking,
Kris
kris@wineconnection.co.nz
0916-222-336
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December 2012
