£5.79
Julia tasted this wine last October and identified it as one of the better value wines in Waitrose – 187 tasting notes. I included it in a tasting I organised for the sales team of my publishers Mitchell Beazley last week, but had been a little worried in advance that it might be getting a bit long in the tooth by now. I need not have worried. This blend of 65% Grenache Blanc and 35% Marsanne is still chock full of fruit and tastes very much alive and kicking. Like any wine dependent on Grenache Blanc, it’s quite full bodied – nearly 14% alcohol – but is not at all fat or flabby. It is most attractive and appetising, with a juicy blend of lightly honeyed nose betraying a hint of Marsanne marzipan, and very firm, mouth-filling greengage fruit. Here’s a wine that tastes as though it should cost very much more than £5.79 asked by Waitrose online and in more than 100 branches.
It does seem a little perverse to choose to sell it using such an obscure Vin de Pays. I have spent every summer since 1989 about 15 minutes’ drive away from where this wine is made and I had to look up exactly where the Coteaux de Cabrerisse (pictured below) are. Presumably the producers wanted to distance themselves from the ocean of Vin de Pays d’Oc currently produced, some of it less than inspiring.
The wine comes from the admirable Boutenac terroir in the northern hills of the Corbières, Château Caraguilhes to be precise, which was one of the first properties in this wild and beautiful area to be certified organic, having been dedicated to organic viticulture since 1987. The property now belongs to Pierre Gabison, who seems to have furnished it to a standard of luxury that is quite unusual for this rather wild and primitive region, to judge from the photographs on the property’s handsome website.
No animal products were used for fining so the wine is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, we are assured by the wine's exclusive UK retailers Waitrose, who also cite Aicha Kacémi as winemaker. The property can trace its wine-growing history back to the 12th century, which is pretty impressive.
This is a wine to enjoy over the next few months, preferably with food – an inventive salad perhaps. A well-dressed combination of chicken, mango slices and hazelnuts pops into my mind, even though I don’t think I have ever tasted such a thing. Perhaps it was inspired by the chicken roast with hazelnuts, saffron and rosewater, an Ottolenghi recipe, that Nick made last night. The producers suggest the following: ‘Serve as an aperitive with prawn cocktails, canapés, cold salmon, fish-stuffed tomatoes, fennel salad, goats' cheeses and clams, fish curry, sweet and sour fish, Japanese sushis.’
The wine is also apparently available in British Columbia in western Canada and in various European countries. More information from chateau@caraguilhes.fr
My apologies that I cannot locate a US importer or retailer of this specific wine, but clicking on the link below will identify American stockists of other wines from Ch de Caraguilhes.