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12 Cards in this Set
- Front
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Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois |
- appellation for muscat based vin doux naturel from the languedoc in Southern France - named after a village at the southern end of the Massif Central (the range of low mountains in south central France) - Muscat d'Alexander not allowed - part of AC Minervois - a separate AC for vin doux in 1950 |
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location |
- overlooks the vineyards of Minervois appellation to the south (which are very different)
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climate |
- altitude makes the climate cooler than other growing regions in the languedoc - allows for Muscat de Petits Grains to have a longer hang time |
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soils & vineyard |
- excellent drainage and poor soils in the area allows for Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois to be more complex and delicate than other Languedoc Muscats - they are closer to the style of Muscat de Beaume De Venise - very stony limestone across the commune - muscat vineyards south facing at a 300 meteres - huge blocks of limestone forming bed of pebbles some 15-20cm deep - they absorb heat, reflecting it back to the grapes and they retain moisture underneath, protecting the vines from the drought in the arrid terrain |
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terroir of area |
- marginal mediterranean climate and garrique landscape (meaning dry, limestone-based scrubland, populated by hardy herbs like rosemary and lavendar |
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style of wine |
- produced using a traditional sweet wine making process called mutage - generally have RS levels around 125g/l and alc. around 15% - some of the most expressive Languedoc muscats, with sweet honeyed aromas of citrus and orange blossom |
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mutage |
- winemaking process to artificially stop or "mute" the alc. fermentation of grape juice, resulting in a wine with high levels of RS. - involves the creation of an environment inhospitable to yeast, either by the addition of grape spirit or sulfur dioxide - mutage is standard procedure for making vin doux naturel and fortified wines |
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Top producers |
- Domain Barroubio - Cave St Jean-De-Menrvois - Domain Sige - |
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Domain Barroubio |
- only part of commune is classified for Muscat de St Jean-De-Minervois and that there is a distinct difference between the soil for that and for Minervois itself - muscat vines pruned in gobelet (vertical bush vine with vegetation kept upright - picking all done by hand - grapes are ripe when the bees and wasps swarm to the vineyard Vinification methods - temp controls necessary - juice chilled after pressing for debourbage (settling) and the fermentation starts at a cool 14-16C - regulations dictate a density of between 1058 and 1062, which should give you 15% and 125gms/L of RS in the final wine, with added alc representing between 6 and 10% of the volume - they prefer riper grapes, which require less grape spirit, thereby obtaining what they consider to be a better balanced with with more finesse - longer fermentation of riper grapes gives the same alc. and sugar balance but requires less grape spirit - that way you avoid an alc. finish to the palate / there are risks though - slower fermentation is better / if muscat is fermenting too quickly with very ripe grapes, it is much more difficult to stop / once wine is finished, it should remain in vat for as short a time as possible, in order to retain all it's natural freshness and aroma. - 1998 Domain Barroubio when tasted was grapey, redolent of the richness of Muscat, ripe and rounded, but not cloying or heavy - The alc. was well integrated and it left a long lingering finish int he mouth - Muscat de St-Jean-De-Minervois used to be heavier and when they worked on a lighter, younger fresher style of wine, everyone in village said they were mad - have developed a vendage tardive (grapes are picked a month later in mid-october once they've been dried on the vine by the wind and quite dehydrated |
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Cave de st-jean-de-minervois |
- village co-op that is the largest producer of Muscat de st-jean-de-minervois - founded in 1955, five years after the creation of the appellation - accounts for 80% of the appellation - asorbic acid helps in prevention of oxidation and enzymes are added to help with the settling process so that they are fermenting clear juice with cultured yeasts - keep the fine lees apart, filtering them and fermenting them separately, to blend back into the wine / they add an extra aroma - experimented with mutage at different sugar levels to also produce a late harvest wine |
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Domain Sige |
- muscat from this producer has a little more cachet and can fetch more money - producers fetch more money for muscat as they see better returns - he doesn't do much different than other producers but does favor an older style wine - picks his grapes as ripe as possible, at 15-16 alc. or even 17. - doesn't bottle their wine for a year, but prefers to keep it in vat on the fine lees, which gives it more body - his wines taste heavier and solid which is what his customers like - note that again temp control plays a big part as it really has a larger impact on the flavor of the wine - back in the day it was fashionable to drink Muscat as a desert wine |
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Market today |
- bouyant with interest - will always be a small enclave within the minervois but there is slow development of the vineyards within the confines of the strictly delimited area - considerable amount of replanting - half the vines currently less than 15 years old - it's some distance from the sea which makes for wines with a higher level of acidity - has more in common with beaume de venise, with an appealing fresh lemon and honey flavor that makes for a delicious desert wine or in France, an aperatif |
