Barge Tasting in Paris(4)

Thierry Michon of Domaine St Nicolas (Fiefs Vendéens)Chateau de Roquefort, now. This estate is located in Provence, in the backcountry from Marseilles and Cassis. Works organicly with a majority of massal-selection vines. Rocky, beautiful Provencer setting with the advantage of sea breeze.
__Chateau de Roquefort, les Mûres 2005 (Côtes de Provence). Well-named, this red wine has also dark-sherry, and other jammy-fruit notes. Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet, Cinsault. Nice second mouth, with suppleness and balance. Has only a tiny percentage in casks, and there's only a Japanese taster who guessed it once even though Raymond de Villeneuve had decided not to say it.12,5 Euro.
__Chateau de Roquefort, Vieilles Vignes 2004. Elevage in wooden tronconic vats. The usual grape varieties.
Chateau de Roquefort, Rubrum Obscurum 2004 or 2005, sorry, I'm not sure of my notes. Old vines of Grenache (majority), Mourvèdre, Carignan. Considered as one of the most outstanding reds of the region. Bottled opened since quite a long time. Very nice substance, Sttructured, with black-fruits aromas. Long-keep wine for sure.
Now, Domaine Saint Nicolas (les Fiefs Vendéens), a Loire estate located in Vendée, a region also known for its resistance against the French revolution, which committed there one of the first genocides of History as retaliation. The Domaine Saint Nicolas benefits from a marine micro-climate, being located on the Île d'Olonne, an island. Organic farming with biodynamic principles, on a 37-hectare surface. Introduced by the Romans in the region , the vineyards expand in the 9th century. D. Saint Nicolas made a lot to bring this little-known sub-Appellation of the Loire on the radar. The total surface of the Appellation is only 500 hectares, with about 40 vignerons making a living of it.
__Domaine Saint-Nicolas, Fiefs vendéens, "Gammes en May" 2007. A beautiful, fruity Gamay, as its humorous name may suggest it. 6,5 Euro. Very low yields indeed : 12 hectoliter/hectare in 2008 (18ho/ha in 2007).
Domaine Saint-Nicolas, Fiefs Vendéens, Cuvée Jacques 2006. Named from Thierry Michon's Grandfather. 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Cabernet Franc, destemmed grapes. Yields : low again, at 25ho/ha. 18-month elevage in old, 400-liter casks. foot punching-of-the-cap, during 8 to 10 days. Short maceration. Very nice mouth, the wine glides with a beautiful viscosity on the sides of the mouth. 18 Euro.
__Domaine Saint-Nicolas, Fiefs Vendéens "Plante Gâte" 2006 or 2007 (sorry, not sure again). 100% Pinot Noir. Thierry Michon began this cuvée in 2000 but it isn't made every year. They also made it in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, there will not be any in 2008. Soil : rose schists with clay at the surface. Beautiful nose, I feel eucalyptus notes. A nice Pinot Noir from the Loire, refined and fresh.
__Domaine Saint Nicolas, Fiefs Vendéens "La Grande Pièce" 2003. 100% Pinot Noir from the oldest vines of the estate (massal-selection vines - 1976) on grey-schists soil. Atypical year (heat wave). 15-month elevage in big (400-liter) new casks (that's why the name, "Grande Pièce" which means big cask). Is it the schistic soil or the micro-climate, this Pinot Noir is one of the Loire's best. Needs sometimes to be carafed to let remants of CO2 out. Deep, intense mouth, a pleasure.
__Domaine Saint-Nicolas, Cabaret 2005. Best tasted at the end because of its character.
This estate has also very interesting rosés that I didn't taste this time. Virginie Maignien, of Causse MarinesI'll taste a last wine at the Causse Marines stand, from Gaillac. Virginie Maignien had a very different life before she discovered the world of wine and invested her passion in it. Since then she has taken part to a book about organic wineries and works at Causse Marines, an estate which started with 8 hectares (now 12) in the Gaillac region, another little known Appellation. The vintners, Patrice Lescarret and Virginie Maignien are devoted to making the most authentic wines from the often-discontinued-elsewhere grape varieties. The outdated INAO Appellation-rules forced them to label most of their wines as Table Wine (Vin de Table), but which wine lover still think these rules matter ? Grape varieties on the estate are : (reds) Syrah, Duras, Braucol, Prunelard, Jurançon, plus (whites) Mauzac, Ondenc, Loin de l'Oeil, Muscadelle, Sémillon and Chenin.
__Causse Marines, Mysterre 1996. Name plays with Mystère (mystery) and terre (soil or land). Mauzac. A veil wine (vin de voile), meaning the wine has been let alone in the casks without being regularly topped-up, like Jura's Vin Jaune, developping along the years an oxydative style with unique aromas. It takes two years in old casks to develop the veil, but it kept aging there until it was bottled in february 2007 (10 years in total without topping-up). 29 Euro. They made trials with other varieties for this type of vinification, but Mauzac seems the only variety that stands it here. Beautiful, intricate aromas of veil wines, a pleasure with lots of freshness. And of course, an opened bottle can stand days.
Again, even with the small size of this tasting event, I couldn't stop at each stand, missing Chateau Lagarette (Bordeaux) and Chateau la Grave (Fronsac), plus a few wines at the other stands...