The new vintage 2007 Chateau Fabas has just
arrived! And, it is a
winner.
Chateau Fabas is one of those over-achieving
wines that sells out fast every time I bring
a new supply. It is a throttled-up
glassful with big flavors and a very sweet
price.
Chateau Fabas is owned by one of the former
directors of Moet & Chandon, Roland Augustin.
Roland bought Chateau Fabas in 1995. He owned
some vineyards in Champagne, but wanted to be
able to have some fun and do some
experimenting in an area that was not so
outrageously expensive.
Chateau Fabas Mourral is aged
in oak
which
increases the wine's ability to age. It is
made from
60% Syrah (that's the northern Rhone grape
going into Hermitage etc.), 30% Grenache
(that's the Chateauneuf du Pape grape), and
10% Mourvedre (the Cotes du Rhone grape). The
vines at Chateau Fabas are old - 35-45 years
old.
Mourral has won a vat-ful of awards and
that doesn't surprise me. The wine is
balanced, substantial, darkly colored and
loaded with dark fruit flavors. It's a great
food wine that will make its presence known
against the darkest and most pungent of
sauces.
For those of you not familiar with Minervois,
it is part of the Languedoc Roussillon, which
stretches along the rim of the Mediterranean
Sea from Nimes, which is quite a bit inland,
almost to the border of Spain. The Minervois
vineyards are northwest of Carcassonne. There
is a wine movement going on in the Languedoc
Roussillon which has been simmering for fifty
years.
For the longest time, many of the old guard
growers just could not get it through their
heads that in order to make great wine, you
have to lower your yields and only include
healthy, ripe grapes in your final blend, but
the old guard is dying off and the new
generation of winemakers is getting the
message. After all, the potential has always
been there -- the climate is dry and sunny
most of the time. In addition, the mistral
blows often and helps keep the vineyards free
of pests.
The best news for us is that the price of
Minervois has not kept up with the quality.
When you open your Minervois you will be
struck by its power and you'll taste the
black-cherry ripeness of those grapes that
have baked in the Minervois summer. This wine
always surprises me not only with its
goodness, but by its "gone-ness" when I go to
get some in the cellar. Buy enough.
Cynthia Hurley
