Domaine La Ferme Saint-Martin Les Terres Jaunes 2010

Last week was meant to be an attempt to clear out some of the backlog of Australian wines in my queue, and was at least partially successful, with four interesting wines from two large and two very small producers.  This week I will focus on the French wines that I’ve tasted recently but which haven’t made it onto the site.  Today, it’s the Domaine La Ferme Saint-Martin Les Terres Jaunes 2010.

This is a wine of Beaume de Venise in the southern Rhône.  It is a warm Mediterranean region, somewhat to the east of the valley through which the river flows, and protected from the mistral.  The area has three main soil types across the different areas being cultivated.  South of the town is a flat with alluvial gravel and silt over sand and cobalt.  Just north of the town on south facing slopes vines are planted on an area of broken rock over sand, and further north on the far side of the peaks is decomposed gravel with concentrations of dolomite over sandstone and marl.

I first became familiar with the region a few years back by way of the style of wine for which the area is historically famous, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, and for which it was given AOC status in 1945 (though backdated to 1943).  It’s a white Muscat based vin doux naturel, a sweet style of wine where the fermentation is stopped by the addition of spirit before all the sugar is converted to alcohol.

However, this wine is neither white, sweet, nor fortified.  In addition to the Muscat VND, the regions is also known for production of dry, red table wine, and was granted AOC status in 2005.  The red wines of Beaumes de Venise are blended from at least 50% Grenache and  25% Syrah and up to 20% being other authorized grapes such as Mourvèdre including at most 5% white grapes.   White and rosé wines are also produced though only as Côtes du Rhône Villages AOC.

Domaine La Ferme Saint-Martin is a fairly small producer based in the north of the Beaumes de Venise appellation.  They are certified as organic, and in addition to this wine, they produce red and rosé wines of the Côtes du Ventoux appellation and red and white Côtes du Rhône.  In addition to Syrah and Grenache, they have plantings of Cinsault and Carignan they use in their Côtes du Ventoux and red Côtes du Rhône wines as well as Roussanne and Clairette which go into their white Côtes du Rhône.

This wine, which translates to Yellow Lands, is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah.  After fermentation, it is matured in vats and bottled with some sulphur but without filtration.

In the glass, it is clear and bright, with a dark purple colour and some legs.  On the nose it’s clean and developing, with medium plus intensity and notes of blackberry, coffee, cherry, and plums.  It’s richly fruity but with some secondary characters.  On the palate it’s dry, with medium plus body, medium plus intensity, medium plus grippy tannins, medium plus alcohol, medium acidity and medium length.  There are notes of chocolate, hazelnut, liquorice, blackberry and cherry.

This is a good wine.  It has an interesting complexity of flavours, which work well together.  It’s strong in most respects, only falling slightly out of balance with less acidity and length than I might have wanted.  However, it does have the potential to get more interesting with cellaring.

Pin in the map is approximate.

Rockford Rod & Spur Barossa Valley Cabernet Shiraz 2006

When I arrived in Australia over five years ago, I knew little about wine.  South Australia in particular is a good place to learn, though there are some pitfalls to avoid when it comes to studying wine in an area in which it’s made.  For instance, local knowledge of wines of the area can be both broad and deep, but insufficient if you want to explore wines of other areas.  So as I mentioned last week, many Australians claim sparkling red wine as a homegrown innovation, overlooking Lambrusco.  Some have made similar assertions which are worth exploring as to the blend of grapes in today’s wine, the Rockford Rod & Spur Barossa Valley Cabernet Shiraz 2006.

Blending different grape varieties is practised throughout most places in which wine is made.  The best known area for blending could be said to be Bordeaux, where their red, white and sweet wines are typically blends of at least two grapes each.  Blending is likewise common in much (but not all) of the Rhône Valley, with Châteauneuf-du-Pape being a stand out with over a dozen permitted grapes.  Even in Burgundy, best known for varietal wines, there are less common blends such as the Passe-Tout-Grains.

There are a number of reasons winemakers might choose to make a blend, but the single biggest is to balance out the different characteristics of individual varieties, and commercial concerns can come into play as well.  Traditionally though, blending options were limited to grapes that were grown in reasonably close proximity, for reasons of climate or culture.  I believe that is why I have yet to see an Old World blend of Riesling and Palomino.  In many places, these traditional grapes and blends have become enshrined in regulations, such that if you were to put together such a blend, it would be outside of all but the lowest official designation of wine quality.

