Is Carignan The Wine World's Byronic Hero ?

Week Ending 03 July 2021.

I’ve been reflecting a bit this week not only about wine, but also about food.?

I’ve had two groups come in for a tasting, both of whom were super engaged with food and wine.?

And they were young !! Well, in comparison to me, they were young…?

Seven young French lads, probably in their late 20s or early 30s who, I’m guessing, were school friends and we perhaps on a ‘lads’ weekend - several of whom were involved in hospitality.?

One of them worked loosely in connection with Gerard Bertrand’s ‘Hospitalet’ on La Clape, and it was they who had recommended that the group pay us a visit. High praise indeed!?

?And then six young Dutch women who had tried the wines of the domaine at a local fine dining restaurant (domainemichaud.eu) attached to their boutique hotel, came on a mammoth wine buying mission, and regaled me with explanations of everything they had eaten and drunk.

I love stories like this, I love it when people are utterly unashamed about enjoying food and wine, and want to share their experiences.

There have been numerous times when a dish has taken my breath away.?

Sourdough toast, spread thick with lard from Bigorre pigs, sprinkled with good sea salt and topped with shavings of summer truffle (lemoulindetrebes.com) and a glass of bourboulenc from Mas du Soleila ( now sadly sold )...?

Crab in blackbean sauce from Yaik Sang in Wanchai, which I believe closed in 2015, was a feast for the eyes, the ears, the nose and the palate.

Fried Chicken from Dooky Chase in New Orleans (https://www.dookychaserestaurants.com/) - heavy on the hot sauce, and a side of mustard greens.

The Buffet de la Gare in Fribourg which served paper thin slices of rare roast beef, accompanied by the crispiest french fries and generous serving of homemade tartare sauce.

Le Train Bleu in the Gare du Nord in Paris, where I ate the most perfectly cooked turbot, accompanied by a sublime St Veran.

A beach bar somewhere on the South Carolina coast where I ate coconut shrimp and drank some awful beer, before going looking for sand dollars on the beach.

Leon’s Fine Poultry and Oyster Shop in Charleston. Spit and sawdust and some of the best oysters I’ve eaten in my life.

I could go on and on, but you get the drift. Sometimes it’s the food. But sometimes it’s the people and the place.?

I get that there’s food snobism. There’s wine snobism, so I guess that’s logical… I’ve been fortunate in my life to have been surrounded by a second family. One of those non bloodline families. Friends, all of a certain age, almost all of whom have a shared love of music, art, food and wine.? All of us love to cook, some of us are enthusiastic amateurs, some love to bake, some are talented self taught, and some even had some classical training. What bonds us is our love of each other, and our common denominator - our love of growing, preparing, making and sharing food.

Nothing demonstrates how we care for each other like opening our homes ( and larders ) and sharing communal food. The golden rule in my house has always been, I’ll put it on the table but then it's every man for himself !?

So then, this weekend I have to dredge up some old skills !!?

Quaffers and Scoffers is hosting a vertical tasting and a paired lunch. We have around 20 lucky club members sampling 7 vintages of a 100% Carignan made from vines planted in 1911. 10 club members are staying on for lunch.

Carignan is a grape with a difficult history. Originally hailing from Spain, where it goes under numerous guises from Samso to Mazuelo to Carinena; Cariginan is a grape which requires a certain amount of management and expertise. It’s exceptionally prolific, and this in part holds the key to its poor reputation and some forty years ago, the resultant overproduction.?

WARNING ! HUGE SWEEPING GENERALISATION - there is, broadly speaking an expectation of yield control, not just in appellation, but also in IGP wines, where they may be higher, but still limited. These yield restrictions fall nominally between about 40-60 hectolitres per hectare - there are of course exceptions to this rule - Sauternes for example is just 25 hlha and in reality more like 15-18 ! Carignan, at maximum vigour can knock out 200hlha yep you read that right.

A carignan vine, yielding at those stratospheric yields cannot possibly ripen all that fruit. It does not have the energy reserves, not will it be able to convert enough energy via photosynthesis. So the winemaker will end up with green, stalky, unripe tannin. Remember a couple of weeks ago I used the term ‘saliva sponge’ - well, that.?

However, if during your winter pruning you limit the vine’s capacity to over yield, or if you are patient enough for the vine to age and slow down a little, you can be rewarded with wines of exceptional character and nuance. It’s true that from the mid 1980s until around 2000, carignan was a bit of a ‘blunt object’ in the wine world. Thankfully the last twenty or so years have seen the arrival of winemakers who are keen to understand the quirks and eccentricities of this rather wonderful and underrated grape.

Like several other varietals, Carignan has produced mutations which cover all three colours - Noir, Gris and Blanc. Whilst white wines made from carignan may sometimes lack a little punchiness on the nose, they often over deliver on the palate, and believe me when I say better this was round than a wine which promises much in aroma and fall flat on the palate !

Carignan Gris and Blanc are more usually found in the Roussillon and in Emporda, across the Spanish border. They are wines to seek out - if only to slake your curiosity… beware though, you may decide you love them,and there are not THAT many producers.

Let us return briefly to Carignan Noir, high acidity, high tannin, high astringency. Not the most immediately appealing triumvirate ! And it does require some mad skills to coax the best out of this grape, but the rewards if not outweigh, then at the very least, can equal the effort.

Often used as a complementary blending grape ( adding a percentage of carignan to grenache, for example, which is comparatively lower in both acidity and tannin ) Carignan can be a very handy ingredient in your winemaking pantry. But when at her absolute best, ripe, juicy, structured and elegant, she needs no supporting cast, she can deliver a monologue of the highest order. Such is the vertical we will be pouring this weekend. 100% old vine Carignan from Clos du Gravillas.

Have a wonderful weekend.