Some Languedoc Blather

 This is Bernard Bellahsen showing his biodynamic estate, Fontedicto, in the Languedoc--though it's all sold as VdT. Surprise! He started wine making after being a grape juice producer; I suppose that's a logical step. He makes two wines: one flagship  southern blend and one varietal carignan. As he does a very late release of his top wine (we tasted a '02), and hence commands somewhat of a mark-up, we opted to take home his ten-euro carignan.

It was delightful. I mean, spicy and full of fruit components that one would expect from this region, but as well smooth and endlessly drinkable. From our tour I gathered that the guy is meticulous in his cellar operations. A slight prickle of CO2 in the wine made me curious so I called him to ask. His reply was that it is leftovers from the fermentation. Though rare, I suppose one could imagine residual CO2 if cellar practice was close to flawless. Another theory is it's left over ML that he doesn't want to own up to.

At any rate, the wine was spot on, so any speculation about this or that is moot.

 This following picture is a cross section of some of the dirt that's hanging around the Languedoc. Very, very red. I'm sure it has special properties; a future marketing board will be able to elaborate.