Winemaker Eric Monnin has finally released his massively anticipated 2007 vintage Syrah, months after we ran out of the 2005 vintage. Already it has grabbed one of only 37 Gold Medals at Syrah du Monde, a competition which recognises the world’s best wines from the Syrah grape. The ‘05 clinched Silver Medal at the 2008 awards.

Anyone notice how we have managed to skip a vintage? Speaking to Eric at this years London Wine Show, he explained that 2005 was the first year for Dignité and like any first vintage there was a big risk involved. If it works out, great. People will buy, enjoy their purchase and call for the next vintage. If it doesn’t work out, you’re left with a load of bad or mediocre wine that has been a huge drain on time and financial resources.

Eighty percent of the Dignité Syrah blend spends 12 months in three year old oak and 10% in two year old oak, but the big hold up is the other 10% which sits in new Allier oak barrels for 21 months. As a result, Eric didn’t really know how good the wine was going to be until after the 2006 harvest had past.

Thankfully the 2005 turned out to be excellent, so it was an easy decision to give the ‘07 vintage the go-ahead.

“We were delighted to win silver with our first vintage of Dignité 2005 at last year’s Syrah du Monde so this gold win confirms we’re definitely on the right track.”

Eric Monnin, Winemaker.

Over the course of 3 days, international experts tasted 387 wines from 27 countries, commenting that ‘diversity and quality are the watchwords for the 2010 winners’. For more information check out the Syrah du Monde website. Click here to view Dignité Syrah 2007.

Getting up at 5am on a Tuesday morning is nobody’s idea of fun, but with the anticipation of what lay ahead, the pain was somewhat eased. This year was my first visit to London’s International Wine Fair. Our Chief Taster, Mike, had been before but this time he wanted the Wine Evangelist (moi) to experience it for himself.

This trade-only event is essentially a way of bringing winemakers from all around the world to one place, so wine merchants can meet suppliers and find additional wines to add to their portfolio. The number of wineries and countries on show was simply staggering. I was delighted to see the effort made by lesser known wine producing nations, such as Croatia and Brazil, who had fantastic representation.

Among the highlights, we caught up with some of our Australian partners. Scott Collett and his son Max took us through the Woodstock range, which is undoubtedly one of our strongest collections in terms of all-round appeal. We were fortunate to try some 2010 wines literally straight from the tank. The 2010 Semillon Sauvignon is going to be excellent, as is the benchmark 2009 vintage, and The Stocks 2007 is another world-beater. He also had a 20 year old fortified, which his dad had set the foundations for all those years ago. I needed to be picked up off the floor after the first taste. Stunning is an understatement.

Ben Glaetzer (see interview) was showing more tremendous vintages from the Glaetzer range, proving once again why he is still one of Barossa’s finest winemakers, and Brent Marris of The Ned poured us his 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which might just top the award winning ‘09… we’ll have to wait and see as it will continue to evolve and develop over the next few months in bottle.

Of the Old World crowd, we bumped into Eric Monnin, who has finally bottled his hugely anticipated 2007 Dignite Syrah. Just as well as we’ve sold out of the ‘05. Romain Bouchard was showing his IWSC Gold Medal winning Chablis, which continues to set the bar in that category, but perhaps the biggest ‘wow’ factor was during a tasting of Duval Leroy’s epic line-up, which featured 11 different Champagnes in the space of an hour (gotta love this job), including the 1996 La Femme, which won a Gold Medal and Best in Class at the 2010 IWSC, and continues to eclipse the volume-driven Champagne producers on the supermarket shelves.

Watch this space, or sign up to our newsletter, for news on exciting new additions to the range this summer.

The success of Dignité has firmly fixated the spotlight onto winemaker Eric Monnin. His robust Languedoc Syrah, and complex white partner of Viognier, have really impressed since joining the Curious range. This is a man meticulous about blends, tasting and re-tasting until he is completely satisfied with what the wine offers. Originally focussed on the Rhône, Eric’s extensive experience also covers the Loire and Burgundy.

As we run out the last of the ‘05 vintage, Eric explains why there is not going to be an ‘06 Syrah (although there will be an ‘07) and what other varieties he’s been working with recently, in a region that really is starting to be taken seriously.

1. Your ‘05 Dignité Syrah was astonishing. What do you believe is the main appeal of your flagship wine to the everyday wine drinker and to the judges of Concours National? Also, how is the ‘07 fairing and why no ‘06?

