Another pre-dawn awakening as we shuttled up a fog-bound Autoroute de Soleil to make our first appointment in Côte Rôtie at 10.00am. We found gregarious patron Joel Champet talking up the merits of the 2010 vintage as well as the prospects of ‘Les Bleues’ in this weekend’s Rugby World Cup Final: “they have nothing to lose”. Down the road in Ampuis, Patrick Jasmin was equally upbeat and an extensive barrel tasting of his 2010 vintage fully justified his bonhomie. We then enjoyed a terrific lunch at his local bistro ‘La Serine’ which boasts a cracking wine list, perhaps unsurprisingly, as it is jointly owned by local winemaking luminaries Villard, Cuilleron, Gaillard and Villa. With a well-executed menu of regional cuisine this is a highly-recommended pit stop for those travelling in the area.

After a morning sampling young Syrah it was somewhat of a relief to head South to Condrieu where tastings at Château Grillet, Francois Merlin and Domaine Georges Vernay reinforced our view that 2010 is a stonking white wine vintage in the Northern Rhône.

Joel Champet

After a hugely informative, if fairly exhausting, visit to the Salon des Vins de Loire we headed south to Bordeaux for a spot of castle-creeping with the Baron and Baroness d’Anglade at Chateau d’Abzac. As any fule knows it is relatively easy to source good, classed growth Bordeaux but you get what you pay for. What is considerably more difficult is to find well-made inexpensive Claret for gratifying every-day drinking. Some well-informed and well-wishing expatriates had put us in touch with the d’Anglades and early negotiations have been fruitful – this is not a frequent occurrence  as 9 out of 10 third party recommendations disappoint. Merlot is the dominant grape here which thrives on gravelly soils, similar to nearby Pomerol. We were very impressed with the wines which are fresh, forward-drinking and sensibly priced. We hope to ship an inaugural order in the near future so watch this space for an update.

Domaine Collin

Heading South and East, via a chilly overnight stop in Agen, our arrival in Limoux co-incided with our first glimpse of sunshine, illuminating the snow capped peaks above Philippe Collin’s twenty hectare estate.  Since moving down to this Cathar region from Champagne in 1980, Philippe has honed his art of producing great value Méthode Traditionelle fizz from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.  It is gratifying to meet winemakers who get on with doing what they do best, without pretension or distraction.

The cross country drive from Carcassonne to Minerve flanks the Canal du Midi and takes in some gorgeous scenery, which must be even more impressive viewed from a barge.  Minerve itself is officially Un des plus beaux villages de France. We won’t argue with that, but even in the sunshine the Tramontane wind was biting.  Claude Derroja of Domaine Le Cazal gave us a warm welcome and tour of his vines, including the breath-taking Pas de Zarat gorge which would be a tourist trap in any more accessible location.  A comprehensive tasting of Claude’s Syrah, Grenache and Carignan blends confirmed that the 2009 and 2010 vintages are superlative.  We are beginning to get the message here.  Having secured generous allocations of both, we took to the road for Béziers where whoever wrote the entry for the Hotel Imperator in our guide deserves suing!  The only thing for it is a restorative bowl of Cassoulet and a bottle of Faugères at the Cep d’Or.

Alan Limmer

There is a common misconception that all Syrah grown in the New World is known as Shiraz but in reality this is far from true. New Zealand wine-makers universally refer to this noble grape as ‘Syrah’, a policy for which one individual can claim the credit. Alan Limmer of Stonecroft vineyard in Hawke’s Bay was the first Kiwi wine-maker to plant Syrah in the post-war era when, in 1988, he propagated some cuttings from the national archive at the Te Kauwhata research station on the South Island. Alan was keen to differentiate his temperate climate offering from more blockbuster Australian wines, hence his decision to bottle his inaugural vintage as Syrah. Friends, neighbours and countless New Zealand wine-makers have since followed suit. Thus, in this part of the New World, at least you will find plenty of Syrah but very little Shiraz.

Former chemist Alan is still bottling some fine Syrahs over 2 decades since. The Stonecroft Syrahs exhibit classic black fruit tastes and supple tannins with a fresh finish – they’re a wonderful tribute to an outstanding pioneer.