Minervois is an appellation for distinctive red wines from the western Languedoc region of France. In general, they are softer than those produced in the Corbières, just to the South. The Minervois appellation also covers rosé and white wines. The predominant Grape varieties used in AOC Minervois wines are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
Together with the rarer Lledoner Pelut (or Lladoner Pelut), they must make up at least 60% of the blend. Carignan and Cinsaut are Part of the supporting wines that can represent 40% of the blend. The white wines of the appellation vary considerably in quality and style. They are made from the grape varieties Vermentino, Roussanne, Marsanne, Bourboulenc and Grenache Blanc.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
wines from the region of Minervois go well with generally quite well with dishes of pasta, vegetarian or poultry such as recipes of thai coconut chicken with black mushrooms, mushroom, bacon and gruyere quiche or peach and apricot chicken (about 270 calories).
On the nose in the region of Minervois often reveals types of flavors of green apple, black cherries or raspberry and sometimes also flavors of apricot, peach or spices. In the mouth in the region of Minervois is a powerful with a nice balance between acidity and tannins.
The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...
At the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards, the world’s largest wine competition saw its biggest year to date, with 18,094 wines tasted from 56 countries. Over 15 consecutive days in June 2021, almost 170 expert wine judges, including 44 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers, awarded 50 Best in Show, 179 Platinum, 635 Gold, 5,607 Silver and 8,332 Bronze medals. Join Decanter at our Fine Wine Encounter NYC this June, where you will have the opportunity to sample 23 of these top awarded Gold, Plati ...
I was with some wine students in Chablis, visiting the affable Guillaume Michel of Domaine Louis Michel. The 2018 vintage in Chablis was prolific, though Guillaume’s team pruned the vines as hard as normal. Guillaume has a little more than a half-hectare of the smallest of the grands crus, Grenouilles (8.74ha in production in 2018, most of which is controlled by the cooperative La Chablisienne): delicious in 2018. And, after a year’s pruning and vine-tending, after hand-harvesting and scrupulous ...
