“Where is my Saint-Chinian on my wine list ?”
“Where is my Saint-Chinian on my wine list ?”
Guests demanded! They did not want Pic Saint Loup, Costières de Nîmes, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape. They were looking for something French, their favorite Languedocien – bold, aromatic, voluptuous fruit, spicy, with elegant oak, and rich, rustic, yet supple tannins.
It was 2000; they were Californians; and we were in the extremely busy Café Marcella, a French Italian Café in the Posh mountainside city of Los Gatos a short drive away from Silicon Valley, one hour south of San Francisco. The Restaurant had 18 tables and seated 72. The Wine List 700 selections, plus 50 sweet wines, and 60 sparkling wines, plus 18 by the glass selections. Our guests were internationals and international travelers. They knew what they liked, and they knew what they wanted. They wanted quality at a great value. They wanted Saint-Chinian.
This is my true love
This is my true love, this preference for wines that give exceptional quality at a low price. This is the love that motivates me to devote my time and many of the last 10 years to tasting the wines of the historical Languedoc Wine Region – Limoux, Minervois, Corbières, Coulioure, Carcassonne, Roussillon, Boutenac, La Clappe, La Lavinière, Cabardès, and Saint-Chinian.
Lots of tastings
I donate my time and energy to participate in the Preselection of wines to represent these AOCs in the Annual National wine Competition in Paris, Concours General Agricole, where the best wines are ultimately selected. I taste with the Guide Hachette to select wines for Guide Hachette selections for their cherished publication. I also taste with the Languedoc AOC to help select wines for their Syndicate Wine Store. I have also tasted the wines to select those that will receive the AOC designation.
In 25 years, the times have changed
In 25 years, the times have changed. The world has survived the 2008 Great Recession and Covid19, and now International Globalization has collapsed into Nationalism and Economic Protectionism. Tariffs are part of dinner conversation, and they have badly afflicted Global Economics. As I write, we await trade tariffs that will apply to the European Union. The French Wine Industry waits with fists tightly gripped to magically counter what the United States may presently announce.
After a quarter of a century has lapsed, I wonder back to 2000 and to Café Marcella, and I fondly remember that period in my life. I had recently left the Plumed Horse, a world class restaurant with a 200 guest capacity and a wine list that exceeded 2000 selections. The wine program and its management were my responsibility as the Maitre de Cave and Sommelier, and I operated the restaurant as the General Manager. This was perhaps my favorite time in the Hospitality and the Wine and Spirit Industry, elbow deep among guests discussing wines, recommending wines to accompany an evening, and serving wine to interesting guests.
Pushed to visit the city of Saint-Chinian
Perhaps, I now spend so much of my time in the South of France near Narbonne, because of my wonderful experience tasting the wines this region produces. My memories of Café Marcella, the demand for Saint-Chinian wine, and my persistence in serving Saint-Chinian wines are indelible. These memories recently pushed me to visit the city of Saint-Chinian, the AOC Syndicate Headquarters, the Maison des Vins du Saint-Chinian, to experience the region’s dramatic terrain and incredible terroir. I undertook the task of tasting a selection of wines the Syndicate would recommend because they were representative of typical Saint-Chinian wines. I needed to know if I still wondered, “Where’s my Saint-Chinian.”
It was chilly that morning with a cold wind blowing from the Pyrenées. It was sunny, and the city was lovely and clean as usual. Parking was easy to locate in the city center where places surround the massive Allée de la Promenade generously shaded by the towering Sycamores. It is a welcoming square with many of the necessary businesses are located including the Mayors Office. I walked around to get a sense of the ambience to see if it had changed since my last visit ten years ago. There was construction around the corner delaying traffic as they alternated to pass the narrowing in the road. Traffic jams always put people a little on edge. At that moment, I was glad the construction was on the route out of town.
At the Maison des vins
I arrived early at the Maison des Vins and saw a store filled with clients. I was happy to see that there were customers interested in buying cartons of wine. As the crowd paid and disappeared Anna, from the team, who set up my tasting, introduced herself and asked me how I wanted to proceed. I suggested starting with the reds, followed by the rosés and lastly the whites. Anna guided me upstairs to the tasting room where each chair had a sink into which one would spit the sample and use the faucet to rinse the sink. It is a very professional place to taste, and I was happy I might use this facility. To make Anna’s work easier and service more efficient, I would later taste the rosés and whites in the store where the refrigerated and gas propelled service system was located.
I tasted 6 reds (3 from the Limestone and 3 from the Schist), 3 rosés from the limestone and from the Schist), and 3 whites (from the limestone and from the Schist).
You may read my tasting notes in a separate Blog post, but I would like to devote space here to answering my questions about Saint-Chinian wines, the different terroirs, and the various stylistic approaches to making the wine, as I experienced them during this brief tasting. I will say upfront that it is difficult to generalize about the wines after tasting only twelve. I can, however, provide my initial observations, and hope, that there will be an opportunity to further explore and taste additional Saint-Chinian wines to make more general observations and indicated important exceptions, and then point out observable trends. There are many more samples and many more careful notations required to arrive at a meaningful set of data and statistics.
However, after tasting these 12 wines, 6 of them red, I can honestly say that the red wines of Saint-Chinian have maintained their character and improved their quality. That is to say that the contemporary Saint-Chinian producer has retained typicity while adapting to and using contemporary technology. These wines that I have tasted reflect the same dedication to fine winemaking that I shared with my favorite guests twenty-five years ago. I might also say that with increasing attention to the expertise required to produce wines in this complex geography and constantly changing terroir the winemaking will continue to improve for years to come. still cliebts to ask “Where is my Saint-Chinian on my wine list ?”