My most interesting find on my trip to the Languedoc last week was a producer called Mas Conscience I discovered at a wine bar and shop in Marseillan called La Taverne du Port. They grow their grapes organically and biodynamically near St Jean de Fos in the Terrases du Larzac but are not certified.
The bottle we bought was the oddly named Ciel-Cieux which apparently has something to do with hopscotch but I can’t exactly work out what as the French word for hopscotch is marelle. It’s a bright fruity fresh-tasting red - but not actually that light at 13.5% - quite like a Gamay but 100% Cinsault. A great wine for charcuterie or even for seafood.
I see that Berry Brothers & Rudd imports two of their other wines Le Cas (Carignan) and L’As (Syrah and Grenache) which they sell for around £12-£16 - quite a bit more than we paid for this cuvée which was around 8 or 9 euros if I remember rightly.
The cooking at the Taverne du Port isn’t brilliant - stick to the excellent charcuterie, cheese or local seafood - but it’s in an idyllic situation overlooking the port and has a great winelist. And you can buy bottles from the shop to drink for a corkage charge of 9 euros.
I just asked a French friend about the curious name: she says that the hemispherical bit at the end of the hopscotch is called the 'ciel'. That still doesn't explain why, though. There must be an interesting story there!
ReplyDeletethe answer would obviously be to contact them direct. Will try and do that.
ReplyDeleteCieux.....means the heavens, when you look at the sky a night when its dark with all those stars and milky way.....on an uncloudy night...thats the best definition of " Cieux" in English as there is nor proper English equivalent!
ReplyDelete