However, if you move to the New World, it’s an entirely different story.  While there are some grapes that have a resonance with certain areas, there are few if any restrictions as to what people can plant and blend.  This allows perhaps a greater degree of experimentation and innovation, but it also means that if a customer sees a bottle of red wine on a shelf that says Barossa on the label, they cannot make any assumptions as to the grapes that went into it.

So what does any of that have to do with this wine?  Cabernet Sauvignon of Bordeaux and Syrah (or Shiraz) of the Rhône are not historically grown near each other and as such are not found together in traditional blends.  Some would say that in France since the grapes take on the same role of providing tannins, structure and the ability to mature over decades, to combine them would be redundant.  Australia, however, embraced both varieties, often planting them in neighbouring areas and vineyards, and so was born what is claimed to be an innovative blend.  It’s even found its way back to France, where some vin de pays is made in the south in that style, notably by Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) with their Val De L’Ours Vin de Pays d’Oc.

However, is it really an original Australian blend?  Nearly, but not quite.  In the days before strict appellation regulations, winemakers in France had a bit more flexibility as to how they handled vintage variation.  Within Bordeaux, when the Cabernet components of their blends were not quite filling their role, it was not uncommon for Syrah wines to be imported and added to the cuvée.  This was apparently not unusual up through roughly a hundred years ago, though it has now been largely forgotten.  Largely, but not entirely, as evidenced by an experimental Château Palmer blend in 2004 that utilized Syrah from the Rhône blended with fruit from their Margaux estate, as well as by the continuing efforts of Alexandre Sirech who has replaced Cabernet Sauvignon with Syrah in a Merlot blend.

All that said, I think it actually is fair to describe Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Shiraz as Australian for three main reasons.  The grapes are grown in the same region, they’re blended together because when grown in Australia they have characteristics that can be complimentary and not redundant, and the blend consists of just those two varieties as opposed to potentially including the other Bordeaux reds.  Australia must also be given credit for promoting the two grapes together as a blend, as opposed relying on it as a contingency.

Having spent so many words talking about this blend, it’s a good thing that Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and the Barossa Valley are already well known to this blog and we can move on to Rockford, which certainly deserves some attention.

I think Rockford is best described as an institution in South Australia.  In 1971 Robert O’Callaghan purchased a set of old stone buildings dating back to the 1850s which would become the heart of Rockford.  A winery was built on the location in much the same style, with a rustic feel to the entire property.  His family background was in grape growing, and he trained as a winemaker with Seppelt in Rutherglen before setting out on his own.  While many Barossa producers have a great deal of history and tradition in the region, Rockford is somewhat unique in that also espouses traditional tools of the trade, including the basket press which gives its name to their flagship Shiraz which is among the most sought-after in Australia according to Langton’s Classification.  It’s almost The Woodwright’s Shop approach to winemaking.

While certainly best known for their Basket Press, the wine of theirs that I most commonly encounter is the Alicante Bouchet, a rosé that’s found on a vast number of wine lists in South Australia, despite being made from a grape that is not highly regarded anywhere else in the world.  That may be a reflection of the nature of the company in general, in that it is so greatly appreciated within Australia, South Australia especially, that its limited production is not widely exported and unlike many of the names at the top of the Langton’s Classification, it is not so well known abroad.

Rockford also produces varietal wines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, and Frontignac, as well as a Grenache / Mataro  / Shiraz blend and a fortified wine.  This wine, a 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Shiraz blend is somewhere in the middle of the Rockford range, and is named for the pruning method used by their growers.

In the glass, it is clear and bright, with a dark, brick red colour (I know, garnet is the preferred term), and slow thick legs when swirled.  On the nose it’s clean and developing with medium plus intensity and notes of sweet spice, dried red fruit (currants, raspberries, cherries), black pepper, and a little liquorice.  On the palate it’s dry, with medium acidity, medium fine tannins, medium plus intensity, medium plus alcohol, and medium body.  It has notes of liquorice, green peppercorn, red currant, raspberries, and some pencil lead.  It has a medium length with a sour, black cherry finish.

I’ll give this a good rating.  There is a fruit sweetness I associate with Shiraz and Grenache, but there’s also the astringency that I often get from Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc.  There’s not a huge amount of development for a seven year old wine, and still a generous amount of fruit, so this wine will almost certainly improve with additional time in the cellar.

Rimauresq Cru Classé Côtes de Provence 2009

The weather is holding, but only just, so today may have been the last window in which to have a glass of rosé at lunch, so that’s exactly what I did, with the Rimauresq Cru Classé Côtes de Provence 2009.

