Boutique producer Château de la Négly is located in La Clape, an illustrious subregion of the Côteaux du Languedoc appellation. Meaning “pile of stones” in the old Occitan tongue, La Clape is a World Heritage site that was until the Gallo-Roman period an island.

Since becoming Négly’s estate manager in 1992, Jean Paux-Rosset has been on a relentless crusade to raise quality to previously-unimaginable levels, in the process growing the reputation of the entire Languedoc region. One of the first things he did was pull out low-grade Aramon, Terret and Carignan Blanc vines and replace them with southern France’s “improver varieties”, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre.

A phenomenal amount of TLC is lavished on the grapes, with strict control of yields, crop thinning, an obsessive approach to fruit ripening, hand harvesting and meticulous sorting all important factors in the ultimate quality of these small-batch, artisinal wines.

“Plush, polished and heady, these wines make voluminous statements”, is how the Wine Buyer’s Guide enthusiastically describes Négly’s products, an estate that it rates as “Outstanding”.

The Wines …

Domaine Baptiste Boutes Merlot 2010 – INTRO PRICE €9.99 (RRP €11.99): Expect lush, jammy flavours of raspberry compote, spiced plum, blueberry and cocoa, with good weight, intensity of flavour and length.

Domaine Ferri Arnaud Blanc 2011 – INTRO PRICE €10.99 (RRP €12.99): Plump, broad style that shows appealing weight alongside succulent flavours of white peach, pear salad, briny minerals and fennel.

Domaine la Négly L’Oppidum Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – INTRO PRICE €10.99 (RRP €12.99): This stainless steel, cool fermented, 100% Sauvignon makes an absolutely glorious summer aperitif with its light body and exotic, fine nose of pink grapefruit, lychee and freshly-cut dill.

Domaine de Boede Le Pavillon 2012 – INTRO PRICE €10.99 (RRP €12.99): Boasting a striking deep-ruby colour with a glossy purple sheen, this sexy blend of four parts Cinsault to one part Syrah shows silky tannins and delectable flavours of liquorice, cracked pepper, cassis and cinnamon.

Château Rigaud Faugeres 2011 – INTRO PRICE €11.99 (RRP €13.99): Big stuff here as low yields, late harvesting and south-facing hills combine to give a wine of unusual power and ripeness!

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CLICK HERE to see all our current offers on Château de la Négly, new and old.

Bordeaux is virtually guaranteed to throw up something new and interesting every year as there’s probably nowhere that vintage is more important, or unpredictable. After the exalted vintages of 2009 and 2010 – two of the best in decades with corresponding demand – 2011 and 2012 will provide much greater challenges in terms of good quality at an accessible price.

Snap up what you can of 2009 and 2010 but don’t dismiss 2011 just yet, we’ve been quick to grab some early bargains from this much more fickle vintage. These will become much rarer in the next couple of years as demand will inevitably supercede a sense of ‘good value’, driven by an insatiable appetite for this famed region from China and beyond.

Claret fans are already crossing their fingers for a good 2013, but let’s enjoy some great vintages while we have them.

Our picks:

Château Rivensan Bordeaux 2011 (Introductory price €9.59) A real bargain, rich and expressive showing wonderful juicy fruit, with mature, melt-in-the-mouth tannins and lashings of savoury, earthy flavours on a long, smooth finish.

Château Bellevue Gazin Blaye 2009 (Introductory price €11.19) Fresh and fruity with toasty notes underpinning ripe, concentrated fruit, this is exuberant and showy with complex and indulgent aromatics. Beautifully structured on the palate with full fruit and a long, savoury finish.

Château Cambon la Pelouse Haut-Médoc 2007 (Introductory price €18.99) From another challenging vintage, this gem of a find has just hit perfect drinking. Rich, full and expressive with mature, melt-in-the-mouth tannins and lashings of savoury, earthy flavours. Just let it decant for a while first.

See all our wines from Bordeaux here, with 20% off until 30th April.

Family-owned for six generations, Domaine Christophe Camu occupies 8 hectares around the village of Chablis, covering four appellations: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru.

80% of production is still sold at cellar door to private customers. Using only natural, wild yeasts and slow, cooled fermentation, the wines show wonderful purity of fruit underpinned with refreshing crispness and minerality.