Dignité Syrah is probably not an everyday drinking wine, although there are customers happy to drink it every day. I would consider Dignité Syrah more as a weekend wine or a wine for a nice meal with friends. It’s at its best when you can take the time to decant it and let it aerate before drinking.

I made it as I like it, in others words, my inspiration probably comes from the Northern Rhône. I really like Côtes Rotie or Saint Joseph. For this reason I wanted to age this wine in barrels in order to extract more complexity and concentrate the original rich syrah, but you will notice that I have tried to keep the black fruit from the syrah by avoiding too much oak in order to produce a balanced and drinkable wine for everyone to enjoy, and not only to win a medal! Medals don’t drink wines, customers do!

Why no ‘06? When we picked the grapes of the ‘06 vintage, the 05 was still in barrels and we were still unsure about the potential of the wine and the final result. For this reason the grapes of ‘06 have been used for another blend. Since this date, I can confirm that I have the ‘07 in barrels and we are racking this week (mid February) and should be available by May this year. I also have the ‘08 and the ‘09.

2. We recently acquired your Simply range, which may be considered your entry-level to Dignité. How do they compare?

Simply Shiraz is just a simple wine, fruity, spicy and approachable for everyday drinking. I am a syrah lover, that’s probably why we have different wines like this one.

3. What do you make of the recent fiasco involving a Languedoc supplier and American wine producer Gallo? Do you think it will damage the reputation of the Languedoc in the United States and worldwide?

People started to realise the potential business for growing Pinot Noir. They became the most expensive grapes in the South of France after the famous movie (Sideways). Unfortunately some people had no “scruple” to sell Pinot Noir when it was not. I suspect the buyers of these wines closed their eyes because the volume and the money involved was too big.

At the end what happened was what all of us expected to see happen for more than 2 or 3 years. I don’t think it should affect the region, just those responsible!

4. What grape(s) do you believe thrive particularly well in the Languedoc, and are you tempted to start experimenting with any new varietals beyond the likes of Syrah, Viognier and Sauvignon?

Most of the producers have the classical grapes like Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cab Sauv and Syrah. I am keen on trying new things and working with others less common grapes.

Today in the Languedoc, I very interested in grapes like Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne. They have great potential. That’s also why I will launch a Marsanne Roussanne 2009 coming from a single estate in May 2010.

I also think that Gascony has great potential for Sauvignon and Colombard, so another region with a nice future.

5. Languedoc is certainly a region of France that Irish people are starting to pay much more attention to when it comes to wine. What do you see for the future of the region’s wine industry as a whole?

Languedoc is definitely a nice region with big potential, but unfortunately the price paid for grapes is quite often too low for the farmers, which explains why a lot people have pulled up their vines in the past four five years. As a result we may see a change in this region that has already started and it will become better for what I call small gems.

In view of the future, the “Vin de France” (Indication Géographique France) will take more importance on the shelves, which is not necessarily a great thing from my point of view. Indeed, while the New World is trying to organise its appellations, France, who created the AOC system, is now “driving back” creating a generic product like the New World producers when they started to produce. It is probably a good commercial decision for France in the long run, but I still struggle with this one. However, we will see how it goes in the next years.

Click here to view previous posts on Dignité.

Special thanks to Eric Monnin.

So far so good. We’ve learned of several of our wines landing awards and accolades for 2009 already, with more that we’ll be advised on later.

Aureus Blanc de Blancs Brut: International Wine & Spirits Competition Silver Medal (Best in Class). This Crement de Loire is our sparkling star. Champagne quality at half the price, it has that classic biscuity nose, with pure fruit from the Chardonnay grape, and a perfectly dry finish. We knew this would be a great candidate for an IWSC Medal.

Dignite Syrah 2005: Concours National des Vin de Pays Silver Medal. This Syrah picked up a silver medal at Syrah du Monde last year, which is the world’s top competition for assessing Syrah with exceptional varietal character. Eric Monnin is a rebel winemaker, producing reds that are bigger, bolder and fruitier (perhaps more in line with the New World philospohy you might say), but essentially making top quality wine in minute quantities.

Mirabello Pinot Grigio Rosé 2007: Decanter Commendation. Made from the same grapes that go into its white partner, the Mirabello Rosé is the in-fashion pink drink of the summer. There’s a small proportion of the black Pinot Nero grape, to help develop a fuller colour and flavour.

