Wine Tastings can be rather serious affairs - lots of sipping, muttering, slurping and sometimes spitting under the eagle eye and ears of the winemaker or wine merchant. But if you are in the Languedoc this summer you can really enjoy a much different experience - an organised 5km circular ramble amongst the vineyards with a stop every kilometre for one course of a 6-course meal, and plenty of wines to sample! It sounds idyllic - even healthy - as long as you don't take advantage of samples of every wine on offer (up to 70) - co-ordination of your legs may prove difficult for the last stages otherwise.
Julie at Pic Wines (based in the Languedoc) volunteered to endure the latest of these excursions in la Clape - Sentiers Gourmands en La Clape. La Clape (11 Aude, Languedoc - see map ) is one of the Languedoc appellations, rightly acclaimed for the quality of its wines. Surrounding a rocky outcrop between Narbonne and the Mediterranean Sea, their wines end to exhibit more mineral depth and complexity than much of the Languedoc, which is surprising given the proximity to the sea and coastal sandy soils. Pic Wines stocks the la Clape wines from Chateau Ricardelle and Château Laquirou - you can find tasting notes on wines from both chateaux at www.spittoon.biz as well as lots more info on the excellent Pic Wines website
You may have missed this year's la Clape trek but there remain two more Languedoc wine, food and walking days:-
Les Vignes Buissonnières en Pic St Loup, 10 June 2006, tel 0467 55 97 47
Circulade Vigneronne des Terrasses du Larzac, 1 July 2006, tel 0467 06 04 36.
More info on Languedoc wines see the website of the AOC Coteaux du Languedoc wines
NB: The Bingley (West Yorkshire) Branch of the Yorkshire Sommelliers is having a tasting of wines from Pic Wines on Monday 3 July 2006 - more details contact Peter Clayton, Chairman on 0113 284 1235.
