Katie Jones Rouge

Intro to Katie Jones Rouge –

Katie Jones Rouge is full of smooth, lively fruit, pure strawberries, raspberries and a dash of silk with a hint of wilderness………

Full tasting note and winemaking –

Katie Jones Rouge is full of smooth, lively fruit, pure strawberries, raspberries and a dash of silk with a hint of wilderness………  It comes from her vineyard under the imposing Cathar Castle of Queribus in Maury in the Roussillon where Domaine Jones started back in 2009. It is made mainly from old vine Grenache Noir.

The village of Maury lies just over the border in the Roussillon about 20 minutes from Tuchan where the wine is made. Here Grenache in all its colours, red, white and grey, is king! The black schist soils literally crunch underfoot and hand picking is somewhat challenging on the slopes of loose stone where mountain goats would be more at home!

The producer –

To say Katie looks for vineyards no-one else wants would only be a slight exaggeration. Most other growers in the area wouldn’t be interested in her modest twelve hectares of vines spread across vineyards in Maury (her first), Paziols and Tuchan. The sites are too small, too remote and too much like hard work. she looks for low yields with high quality, and the rather poor, sloping ground that the very old, traditional vines cling to gives her just that.

It means most of the work including harvesting has to be done by hand, but the results are more than worth the toil.

Domaine Jones started out with a wine making philosophy to which they’ve stuck which is to vinify the vineyards separately, rather than mixing, so they know the quality coming from each. This method requires a lot of space, so they’ve bought something that has it in abundance, an old train shed. Finished in 1905 in the village of Tuchan, it was used as overnight accommodation for the Tuchan Express, a steam train that could reach speeds of up to 5mph.

Closed in 1935, this much-loved local landmark, once renovated, is to have a new lease of life as their winery & a high-security one at that, given the spiteful vandalism they suffered in 2013 when they lost their entire white wine production.

They only grow traditional grape varieties, some of them extremely rare. Carignan, for example, fond of their poor, dry limestone and schist, has always provided the backbone to Fitou, for which the Languedoc has long been known. While Lledoner Pelut, otherwise rather unkindly known as Hairy Grenache, once plentiful and thriving here, came as a bit of a find when they took over an old vineyard in Tuchan.

Drink with –

This is great with grilled sausages, lamb chops with thyme, medium curries, crusty steak pie, crispy duck.