From the monthly archives:

October 2009

The Château des Estanilles: under new direction

October 28, 2009

I wrote about the Château des Estanilles back in May of this year. It was just my second Vine Route article, and I was pleased to meet Michel Louison and to hear about his exploits with the Faugères schist—particularly his high-density plantation of Syrah on an impossibly steep hillside, the highest spot overlooking the village [...]

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The Château la Baronne: treasure hunting in the Corbières

October 21, 2009

The Château la Baronne sits in the shadow of a long, humpback whale-shaped mountain, the Montagne d’Alaric, which dominates the Aude valley between Narbonne and Carcassonne. Only 600 meters in height, the mountain reminded me of the Appalachian mountains that I explored in my youth: well-worn, ancient summits with broad, rounded shoulders. In comparison to [...]

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Château du Prieuré des Mourgues: A taste of terroir

October 15, 2009

Jérôme Roger’s two vineyards in the Languedoc-Roussillon—the Château du Prieuré des Mourgues and the Domaine des Aspes, are in the Saint Chinian appellation northwest of Béziers. His calm manner, slightly ruddy complexion and wire-rimmed glasses may bring back memories of a studious priest who you might have had back in Sunday school. That impression is [...]

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Le Mas de l’Ecriture: Wine in the pluperfect sense

October 8, 2009

Pascal Fullá, the owner of Le Mas de l’Ecriture, gave up a law career in 1998 to become a winemaker. He’s not the first attorney-turned-winemaker I have met or read about. Why an attorney would exchange the bar for a tractor is certainly an interesting, philosophical question; for Fullá it was the cure for a [...]

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The romantic men behind the Domaine de l’Arjolle

October 1, 2009

At first glance, the courtyard of the Domaine de l’Arjolle in the Côtes de Thongue appellation looked like most every other courtyard you see in rural France; a gravel space surrounded on three sides by a farmhouse and barns. Since it was mid-September, grape-harvest time in the Languedoc, there was plenty of activity—and noise. A [...]

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