Southern Magic
When I was living in
England, I could occasionally afford to drive down to the South of France in my
ageing Triumph 2000. In retrospect, it was foolhardy to say the least because
the car was not exactly the latest thing on wheels. A few more years and it
would have become a museum piece. In those days, you had to fit yellow plastic
filters to the headlights in order to comply with an eccentric French law dating
back to 1937. France was the only country in Europe which made it compulsory for
all vehicles to have yellow headlights. If, in your haste to depart you managed
to forget the filters, you could be sure to encounter the displeasure of some
plodding country gendarme who had little else to do. The law remained
until 1993 when those busy-bodies in the European Union told the French to stop
being so silly and get in line with everyone else. Why they felt the need to
have yellow headlights I have no idea, because they certainly seemed less bright
than the conventional type. Perhaps, being French they just wanted to be
different.
My route south was pretty
much the same, Calais to Paris, then down through Beaune and Lyon and on to
Valence and Avignon. After Avignon, ever so gradually, the colour of the light
began to change. It’s easy to understand why this region attracted painters like
Braque, Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso. The air is so clear; the colours so
vibrant. They seem more so when you have just arrived from the landscapes of
further north. Even grey stone walls seemed to have richer tones than those back
in England.
Then of course there was
the wine (I thought we’d never get there, Ed.) These days, some of
France’s best bargains hail from the south. Gone are the days when French
country wines were mostly cheap plonk suitable only for blending or worse still,
converting into industrial alcohol. Nowadays you can find some very pleasing
wines from this region, not in the class of top Bordeaux of course, but
sometimes almost as rewarding and a whole lot cheaper.
So this week, we’ve got
two super little reds from the Club des Sommeliers. It’s rather a clever
trade name too, because it gives the impression you are buying something rather
special. As far as I can tell, the company seems to be a négociant
located in St. Etienne, about thirty miles south-west of Lyon. A négociant
in case you have forgotten, is the French word for a wine merchant who buys
wines from smaller wine-makers and sells the final product under his own trade
name. These négociants serve a useful purpose because many smaller
winemakers can’t afford the equipment necessary to produce and bottle their own
wines. Négociants like Bouchard Père et Fils for example, are sometimes
enormous companies which buy anything from raw grapes to partially-made wines.
If they buy the grapes, they usually do both the winemaking and the bottling.
When the négociants buy wine in bulk, they sometimes let the wine age a
bit, blend in other wines or simply bottle it and sell the wine as it is. The
resulting product is nearly always sold under a trade-name created by the
négociant and not under the name of the original producer.
Both these reds come from
the vast Languedoc-Roussillon area, which stretches from the Spanish border half
way across the South of France. They’re labelled Pays d’Oc (The Land of
the South) and also carry the IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée)
designation which technically places them a notch above ordinary table wines.
Club des Sommeliers
Cabernet Sauvignon IGP (red),
France (Bt. 550 @ Big C Extra)
This rich, dark red wine
has soft and tempting aromas of black fruit and especially black cherries. But
wait! Is there just a faint reminder of fresh asparagus or red peppers? These
unlikely aromas sometimes find their way into Cabernet Sauvignon and always take
me slightly by surprise. It has a very soft mouth-feel and a good foundation of
dry tannin. Although there’s plenty of fruit on the palate, it’s quite dry and
medium-bodied. It’s very well-balanced too, and you’ll find that the wine has a
long, dry finish with hints of wood and herbs. It’s an easy-drinker and if you
like your reds clean and dry, with an attractive foundation of light tannin,
you’ll probably enjoy this very much. The wine has quite a firm body and rather
reminds me of light Bordeaux. It’s lovely to drink on its own, but at 13%
alcohol content it would go well with light meat dishes or grills. The label
suggests that you should serve it between 14°-16°C which in this part of world,
means really rather cool.
Club des Sommeliers
Merlot IGP (red), France (Bt. 559 @ Big C Extra)
If you prefer your reds a
bit rounder and more generous, you may well enjoy this dark red Merlot. This
grape as you may recall, tends to have a somewhat softer profile than Cabernet
Sauvignon. Get your snout into the glass and you’ll probably recognise the
typical Merlot aromas of red and black fruit, a sort of forest woodiness and
reminders of dried herbs. The wine has a velvety mouth-feel but also has a
delicate cut of acidity which gives it a bit of shape and brings the fruit into
focus. In typical French style, the fruit is rather restrained and beautifully
balanced with a framework of soft and supple tannins. In some ways, this wine is
a bit like those Merlot-based wines from St. Emilion in Bordeaux, but somehow it
seems more relaxed and laid back. More Southern, I suppose.
This too has 13% alcohol
content and it’s an attractive easy-drinker that would be fine on its own to
while away the evening. But it would also go well with light meat or cheese
dishes. You could drink it with roast chicken too, if the thought of chicken
with red wine doesn’t ruffle your feathers too much.
