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Winemakers
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Domaine de la Marfée, Coteaux du Languedoc
Thierry Hasard
Thierry Hasard is a Maitre Comptable, and the accountant for Grange des Pères and Mas de l’Ecriture. His vines are around the village of Murviel-les-Montpellier, where he has a number of small parcelles. The soil is mixed, with a typical soil type of Murviel known as chailles, which is red, rich in iron, and has small sharp stones. Syrah on chailles gives good complexity. For his new plantings of Mourvèdre in 2000, Thierry had twenty-five lorry loads of small stones transported to the site from the other side of the village, to improve the drainage. He was told that the former vignerons of the village would be turning in their graves, having spent their lives painstakingly de-stoning the land.
His red vines comprise Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan. Thierry has also planted a small quantity of white varieties; Chardonnay, Roussanne, and a little Petit Manseng. In 2001 there was only one barrel of white, from 60% Roussanne
and 40% Chardonnay. The 2002 White is his first release,
under the "Gamines de la Marfée" label. Floral, aromatic
fruit, soft and broad, with a hint of toast, and good balancing
acidity. Easily one of the best whites we have ever come across in
the Languedoc.
The Vignes qu’on Abat is based on Carignan, with a balance of Syrah and Mourvèdre, and the
Champs Murmurés is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet, Mourvèdre and Grenache. The wines combine elegance and finesse with rich, concentrated firm fruit. As with other producers in the region, 2001 produced a very small crop, for Thierry, around 14 hectolitres per hectare. As there was no Carignan in this vintage, there is no Vignes qu’on
Abat. The 2002 vintage, again, produced only small yields of carignan, and
Thierry has combined all the varietals to produce a single red cuvée, Les
Gamines de la Marfée. This is a ripe wine, with peppery spicy supple ripe
fruit flavours. Mellow, already quite forward, delicious now, and
will improve further over the next couple of years. as usual, it
is in the more difficult vintages that top winemakers stand out,
and this is very much the case here in 2002. |
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