While never attracting the attention or high prices of some of France’s more prestigious regions, the wines of Provence are well worth exploring.  The region itself in the south of France is made of up eight major AOCs, with today’s, Côtes de Provence, being the largest.  The area has been home to vines at least since it was colonized by the Greeks, and possibly further back still.

The climate is Mediterranean, obviously influenced by the namesake to the south, with temperate winters and warm to hot summers with little rain during the growing season.  The mistral, perhaps better known for its influence on the Rhone, also comes into play in Provence, providing cooling relief in hot summers and allowing rain to dry quickly, precluding some rot and disease pressure.

Soils in Côtes de Provence can vary considerably, as the region is both discontinuous, and covers a large area.  There are patches under the AOC just north  and east of Marseille, a patch just north of Nice, an island or two, but the bulk of the appellation is between Toulon and Cannes from the coast though some 30 km inland.  Broadly, schist and quarts are more commonly found near the sea, with clay and sandstone being more typical inland.

In terms of grapes, there are several sources that state at least 13 varieties are permitted within Côtes de Provence AOC, though I can only find 12:  Syrah, Carignan, Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Tibouren, Pécoui Touar (Calitor), and Barbaroux (Barbarossa) as red grapes and Ugni Blanc, Clairette, Rolle (Vermentino), and Sémillon as whites.  Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in the region, though I can’t determine if it is within the AOC or as a vin de pays.  As elsewhere, there are efforts to replace Carignan vines with more nobles varieties such as Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In terms of wines of Côtes de Provence AOC, reds and white are certainly produced, but the rosés are the lion’s share.  In reds and rosés, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Tibouren must make up 70% of the blend.  While much of the local winemaking can be described as traditional, there have been inroads of more modern techniquest such as temperature controlled fermentation and experiments with rosés and oak.

This wine in particular is a blend of roughly similar parts Tibouren, Grenache and Cinsault, though in other vintages it has also included a small amount of Syrah.  Something of a Provençal icon, Tibouren is worth covering.  Jancis Robinson describes the contribution it makes to the rosés or Provence as the “scent of the garrigue” which left me scratching my head and consulting Wikipedia.  Garrigue is in fact a term used for a type of terrain that I would describe as characterized by shrubs and low bushes, and such land in Provence is made up of lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, and juniper, as well as some a few plants that don’t make it into the spice rack.  So I’m guessing it’s something akin to “forest floor” but you need to replace “forest” with “shrubland”.

While Tibouren is synonymous with Provence, it is not very widely planted, with only 450 HA under vine in the 20,000 HA total area.  The grapes themselves are thin skinned and ripen early in direct sunlight, early ripening.  The high quality of the wine they can produce is offset by the difficulty is poses in the vineyard.  Highly susceptible coulure, or poor fruit set, which is compounded by the mistral, yields can vary greatly vintage to vintage.  As a result, it is largely cultivated only by producers of high quality wines, and often bottled as a varietal.

Rimauresq is a Cru Classé producer based midway between Nice and Marseille, and it takes its name from the Real Mauresque, a river running through its vineyards.  The Cru Classé is a designation based on a selection made in 1947 and after some years of researching the candidates, 23 domains were awarded the classification in 1955 (100 years after Bordeaux’s more famous classification).  Its vines are at an altitude of between 140 and 190 meters and are on a north facing slope, which exposes them to mistral, but provides shade and therefore a longer ripening period.  Their soil has both the quartz and sandstone qualities that place them roughly in the middle of the appellation.  They grow Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan for their red wines, Rolle (Vermentino) and Ugni Blanc for their whites, and Cincault, Mourvèdre and TIbouren for their rosés.

This wine was made using hand picked fruit (whole bunches) with several hours of skin contact in cold maceration, and then cold stabalized for two to three weeks prior to fermentation.  Post-fermentation, it was left on lees and underwent regular batonage.  It did not undergo malolactic fermentation, nor see any oak.

In the glass, this wine was a lovely pale salmon colour.  On the nose were elements of peach and apricot, sour strawberries.  The palate was dry, with marked acidity, and notes of vanilla, white pepper, cream, and sandalwood.  It had a good length clean finish.

This was a very nice wine, though I admit, I’m letting the side down a bit with this tasting note.  It was a by the glass wine at the start of a lovely meal, and I didn’t initially intend to write it up until I realized how much I liked it.  I’ll have to go back and have another glass (or share a bottle) to update this note.  For now though, if there is any sunshine in your part of the world, this wine is well worth a taste.