Wine: Protect and survive...

There are many names which can blight a neighbourhood. Cemetery Road and Station Street are the kind of names which can definitely put house buyers off and when I looked at the old plans of my own house I discovered that it backed on to a road formerly known as Asylum Lane. No matter how apt that may be, I really don’t think I would have bought it if that name had still existed.

So what do you do when the name of your wine gets hijacked by a nuclear power station? That is what happened to the growers in the Tricastin district in the Rhône. All was well for decades with the growers producing well-flavoured, good value Côteaux du Tricastin. And then there was a leak – not of wine, but from the power station and the newspapers were full of scare stories, each one naming the power plant which has Tricastin painted in huge letters down one side, clearly visible from the autoroute.

The growers lost their market almost overnight. No-one was happy to put a bottle on their table which might be linked to the power station. But bizarrely, the wine region is at least 20km north of the power station and since the prevailing wind and the river run south, the problem was in the name, not the wine.

The growers had to act fast to save their livelihoods and their only option was to change the name of their region. So Côteaux du Tricastin has been renamed Grignan-les-Adhémar, which doesn’t exactly slip off the tongue but it links together the name of a village and the local castle to give a name that may eventually create its own reputation.

“This has never been done before,” said Natalie Bour, who is not only a grower but President of the local Appellation, “and we took the opportunity to improve quality too.”

So permitted yields were reduced by 25 per cent and the regulations tightened up so that Grignan-les-Adhémar can build its quality and name together. White wines must now contain 30 per cent Viognier grape to add richness of flavour while the reds must contain 30 per cent of the spicy Syrah grape.

“This was a change that everyone had to join in,” said Natalie. “There could be no exceptions, so all the co-operatives and all the growers have agreed to the change and the name Côteaux du Tricastin has disappeared from the 2010 vintage.”

So far the wines of Grignan-les-Adhémar are difficult to find, but Asda has a fine example of a red at the offer price of just £5. It has bright cherry fruit, a nice layer of light spice and soft, supple tannins and it makes a great accompaniment to a weekday supper. Asda are always reluctant to tell me how long an offer will last, so be prepared for it to go up to its ‘before’ price of £8.38 without notice. This wine is a definite buy on offer, but is slightly challenged at its full price.

While Grignan-les-Adhémar is the newest name in the Rhône, Gigondas is one of the oldest. Originally named Jocunditas by the Romans, meaning a place for fun and recreation, it was also a place for growing grapes and at Ch Sainte Cosme they have proof that this estate has been growing grapes for 2000 years.

“This estate was given to a Centurion by Julius Caesar,” said Joelle Javelle when I visited the property during the biggest rainstorm they had seen in months, “and there are fermentation vats carved out of the rock in the cellar.”

The cellars are hewn out of the solid rock, with a low roof line which makes handling casks extremely difficult. But they won’t abandon the old cellars, even though they have had to create a bridge to get across an old stone trough which has been there for more than a millennium. This property has been in the same family for 500 years and the new generation, Louis Barroul took over the job of winemaking 10 years ago. He has moved towards organic and now biodynamic methods of growing grapes and he has an uncompromising attitude to quality.

With 15 hectares of Gigondas vineyard plus parcels of land in the Côtes du Rhône area as well as a small negotiant business in the northern Rhône, the wines of Ch Sainte Cosme reflect some of the best flavours of the region and are definitely among the finest I tasted on my trip.

The vineyards surrounding the property are all in the Gigondas Appellation and the vines average 65 years old. This means that yields are very low and so each grape seems to pack proportionately more flavour per berry.

The vineyards are also in the shadow of the Dentelles de Montmirail which create a downdraft of cool air in the evenings, allowing the vines to rest and preserve vital freshness. I tasted the 2010 Gigondas where Grenache is the main component with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault all playing their part in the blend, and the grapes are co-fermented rather than just being blended at the end of the process. With terrific chunky concentration and a wonderful peppery style, backed by freshness that is unusual in such a deep-flavoured wine, this has several years to go. Tasting back through earlier vintages it is clear that these wines don’t really hit their stride for at least six years and can easily age for 10 or more, developing black fruit flavours, streaks of herbs and fennel with tannins softening to reveal structured elegance. These are real winter-weight wines, but refined and concentrated.

I also tasted the white Côtes du Rhône, made from Viognier, Picpoul, Roussanne and Marsanne which balanced the freshness of the grapes with apricot fruit and minerally concentration. This would be perfect with fish.

I don’t often recommend wines that can’t be easily obtained in Yorkshire, but I have made an exception in this case.

These wines are well worth the detour, and despite prices of £19.68 for the 2006 Gigondas, it is well worth contacting Gauntley’s of Nottingham, tel 0115 911 0555.