The Humble Gourmand

Dear friends,

If you walk into the ground floor modern European art wing at the Met, you hopefully won’t miss one of the Andre Derain turn-of-the-century paintings that capture scenes from the Mediterranean French fishing village of Collioure, just to the north of the Spanish border. (It lies down a windy road from more famous village of Banyuls, an area of Europe so invigorating in its unique beauty that Maillol, Matisse and consequently, Derain had spiritual and artistic ties here.)

This past August, I popped down to this area, part of the larger wine region known as the Rousillon, for a visit to some wine growers and to assist with a tasting on-board an American cruise ship filled with Californians who had signed up for a run-through of Southern French wines hosted by winemakers and experts.

Upon arrival in Collioure, whose banks I had only aforeseen via canvas, I saw the steep trellised vineyards coming down to the sea – where they keep barges during harvest time into which they roll the grapes from the top of the peaks, to be boated to the cuverie for vinification. The village scene did not disappoint; little bridges and stone walkways, a Spanish-looking castle, touristic creperies and glaciers, empty frames where you could look at the exact vantages that so moved Derain, the glaring deep reflective blue of the sea, a big white – wha? – cruise ship; a sign that the imperialist Americans had rolled into town and parked their Cadillac of a ship for all the precise, polite French to carry on the cliché.

Alas we chartered out to the ship and prepared to entertain the guests with our wines, facts, explanations. I glanced back at view facing port, framed by ancient mountainous vineyards, and beyond, the Cathar castles of the middle-ages poking up from these Pyrenean foothills. The Americans chose an interesting place to visit, yet aboard ship the currency was the American dollar and the wine at the pool bar was, gasp, Beringer. (Perhaps our subsequent tasting helped slowly sway our friends into better and more relevant wine).

The story of the Domaine du Madeloc: the great Pierre Gaillard, the man who discovered the Cote Rotie vineyard of La Turque, and who later created his own wines in the Northern Rhone, then Faugeres, and now here in Collioure and Banyuls. (The difference between the two is very simple- the boundaries of the appellations are the same, but Banyuls is a red fortified wine, while Collioure can be white or red and is a still dry wine, and neither are particularly common in the USA). Pierre and his wife, Pascal, purchased the old Pages estate, considered to have the best vineyard holdings in the area, parcels equaling roughly 30 hectares, much of which they had to restructure and improve. The red that I’m offering today is made of old vine Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan. High altitude, in a warm growing atmosphere – the purity of this wine is pristine. A soft red-berry quality couples with a earthy vinous structure, this wine has a true gout de terroir – a true-ness that offers you a taste of where it’s from; the minerality of the jagged-tooth schist-inlaid (schist means energy for the vines), Cathartic mountains, the slight candied quality – the lushness, thanks to the Tramontagne, the local wind that rivals the Mistral, keeping rot off of the grapes, letting them mature on high peaks basking in the luminosity of southern France, offering a fine balance of acidity, tannin and depth. An almost imperceptible touch of large old oak barrels – tasted blind against almost all of the other wines of the region, the Madeloc came out singing – and merits my highest recommendation. I suspect that 99.9% of us have never heard of Collioure –yet I dare you to venture into this wine – it will please you immensely now and if lost in the cellar.

Domaine de la Madeloc, Collioure Rouge, ‘Serral’ 2006

$24 per bottle

(You may order as little as one bottle, but 6 will better serve you. We ship to 48 states.)

The wine has landed in the US and should be available within 10 days. Quantities are limited; first come, first served. Please email with desired amounts. We continue on our educated mission to find authenticity and to promote conscientious consumption.

Slainte,

Mary

Mary Taylor
Thoreau Wine Society mary@thoreauwinesociety.com

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