Best buy: Christophe Camu Chablis 2011 (€15.99) Aromas of flint and citrus, and rich layers of flavour with sweet melon, Granny Smith apple, butterscotch and a long, flinty finish.

See the new range from Domaine Christophe Camu here.

Owned by Kilkenny man Gay McGuinness, with winemaking duties undertaken by Dubliner Ciaran Rooney, Provence winery Domaine des Anges is probably as close as you’ll get to world class ‘Irish’ wines.

The estate is situated on a hillside facing Mont Ventoux, ‘The Giant of Provence’, which rises to almost 2,000m in altitude. The mountain has a profound influence on the climate of the vineyards with cool evening breezes refreshing the vines in summer after the day’s intense heat, and so enabling the vines to maintain high natural acids and elegant tannins. For fans of the Rhône, these wines are a must-try.

Best buy: Domaine des Anges Ventoux White 2011 (€13.49) A delicious blend of Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Clairette and Bourboulenc, full, rich and creamy with notes of pears and pineapples leading to a long, lively finish.

See the new range from Domaine des Anges here.

‘La Clape’ is the bit to look out for on the label. It’s a World Heritage site, meaning ‘pile of stones’ in Occitan and was an island up until the Gallo-Roman period, and before the Aude’s river sediment deposits became part of the mainland. The geological history is important – its soil is a sandy limestone originating from very porous, calcareous rock slides, which allows the soil to retain rainwater. Additionally, the sea’s proximity and influence regulate the impact of harsh weather, both intense heat from the sun and the dry, powerful northern Tramontane winds. It’s what the word ‘terroir’ was invented for.

The Château de la Négly is located 20 km from Narbonne in the heart of the La Clape mountains. In 1992, Jean Paux-Rosset took over the 18th century château and immediately set about some significant changes in the way wine was produced on the estate. Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre vines replaced Aramon, Terret and Carignan Blanc. Machine harvesters were traded for hand shears and wood crates, sustainable agriculture became a focus and nothing was left to chance: leaf-thinning, debudding, hand-harvesting, twice table hand-sorting berries, low and controlled yields.

With keenly-priced Coteaux de Languedoc through to super cuvées produced in miniscule quantities, we think we’ve discovered another absolute gem.

Best buy: Domaine Ferri Arnaud La Clape 2010 (€11.99) Mike’s Wine of the Year for 2012. Dark, savoury, silky minerals, complex and beautifully balanced, it’s simply sensational for the price.

See the new range from Château de la Négly here.

If you’ve already read part 1 and part 2 of this three part series, you’ll know that Loire Valley is a sure bet when it comes to good quality white wine. But for me, some of the most interesting yet neglected red wines of France are also from Loire.

Cabernet Franc is the key grape variety, which you’ll also see in Saint-Émilion and in other parts of Bordeaux as part of a blend. Vitally it needs less heat to fully ripen, so it is the grape of choice for many winemakers in Loire. It is lighter and less tannic, and can actually smell of unripe Cabernet Sauvignon as it can be very herbaceous. An intriguing and attractive smell of pencil shavings is cited as a common characteristic on the nose.

Chinon

The first time I came across Chinon was when I was on holiday in Loire in 2009. It was in a restaurant in the regions capital, Tours. My now fiancée wasn’t gone on it at first but then warmed to it. It was dry, light, herbaceous and served lightly chilled, but that’s the way the locals enjoy Chinon. I thought it excelled with the food we were having, the fruit and the acidity combining beautifully.

You can also get fuller, richer styles of Chinon, like those of Bourgueil (below). Whereas the lighter wines generally come from sand and gravel sites near the Loire river, the fuller styles come from limestone soils. Some will benefit from bottle aging, but a lot of those lighter styles are best enjoyed in their youth for their freshness and vibrancy.

Bourgueil

The medium bodied wines of Bourgueil typically have more prominent tannins than those of Chinon, and fragrant aromas of raspberries and more of those signature pencil shavings. The wines from warmer and riper vintages can age particularly well and become even more funky and interesting. St Nicolas-de-Bourgueil covers a small area to the west of the region. It has lighter soils and so produces lighter wines that mature a little earlier. The difference between the two regions, and indeed Chinon, can be sussed out in blind tastings by only the sharpest of palates. Bourgueil also does some very pleasant dry rosé made from Cabernet Franc, as I discovered to my advantage on holidays.

