Guigniers de Centeilles
Guigniers de Centeilles
The context
The delicate Pinot Noir, which forms the base of this cuvée, is a variety which has been present for a very long time in the Languedoc, as confirmed by the abundant winemaking literature of the 18th and 19th centuries.
So the Guigniers de Centeilles is not presented under the anonymous label of a varietal wine, but on the contrary, wishes to be the faithful expression of a terroir.
Presented as a wine from the Côtes du Brian area, it comes from the village of Trausse-Minervois, whose whole life was, until quite recently, lived to the rhythm of the cultivation of the ‘guigne’ cherries (morello cherries or ‘griottes’ in Occitan).
The terrible June wind, fearsome for the young plants’ fragile shoots, is the “cherry wind” (because it blows at the time when the cherries ripen); the village festival is the cherry festival; in short, cherry-growing was, until recently, the main activity in this town, which found attractive outlets for the supply of local confectionery.
And so the cherry tree is part of the farming and cultural landscape of Trausse, where some orchards that are still cultivated, as well as the re-growth of former plantations everywhere, naturally form real boundaries between land destined for vine-growing or for tree cultivation.
Last vintage produced: 2000.
Its personality
My favourite cuvée is the one made from the Pinot Noir Fin, les ‘Guigniers de Centeilles’. In this I find the charm of the well-cultivated grape, full of scents of the land, and the estate’s characteristically beautiful hand. I drank it with a tuna steak cooked just pink, lovely and thick, melting like the tannins in this wine. Serve it at about 15°C (1 hour in the fridge’s vegetable compartment).
‘Le Tour de France des Grands vins à Petits Prix’ Eric Mancio – sommelier at the Guy Savoy restaurant.
Gourmet matches
A Pinot from the Minervois which will be wonderful with a Saint Marcellin or wild duck. To be drunk within 25 years at 17°.
