The results of the second Top 100 Vins de Pays competition have just been announced. My colleague Tim Atkin chaired thw two-day judging in London earlier this year of over 1,000 wines submitted by producers, importers and retailers and came up with the 100 wines they thought best. Thanks to the particular vintages that predominated, this was apparently a much more impressive range than last year. As Atkin commented, "All of the judges agreed that the quality of the wines was an improvement on last year. This was partly because many of the reds were 2003s (as opposed to 2002s) and many of the whites were 2004s (as opposed to 2003s). In both cases, the more recent vintage produced better wines. Value for money was good to exceptional, too. Most of the wines we sampled would retail at less than £6, including several of our 12 trophy winners. Even the pricier wines were worth the money.”
The only one of these wines I have tasted is the winning Sauvignon Blanc, bottled in the southern Rhone, oddly enough, which is certainly a creditable example, to which some depth seems to have been added by lees contact. I don’t think it’s as interesting as the Ruedas I recommended in Great buys from (northern) Spain but it’s certainly rather more interesting than most Sauvignons at £4.99 which is, I imagine, the retail price. And you will see that the winning Merlot is the 2004 vintage of a previous wine of the week.
I should imagine that Mas de Daumas Gassac could give some of these a run for their money (their 2004 white is certainly streets ahead of that Sauvignon for interest value) but then these particular Vins de Pays are far more expensive than the wines below.
WHITES
- Viognier Trophy and Best White of Show
Vin de Pays d'Oc, Viognier Nord Sud, Laurent Miquel, 2004
- Vermentino Trophy
Vin de Pays d'Oc, Vermentino, Domaine des Lauriers, 2004
- Sauvignon Blanc Trophy :
Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, French Connection Sauvignon Blanc, 2004
- Chardonnay Trophy
Vin de Pays d'Oc, La Cité de Foncalieu, Grande Réserve, 2004
- Chardonnay Blend Trophy
Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, Chardonnay-Sauvignon, Domaine Caillaubert, 2003
- White Blends Trophy
Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, Domaine de Pellehaut, 2004
REDS
- Syrah Trophy and Best Red of Show
Vin de Pays d'Oc, Camplazens Syrah, Domaine Camplazens, 2004
- Pinot Noir Trophy :
Vin de Pays de Franche-Comté, Pinot Noir Vieilles Vignes, Vignoble Guillaume, 2003
- Cabernet Franc Trophy :
Vin de Pays des Côtes de Thongue, Les 3 Poules, Baronnie de Bourgade, 2004
- Grenache Trophy :
Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes, Maison Galhaud, 2004
- Merlot Trophy :
Vin de Pays d'Oc, La Forge Estate Merlot, Les Domaines Paul Mas, 2004
- Cabernet Sauvignon Trophy :
Vin de Pays d'Oc, Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Gérard Bertrand, 2003