Last updated 12:21, Friday, 25 July 2008

Top Tipples with Alan Irving

FRIENDS in France recently sent me a couple of wines from a small village called Chusclan in the Rhone valley.

The label proclaimed ‘Excellence’ and indeed they were because both have since gone!

I’d never heard of Chusclan and didn’t expect to see these reds again, much to my regret.

So you could have knocked me over with the proverbial when I walked into a local Co-op and saw Chusclan sitting on the shelves.

I didn’t hesitate to buy seven, though it’s not cheap, but with £3 off at £5.99 this is a quality special offer and, for me, quite a find.

If you adore Chateauneuf du Pape then you’ll like this because it’s made from two of the main grapes – syrah (shiraz!) and grenache. Not surprising then that Chusclan is a close southern Rhone neighgbour.

The Chusclan in the Co-op is not The Excellence but Les Genets, but there’s not much difference. Both are from exactly the same village and exactly the same growers, from the same vineyards and grapes picked from vines on average 25 years old.

All the grapes are grown and made by the Cave des Vignerons de Chusclan, comprising all the vineyard owners and wine growers in the village. They’ve moved with the times and proudly boast that not one single vigneron has left the cave to go independent.

So a true co-operative fittingly finding a UK distributor in the Co-op!

This is Cotes du Rhone Villages, superior to generic Cotes du Rhone. Further investigation unearthed the fact that Chusclan is one of the very best of these little wine villages, tracing back to the Romans and later to Benedictine monks who were known to make vino from Chusclan.

Apparently the wines became quite fashionable thanks to a local aristocratic family, the Counts of Grignan, who as the story goes “being savvy marketeers, managed to have their estate wines served at the royal table and even named one of their vineyards the King’s Garden”.

A noble enough wine, I’d say, as good as some more expensive Chateauneufs and totally in character with a 12th century chateau overlooking the little village and which was bought by the wine producers themselves in 1973.

So much for the history, what of the taste?

Les Genets is dark red and rich, a full-bodied mouthful of fruit with a touch of spice from an exceptional 2005 vintage capturing what the growers call esprit de terroir of soil, climate and those old more flavoursome vines.

Chusclan even compares its wine to children – “each of these cuvees has its own character, like children from the same family who are similar yet not alike”.

I should add this is a hearty wine of some substance and enjoyed best with food.

Only the French could offer this gourmet advice: take with delicate meat like pigeon or veal! Why not go instead for a good old-fashioned roast, chops, burgers or sausage!