{"id":2070,"date":"2022-03-29T16:13:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T16:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2023-03-30T19:37:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T19:37:45","slug":"wineries-of-saint-chinian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2070","title":{"rendered":"Wineries of Saint-Chinian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Power Tasting\u2019s normal practice is to review one winery each issue.\u00a0 But whole there are many wineries in Saint-Chinian making quite good wine, there are no standouts so we thought it best to review a group of them to give a sense of what wine tasting is like in the region.<\/em><\/p>\n

Saint-Chinian is an appellation d\u2019origine contr\u00f4l\u00e9e <\/em>or AOC.\u00a0 Within it there 20 communes or sub-regions.\u00a0 There is a difference between the wines from the rockier souls of the north and the clay\/limestone of the south, so we are offering capsule descriptions of four, chosen for their proximity to the town of Saint-Chinian.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Belot<\/em><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Belot is in the Pierrerue commune and is nestled in the midst of its vines and plentiful garrigue.\u00a0 (What is garrigue, you ask?\u00a0 To say it is wild-growing brush is true but doesn\u2019t say enough.\u00a0 It has an earthy herbal aroma that somehow manages to infuse itself into many of the wines of the Languedoc.)\u00a0 The building housing the winery and tasting room is an expression of the Spanish-influenced architecture often seen in Saint-Chinian.<\/p>\n

As is common in Saint-Chinian, all of Belot\u2019s wines are made with the customary Rh\u00f4ne grapes: Grenache, Syrah and Mourv\u00e8dre in the reds and more variety in the whites made from Viognier, Chardonnay, Grenache Blanc and other grapes.\u00a0 The tasting room is simple and modern.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t a lot of visitors, so one server manages to attend to all guests.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The vineyards<\/em> of Ch\u00e2teau du Prieur\u00e9 des Mourges<\/em><\/p>\n

Even smaller is the Ch\u00e2teau du Prieur\u00e9 des Mourges, also in the Pierrerue commune.\u00a0 The domaine was once the property of the bishops of some nearby towns and there may have even been a priory there.\u00a0 There is no tasting room as such, but there is a room where you might well find the winemaker, J\u00e9r\u00f4me Roger, at work and happy to share a glass with you.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t make a lot of wines but we found the wines of Prieur\u00e9 des Mourges to be among the richest in the area.\u00a0 Enjoy them while you\u2019re in Saint-Chinian because they do not export to the United States.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The tasting room at Ch\u00e2teau La Dournie<\/em><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e2teau La Dournie has been passed from mother to daughter for many generations.\u00a0 Located in the Saint-Chinian commune, right outside the village, it is rather spartan and industrial although the building is attractively vine-covered.\u00a0 The tasting room is evocative of Napa Valley in the 1960\u2019s: two barrels and not even a plank between them.<\/p>\n

Like the others, La Dournie makes a variety of red, white and ros\u00e9 wines from traditional Rh\u00f4ne grapes.\u00a0 Most are meant for consumption with meals, but they also make wines called Shebam!, Wizz! and Oops! that you just can\u2019t takeseriously.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tasting at Clos Bagatelle<\/em><\/p>\n

Clos la Bagatelle, is located in the Saint-Chinian commune, but has parcels of land in four different areas.\u00a0 It dates back to 1623 and has been in the same family \u2013 mother to daughter \u2013 for all that time.\u00a0 The tasting room is not much more than a shed and the inside, while clean and well lit, is hardly more than two half<\/em> barrels.<\/p>\n

A visit to Clos la Bagatelle is interesting in that you get a chance to taste the work of a Saint-Chinian winemaker from lands around the Languedoc.\u00a0 As with all the wineries mentioned here, you will be welcomed and well attended if you do stop by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Power Tasting\u2019s normal practice is to review one winery each issue.\u00a0 But whole there are many wineries in Saint-Chinian making quite good wine, there are no standouts so we thought it best to review a group of them to give a sense of what wine tasting is like in the region. Saint-Chinian is an appellation … Continue reading Wineries of Saint-Chinian<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2341,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions\/2341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}