Palazzi Negro Amaro 2006: Decanter Commendation. A definite foodie wine for those Italian obsessives. This robust, slightly bitter red has flavours of ripe berries, and has developed absurd complexity for the price, after spending 9 months in Slavonian oak casks. A real winner for true wine drinkers.

Stayed tuned for more wines that we’ll be introducing to the range in the next week or two, including a Pinot Noir from the Languedoc which made the Top 100 French Vin de Pays.

Wines or wineries that have achieved awards or accolades will be listed on their individual product pages. Simply hold your cursor over the medals that are pictured for more detail.

In the second part of our two part series on Dignité, we take a look at the signature white of winemaker Eric Monnin. As discussed in our first post ( Dignité: Langeudoc’s Latent Potential Unleashed ), Eric’s fascinating story revolves around making ‘Garage’ wine - top quality wine in minute quantities.

Fast forward from that 2005 Syrah vintage to 2007, when Eric happened to be tasting Viognier grapes in peak condition at Domaine du Vedilhan. Inspired by his visit the previous day to Condrieu producer Stéphane Montez (of Domaine du Monteillet in the Northern Rhône), Eric excitedly recognised that, with ageing in high quality barrels, he could create a memorable wine from these grapes, and hopefully even rival the Condrieu.

“70% of the wine was aged in 13 new barrels acquired from a top cellar in Burgundy, whilst 20% in three year old Allier oak barrels for three months. The remaining 10% was kept in tank. After ageing, I blended and produced a micro-cuvée of only 5,800 bottles for this vintage.” - Eric monnin.

And a worthy white partner to the Dignité Syrah was born. If you ever thought Vin de Pays d’Oc couldn’t produce wine to rival those of the French appellations, think again.

Tasting notes for Dignité Viognier 2007: Rich, powerful and packed with apricot and peach fruit flavours. The oak aging adds complexity, texture and hints of spice, vanilla and hazelnuts. Beautifully balanced and perfect with food - a mini Condrieu at a Vin de Pays price? Does Churchill sell car insurance…?

Ohhh, Yes!

Syrah du Monde is the world’s top competitions for assessing Syrah and aims to find wines showing the best Syrah varietal character. Organised by the Forum Oenologue, a panel of international judges assessed 384 wines from 23 countries, following strict judging conditions and criteria. In the 2008 awards, the Dignité Syrah 2005 received a silver medal - a stellar accolade for the first ever vintage!

Origins, however humble, can produce great wine - provided you see their potential of course. And that’s just what winemaker Eric Monnin has done with Dignité. When the opportunity arises, he becomes a ‘garagiste’ - a term originally used in reference to a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing “Vins de garage” (Garage wine). These rebel winemakers would aim to produce reds that are bigger, bolder and fruitier (perhaps more in line with the New World philospohy you might say), but essentially making top quality wine in minute quantities.

Such an opportunity arose in 2006 during a private tasting, when a 2005 Syrah was quietly slipped into the mix. An overwhelmed Eric Monnin was completely blown away by the complexity and potential on offer. He was delighted that the grower, whom he knew very well, wanted to entrust him with its élévage in barrel to realise its full potential. Not unlike a top secret military operation, he nicknamed the wine ‘Top Syrah’, and immediately went to work on taking it to the next level.

Eric lovingly oversaw the evolution of the ‘Syrah Top’ over the next 2+ years. He decided to age a small proportion (20%) in new oak for 20 months, whilst the majority 80% he felt needed older barrels for a shorter time and was therefore aged in 2 year old Allier oak barrels for 12 months. The final assemblage is a micro-cuvée of 12,000 bottles of modern classic - a concentrated and very refined Syrah called Dignité.

Although you wouldn’t be mad for thinking this is from Australia, the Dignité Syrah remains classically French, with these 50 year old Syrah vines producing incredibly low yields and carrying a wonderful expression of terrior.

Keep your eyes out next week for our blog post on the Syrah’s younger sister, and Eric’s astonishing sequel to the Dignité series.

Tasting notes for Dignité Syrah 2005: Rich and powerful, brimming with blueberry, black plum and blackberry fruit flavours. The oak aging adds nuances of cedar spice, coffee and cocoa with a final lick of pepper to the silky smooth tannins.