Undaunted by the task of updating her million-word Oxford Companion to Wine this summer, the redoubtable and wholly admirable Jancis Robinson MW applied her free evenings to tasting a number of wines from the Languedoc, whose high-altitude vineyards are the « source of some of the best value wines in the world ». The Panman family, she said on her Purple Pages, goes from « strength to strength », making wines with fine acidity that are « great candidates for ageing as well as admirable drinks. »
The highest scorer was our « razor sharp and super sleek » chardonnay, Odyssée. « You’d quite happily pay twice as much if it said Puligny on the label » she said.
The ‘really crystalline’ chenin blanc, Dédicace is « a particularly lissome rendition », which shows all the true characteristics of that grape variety, while the « pure and super clean » mauzac, Occitania, is a « wonderfully precise textbook example of Mauzac Blanc. »
Of the blends of these three varieties, she noted the « great presence and persistence » of La Trilogie, while the « finely etched » Le Limoux is a « crisp mountain wine ».
A few weeks after this review, she included our late harvest chenin blanc, Lagremas d’Aur 2012 in her selection of Vouvray tasting notes, which can be found here.
