I love wine. LOVE it! I can tell you a fair amount about California wine, but the best advice I received on the whole wine subject was to taste a lot and know what you like. That said, imagine my delight when I began to discover a few wines that have clearly been crafted by some like-minded souls.

My first witchy wine was Les Sorcieres by Clos Des Fees. The wine store on the corner carries it and was having a tasting one day that I happened to stop in (although as I've said before there are no coincidences!) It's a Cote de Roussillon and very good. Roussillon is a town in the Luberon valley of Southern France; Carignan, Muscat and Grenache are the principle grape varieties in wines from this appellation. I served it to some witchy friends, who noticed and appreciated my choice. It was a success!

Since I discovered Les Sorcieres, I've been on the lookout for other witchy wines. Tonight I found another one: Mythique.

Presented in French on the front label, a description has been considerately translated on the back of the bottle:

Twelve years ago, a group of winegrowers in the South of France decided to create a "mythical" wine that would express the best that the Languedoc has to offer. To symbolize the painstaking task of tending vines in an untamed environment, they chose the Owl of Minerva, the goddess who taught men how to master nature.

The 2001 vintage is a careful blend of micro-cuvees from forty-two selected growers, all contribute to the unique personality of this outstanding wine.

Yum, yum! There must be a few French witches who are leading double lives as vintners! Next time you have your coven over for a get together, don't forget to have a couple of bottles of Les Sorcieres and Mythique in your cooler!

For tasting notes on these witchy wines, follow me after the fold.

About Les Sorcieres

35% Carignan, 35% Grenache, 30% Syrah. Grenache and Carignan from old vines of between 40 and 80 years old, and young syrah vines. Mainly limestone-clay soils. Harvest date decided to obtain the best possible fruit while maintaining balanced acidity. Hand-picked grapes, sorted in the vineyard, stored and transported in a refrigerated truck. Pre-fermentary cold maceration, in concrete tanks that contain 150 and 170 hectolitres. Daily pumping-over. Maceration, at controlled temperatures, lasts between 15 and 21 days, obtaining soft extraction. De-vatting after malo-lactic fermentation. Aged for 8 months in concrete tanks on fine lees. Minimal quantities of SO2 added during ageing and at bottling. 2004 is undoubtedly the best vintage of Les Sorcieres that we have ever produced. Highly concentrated for this type of wine, with explosive fruit flavors, delicate tannins and a silky texture. This was delicious as soon as it was bottled and will improve over the next two to three years. Bottled in June 2005.

About Mythique

Val d’Orbieu is an interesting company. It’s not a co-op, but a growers’ association, with 180 growers and 15 co-ops from the South of France. How does it work? Each domaine makes wines as it wishes, calling on help from the association staff if it is needed, and makes use of the pooled marketing resources (this is especially important; it allows small domains to have a presence in the marketplace that they’d otherwise lack). The nice thing about this arrangement is that unlike the co-op system it tends to reward people who do good work. Altogether sales top 20 million cases. La Cuvée Mythique is an interesting wine. As a flagship of Val d’Orbieu, it is made centrally: vignerons who supply grapes for this selected cuvee will typically be visited four times by viticulturalists from the association, and the result is quite impressive.

La Cuvée Mythique 1998?Bit of sweetness to the fruit on the nose, together with a touch of caramel and spice. Rich spicy palate shows chunky, savoury fruit and some complexity. Very good.

La Cuvée Mythique 1999?Deep coloured with an attractive herb-tinged spicy nose. Nice spicy berry fruit on the palate: well structured with good acidity. Nicely made and good concentration. Very good.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:15 PM