Wine: Try wines from Languedoc-Roussillon and Portugal's Douro Valley

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Wine: Try wine from Languedoc-Roussillon and Portugal’s Douro Valley

You can’t always drink $100 Burgundies or Bordeaux. Why would you want to? One of the nicest things about following wine is finding and tasting new ones, from different areas and unexpected grapes or blends. You often can save some bucks that way too.

Here are two such areas, France’s Languedoc-Roussillon and Portugal’s Douro Valley.

Languedoc-Rousillon: Next time you hop in your speedy Peugeot convertible and cruise from Marseilles, France to Barcelona, Spain, watching the blue Mediterranean to your left, turn your head the other way and look up into the Midi-Pyrenees Mountains.

This is Languedoc-Roussillon, where ancient man (and presumably woman) lived 450,000 years ago and grapes have flourished since the Middle Ages.

Tourists seldom visit the vineyards, because the region has few of the castle-like chateaux of Burgundy or Bordeaux. Here, hard-working winemakers toil in semi-anonymity making interesting wines at very friendly prices.

Wines of Languedoc-Roussillon

Highly recommended:

2009 “Saint Chinian” Syrah/Mourvedre, by Gerard Bertrand: soft and smooth, with aromas and flavors of red plums, herbs and minerals, long finish; $21.

Recommended:

2008 “Grand Terroir,” by Gerard Bertrand, Cotes du Roussillon Village Tautavel (50 percent grenache, 35 percent syrah, 15 percent carignan): ripe and round, with aromas and flavors of cassis and cinnamon and ripe tannins; $13.

2008 “Minervois” Syrah/Carignan, by Gerard Bertrand (50 percent syrah, 50 percent carignan): firm and powerful, with aromas and flavors of black cherries and black coffee; $18.

2009 “Corbieres” Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre, Languedoc (40 percent syrah, 40 percent grenache, 20 percent mourvedre): aromas and flavors of black plums, roasted nuts and minerals, long and smooth; $18.

Portugal’s Douro Valley

North of Lisbon, Portugal’s Douro Valley stretches deep into the countryside, its slopes so steep in some cases that grapes can only be carried up and out by mule or human worker.

For centuries, the valley has been home to the potent, hearty grapes that make the country’s most famous wine, port. A given port can be made of 10 or more varieties, with names few recognize: tinta roriz, touriga franca, tinta barroca and others.

Growers claim these grapes have great individuality, being grown in schist-laden soil with a high mineral content, including tin and gold.

More recently, using 21st Century methods, Portuguese winemakers have begun using these grapes in top-quality table wines as well. Because of the powerful grapes, these are full-bodied, hearty wines, although they’re not super-tannic. So they go well with lasagna and other meaty/cheesy pasta dishes, game (you have game all the time, right?), burgers and steaks.

Here the Symington port family has teamed up with legendary French Bordeaux maker Bruno Prats to make Symington Prats wines. The joint effort now produces a modern red wine called Post Scriptum de Chryseia, considered one of Portugual’s finest new offerings.

The joint venture also is producing Prazo de Roriz, another new wine from the old port grapes, at the ancient port house Quinta de Roriz, which the Symington family acquired in 2009.

Wines of the Douro Valley

Highly recommended:

2009 Post Scriptum de Chryseia, Douro (41 percent touriga nacional grapes, 36 percent touriga franca, 14 percent tinta roriz): deep, dark hue, floral aroma, hint of oak, flavors of black cherries and black coffee, ripe tannins; $22.

Recommended:

2009 Prazo de Roriz, Douro (36 percent tinta barroca, 31 percent tinta rori, 10 percent tinta Francisca, 9 percent touriga nacional, 9 percent touriga franca, 5 percent other): aromas of black raspberries and cinnamon, silky and smooth; $17.

(Fred Tasker has retired from The Miami Herald but is still writing about wine. He can be reach at [email protected].)

Bill & Sheila’s Wine

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