Road Reports

There is a new winemaker high up in the Minervois, the land of castles from
the Cathers era. He has zeal, determination and the passion you see in the
eyes of the vignerons who want to make great wine. He is tenacious and
fearless. He rides a motorcycle with the abandon of Evil Knievel, works
early and stays up late, yet still has time for his wife and children. The
phones ring constantly from local restaurant owners and residents seeking
more bottles.

His name is Denis Morin, and along with his wife Sohpie and their three
children, they "retired" from the banking trade with Societe General where
he was a commercial banking director to buy a shuttered chateau and overrun
vineyard land in 1993 to pursue their passion of wine. After tossing away
his bankers stripes Denis went back to the university and earned a degree in
oneology, so he understands what can be done or what needs to be done to
make great wine. He now teaches winemaking part time to aspiring young
winemakers.

The Domaine, La Villatade, is sun drenched in the summer, with soft rolling
hillsides and long flat plateaus. At La Villatarde he employs one of the top
oneologues, with over a dozen award-winning wines last year from Hachette,
to give him advice on soil, the blends and what he is doing in the cuve.

Piece by piece the Morin's have put the ancient chateau, adjoining
apartments and the vineyard land back together, because like anything, to
make a great wine or to rebuild a house, takes time and nothing happens
overnight

None of the wines at La Villatade see any wood. Denis prefers to make
natural wine and leaves a lot of the final product up to the soil, the sun
and the growing season. Once in the tanks he blends and mixes the varieties
grown only on the domain. His grapes include Carignan, Grenache, Syrah and
Merlot and enables La Villatade make three different wines, a true Minervois
of only Grenache and Syrah, a Vin d'Pays d'Oc of Merlot, Carignan and
Grenache and Rose of Grenache and Carignan.

 We had the chance to taste his current and already bottled production, back
to the 1995 vintage. Though, he is new at winemaking, Denis is already
showing impressive results. The wines were all well made, flavorful, very
characteristic of the region, and were of high quality. These wines would do
well in the USA market where the demand for fruity, soft, but wines that can
age at fair prices, is running rampant. Already one Michigan importer has
discovered La Villatade and has been back two years running taking 500 cases
and buying more each trip.

Morin leaves his wine in the cuve a bit longer than most Minervois
producers. Because he is new, he has less demand to push the wine out the
door. As a result more aging in the cuve takes place and deeper, more
natural colors and flavors comes through in the bottle.

His 1998 Rose has a deep pink color. It is bone dry, almost like a Tavel. It
is flavored with delicious strawberries and raspberries. The finish is long
and it is very enjoyable. Very Good.

1998 Vin d'Pays d'Oc is a blend of Grenache, Carignan and Merlot. It has a
very rich and deep color, with Merlot dominating the nose with lots of sweet
cherry fruit and anise. On the palate the wine delivers smooth cherry,
licorice and peppery fruit. It has a lingering finish. Very Good.

1997 Minervois is very full bodies, but very young at this point. It is
backwards and needs time. It is showing very good levels of fruit and a
delightful aroma of berries and spice. Very Good.

1996 Minervois is made of Grenache and Syrah. It is as good as those two
wines blended can get. An almost opaque purple, the wine is loaded up with
very ripe berries, is big and massive with nice acid balance, soft rolling
tannins. The lack of oak means the wine likely will go through some more
bottle aging. On the palate you get blueberries, cherries, plums and
raspberries. A nice lingering finish. Very Good.

1995 Minervois is like the 1996 only better. Already this wine is very
developed, showing great character, roundness and fullness. The nose is like
the 1996 only more bouquet and brighter. Plums, blueberries, blackberries,
raspberries and currants hit you as you drink it. It has a elegant and long
finish with only a touch of tannins at the finish. Very Good to Excellent.

We also tasted the 1998 Minervois right from the cuve. It is smoky with a
deep dark black purple color. It is a rich wine with berries, cherries,
black currents and watermelon flavors. Very Good.

The 1999 Minervois, only in the cuve a few weeks, was going through
malolactic fermentation, so it was now totally opaque, but surprisingly soft
with loads of cypress and briary aromas. It is obviously jammy but needs
time.

1999 Rose is a deep pink color that is right now very fruity. It is still in
the fermentation process but is showing delightful strawberry and cranberry
flavors, has a light dry body and would be an excellent aperitif or backyard
BBQ starter wine this summer.

1999 Merlot-can you say fruit bomb. This means the Vin d'Pays d'Oc will
likely be rich, round and early drinking.

La Villatade can be found on the web at http://www.villatade.tm.fr

Hopefully some more importers in the USA will take advantage of a good
opportunity and find La Villatade. The Morins are kind and caring people.
Their enthusiasm and practicality shows through in their wines. Seek out and
enjoy these wines.

Andy