Wines I'm Drinking: 2009 Mas Brunet Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc

I've been home from a 10-week stay in southern France (with side trips to Barcelona, Corsica, Sardinia, and Italy proper) for a month tomorrow. I'm finally getting the last of the suitcases squared away. Among various receipts, brochures, odd bits of change (from this trip and, evidently, others), and the occasional rock labeled with a vineyard or other name in the bottom of one bag, I came across a cork in an envelope covered with tasting notes. I had forgotten about this wine, but it was a good one, so I've decided to belatedly write up the thoughts I jotted down while enjoying it.

I bought  the wine in an excellent little shop in St. Guilhem-le-Desert. I regret not having made a note of the name of the place. There was an excellent selection of high-end local wines, the proprietor spoke English, and he knew his product well.

The 2009 Mas Brunet Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc is a blend of Rousanne, Vermentino, and Vioginer. I chose it mostly because of the Vermentino component, having recently had so many good Vermentino wines in Sardinia--notably the 2007 Funtanaliras Vermentino and the 2008 "Arakèna" Vermentino di Gallura, both from the Cantina del Vermentino, in Monti, in Sardinia's Gallura region (the northeast). Having said that, the assertiveness of the Viognier made this selection rather different from any straight Vermentino wine. Brief tasting notes follow.

A very pale but pretty straw color. The sort of wine that makes its presence known immediately. Floral scents and a telltale peachy, Viognier-scent were evident even before putting my nose to the glass--but there was more than that. There was something like butter cream (or cake icing, perhaps), and there were vanilla scents. Initially seemed astringent, smoky, and a bit woody on the palate, but then it began to give an impression of creamy richness followed by some tannic graininess and then a lingering, fruity sweetness on an extended finish (although the wine is quite dry). With a little time, new scents and flavors emerged. I began to get hints of iron, honey, vanilla yogurt, and finally nutmeg. Complex, assertive, interesting, and delicious. I paid about €12 (or around $15) for the bottle. Recommended (although this wine is unlikely to be available in the US). If you can find it, it's well worth a try, and I suspect this is a producer worth keeping an eye out for.

For more wine reviews, use the Wines I'm Drinking label.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2009 Les Coteaux des Berlou Saint Chinian "Schisteil Blanc"

Tonight I tasted the 2009 Schisteil Blanc Saint Chinian from Les Coteaux des Berlou, a tiny cooperative in the tiny town of Berlou, about 35 minutes north of Pouzolles, where I've been living for the summer. Berlou is one of the villages in the Saint Chinian appellation. This cooperative also makes a wonderful rosé and (in my view) a less interesting red wine. Notes follow.

A pale straw color. Smells like a vegetable stew in a rich tomato sauce, laced with creme--perhaps with a squeeze of lime in it--which is perhaps an odd thing for a white wine to smell like, but it works. Perhaps it would be better to say "stewed tomatoes and lime," but this immediately reminded me of a wonderful rabbit stew recipe from Paul Bocuse that comes in a vegetable-rich tomato-based sauce and is meant to be served with a dollop of cream in it. Later it began to smell of honey with a hint of roasted meat.

At first, the wine seems delicate on the palate--mostly just clean and crisp--but the initial acidity falls away quickly to reveal  a solid core of fruit, tending toward pears and citrus, and there's even a hint of tannin. Good length. A white wine with grip. A wave of subtler acidity comes back on the extended finish, with little bursts of grapefruit-like flavors on the very end. This is a delicious blend of Grenache Blanc, Rousanne, and Marsanne. Delightful. A bargain at about €5 a bottle (less than $6 a bottle). Why can't California wineries produce delicious wines like this at prices like this? A wine of this caliber in California would typically sell in the $17-$24 range--three to four times as much.