2015 Château de L'Ou, Rouge, Secret de Schistes, Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon

Chateau de L'Ou

VdP Catalans

Vin de pays de 'Catalans' are along with Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalans the two most important Vins de Pays wine appellations in the Roussillon region of Southern France . 

Chardonnay and Merlot  seem to have adapted particularly well to the Mediterranean climate of the region. Wines from the hilly, northern part of Rousillion are usually labelled as Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes and in the southern part as Vin de Pays Catalans.

Syrah/Shiraz

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.