Clos Montels - Coteaux du Languedoc AC

A personally crafted wine by winemaker Helene Mir

Vin de Pays, VDQS, AC etc - see our consumer guide to French wine classification

Helene Mir was one of the owners of Chateau Belles Eaux at Caux (34 Herault, Languedoc) north of Pezenas. At ALLEZ VINS! we were delighted to find her wines which we thought were of excellent quality and good value. Regrettably the Chateau was sold a few years ago to a Bordeaux-based conglomerate, who seemed to have no interest in small importers, so we moved on.

So did Helene, whose passion for wine-making is clearly irrepressible, as she has now bought some more vines and is making wine again, courtesy of a neighbouring chateau and calling it Clos Montels. As yet production is small, but beautiful - and we tried her first vintage in 2005.

As Helene puts it "I designed Clos Montels as a round, silky wine with ripe red fruit flavors. "

Interestingly she only classified iher first vintage as a "Vin de Table" which belied its obvious quality. Remember though, that the more lowly the designation, the more flexibility the winemaker has to make a better wine, which is the rationale here. We thought it an excellent wine, retailing about £5.50 which demonstrates the potential of the southern grape varietals to produce interesting quality wines. Our friends at Andy Scribblings (see www.spittoon.biz) tasted it recently:-

"Very plummy colour, nose offers a little inky, peppery fruit while the palate is full-bodied with a nice layer of tannin. Deep, squishy black fruits mingle with spice and ink flavours while the finish is juicy and ripe. All in all rather good for a basic table wine! Alcohol 13.5%. A blend of 46% Syrah and 54% Carignan."

See FICHE TECHIQUE (Techinical details)

Helene also has a superb villa for rental surrounded by vines See her website at www.lesmontels.com which has details