Saumur & regional Touraine

Saumur is a south westerly extension of Touraine, with Cabernet Franc being the dominant variety, which can be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d’Aunis. Refreshing, light and fruity, it is made on soils similar to that of Chinon and Bourgueil. The region of Saumur-Champigny produces Loire’s most fashionable red, well, certainly in the eyes of Parisians. Silky, textured and fragrant, these wines are adored within France, but like many of Loire’s reds, receive little credit or recognition outside of France.

In the wider Touraine, Gamay, Côt (Malbec) and Pinot Noir are also grown. Unfortunately the chances of trying any of these wines in Ireland is remote because there simply isn’t the demand here. That’s not to say, outside of Loire, that you won’t pick up a few curiosities in the bustling restaurants of Paris or the country’s other major cities.

Spotlight on Loire: Part 1 and Part 2. To view our sale on the wines of Loire, click here.

The array of white wine styles coming out of Loire Valley make it an intriguing place for wine lovers. We’ll take a look at the wines of Touraine, including Vouvray, and we’ll also have a glance at Muscadet. Be sure to try a wine from these regions if you can get your hands on them. The key difference is in the grape variety they specialise in. Out of the three, the regional whites of Touraine should be the easiest to acquire.

To view my first post on Loire, which covers Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, click here.

Touraine

It is known as ‘the garden of France’, beautiful Touraine boasts the most grand of castles and stately homes. Château de Chambord and Château de Chenonceau (pictured) – are a must see if you ever go there. Centred on the town of Tours, Touraine is a vast area encompassing the famous red appellations of Chinon, Bourgueil and St Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, as well as the white appellation of Vouvray (below).

Whites labelled Touraine come from the wider Touraine area and are mostly made from Sauvignon Blanc, which makes it a good, less expensive alternative to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The wines are crisp, dry and racy, with the best Sauvignon de Touraine rivalling those from their premium neighbours. Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Arbois may also be used in white Touraine blends and popular red grape varieties include Gamay, Cabernet and Côt (Malbec).

Vouvray

This is where the whites of the Loire get really interesting. The distinctive wines of Vouvray are made from Chenin Blanc and in the best years they can produce wines that live as long as the world’s oldest Rieslings. The wines are normally labelled sec (dry) or demi-sec (medium dry), with the naturally high acidity of the Chenin grape, particularly this far from the equator, balancing sweetness in the demi-sec wines, but also giving longevity. In warm vintages when sugar levels are at their highest, it’s worth checking out the Moelleux-style sweet wines. Vouvray at its best will produce fabulously complex white wines, appley and floral in their youth, and nutty and almondy with age.

Muscadet

‘Melon de Bourgogne’ is the official title given to the grape variety used in Muscadet. It can also be referred to as Muscadet, or simply ‘Melon’. Hailing from Burgundy, it is now at home in the far west of the Loire Valley. The better vineyards are in the Sèvre et Maine subregion south and east of Nantes, where vines are planted on well-drained soils. Skin contact, lees (dead deposits of yeast) stirring and barrel fermentation for the best wines all help to give greater weight and richness. Wines that have ‘sur lie’ on the label have been aged for some time on lees. Light, fresh and crisp with green apple and grassy aromas, a must try with oysters.

Sparkling

The Loire Valley is France’s largest producer of sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region. The majority of these Crémant de Loire are produced around the city of Saumur and are a blend of the Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. In the cooler years producers in Vouvray might be better using their yields as a base for sparkling wine, but year in year out there are many excellent sparkling Chenins from this area.

In the final part of this series, we’ll look at the magical reds of Loire Valley. To view part one, click here. To view our sale on the wines of Loire, click here.

Without a doubt the cool climate Loire Valley deserves to be one of the world’s heavyweights when it comes to wine. It is arguably where the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc is made and that’s what most people know it for. But otherwise it can be somewhat overlooked. Some think that because it is so far north, the wines don’t achieve that sweet ripeness needed to become commercial and mainstream. Maybe that’s a good thing for the curious wine drinker.

Over this three part series we’ll look at what Loire does well in addition to the crisp, racy whites from Sauvignon Blanc, including some amazingly distinctive reds made from Cabernet Franc and not forgetting the best wine match for oysters in the shape of Muscadet. First of all, though, I think the famous Sauvignon Blanc producing sub-regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé merit a short post of their own.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are to the far east of the Loire, actually closer to Chablis (northern Burgundy) than Muscadet in the region’s far west. Sancerre is a hilltop town (pictured, in the distance) on the left bank of the Loire River, and the area surrounding it has been a prime site for viticulture since Roman Times. It was in the 1970s that the modern commercial success of both Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé really got underway as they became the must have white for any quality restaurant.

Within the Sancerre region itself are varied terroirs, and by that I mean areas with a different soil make-up and micro-climate, which directly effect the style of the wine, sometimes in a very subtle way and sometimes not. The western vineyards predominantly consist of clay and limestone, which can make the wine quite powerful and intense. The more gravely vineyards lend more restraint and elegance, while the flint (silex) laden soils closer to the town can produce wines that are long living and particularly perfumed with excellent minerality and notes of ‘gunflint’.

On the other side of the river, the wines of Pouilly-Fumé from mainly limestone based soils produce a similar style. A blind tasting of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé would be a tough test for any wine drinker, but Pouilly-Fumé wouldn’t tend to be quite as diverse in terms of terroir. Some vineyards are rich in flint, however, so that distinctive smoky gunflint character can be found in the better wines. What Pouilly-Fumé doesn’t do is red wine. Sancerre has some success with light reds and rosés made from Pinot Noir. Both can use oak in their Sauvignon Blanc, but more often than not it is only to give texture and palate weight as opposed to making the wine taste oaky.

Ultimately both regions produce very lean, green and racy Sauvignon Blanc’s with glorious palate cleansing acidity. Like everywhere you’ll get some that don’t do justice, but in general both regions produce high quality wines. They can be enjoyed on their own, or ruined with anything sweet (sweet and acid don’t mix – it will make the wine taste bitter), so when pairing with food go for something with high acidity. Traditionally the goats cheese of Sancerre is one of the best natural matches, but any good Irish goats cheese will do the same job.

In part 2 we’ll explore the other white wines of Loire Valley, as well as a little sparkling wine. Click here to view our sale on Loire wines.

Melon de Bourgogne is its name. Or Muscadet as you may know it. There is probably more of this stuff produced in Loire Valley than any other wine. Not to be confused with Muscat, “Melon”, as it is nicknamed, originally hails from Burgundy, where its demise came in the 18th century after appellations laws dictated that it was to be destroyed.

Today, Melon is thriving in the far west of the Loire Valley, around the city of Nantes, edging into Brittany near the mouth of the Loire River. The main appellation is AOC Muscadet, producing a lot of uninteresting generic wines. The better vineyards are in the Sèvre et Maine subregion south and east of Nantes, where vines are planted on well-draining soils of shale and gneiss, over a bedrock of granite, helping to make for the finest quality Muscadet.

Skin contact, lees stirring and barrel fermenation for the best wines all help to give greater weight and richness. ‘Lees’ refers to dead deposits of yeast. Wines that have ‘sur lie’ on the label have been aged for some time on lees, providing a better depth of flavour. The best have subtle yeasty aromas as well as attractive green apple and grassy aromas. The alcohol level is moderate (usually 11.5-12%) and the acidity keeps the wine light, fresh and crisp. Some might even have a saltiness to them and a tingly light fizz from a touch of carbon dioxide.

All in all, Muscadet, or Melon, is neither great or Burgundian. It’s a pretty neutral wine, but that doesn’t mean that the curious wine drinker has no place for it. Far from it. Try it as an aperitif or with shellfish to get the full experience. Even if you don’t like the wine, you’ll fall in love with the aphrodisiac effects of the oysters – or so they say.

Nelly Marzelleau’s Presbyteres Muscadet Sevre et Maine, bottled ‘sur lie’ ensuring prolonged contact with fine lees, is well worth a punt at the price.