We meandered towards Gaillac this morning and visited the Château de Mayragues for a brief wine tasting and a few bottles to take home. The 12th-century château-fort has been restored from a ruin: the owners bought the vineyard and its noble ruins in 1980 and have undertaken a labour of love in renovating the house (& fine pigeonnier) and effectively restarting the 13ha vineyard in many more hectares of estate. Work continues with new developments in the winery barn, an imposing building in itself. There are a couple of chambres d’hôtes, which we’d not realised.

The owner proffered tastings of all the wines including a dessert wine and a double-distilled spirit which I will try another time, I hope. I tasted (and bought) the only current dry white, in part as it was a very local variety, Loin de L’Oeil or as it’s marketed, Len de L’El (Occitan). Apparently it’s so called as the bunches hang high on the vine – far from the eye. It’s distinctive, dry and floral; a taste of summer.

A still and a sparkling rosé (Duras) were both very pleasant though I didn’t find them as distinctive, being perhaps too eager to try the reds!

The first of the reds, a 2023 mixed grape vintage from the survivors of a late (April) frost which seems to be becoming a regular feature, was then a perhaps serendipitous outcome with plenty of flavour, though the lightest of the 3 on offer. We enjoyed it and it was good to try a straight Duras as well after a longish gap but were in the end persuaded by the Les Mages, a Braucol & Cabernet Sauvignon combo from 20-year-old vines; rich, complex and flavourful. Come home with me, Les Mages!

The vineyard has clearly changed under these owners, who produce more varieties with smaller vats than were there originally. They have adapted to the late frosts of recent years and are looking at older varieties again to withstand both frosts and hotter, drier summers. The harvest is a month earlier than it used to be.

Madame said ‘We know we’ve had hot summers in the region before and come through’. I thought she was about to mention the mid-1970s, but she continued, ‘The 1500s were really hot.’ Clearly they really do learn from the past as well as making changes!

When we quaff these few bottles with friends & family in coming weeks, we shall enjoy the memory of the beautifully restored château-fort, a sunny July outing, an errant bluetit flying into the ‘chai’ to join the tasting (and fortunately find the opened window to depart without incident or injury) and the pleasant chat about the many vagaries of vineyards.

Merci à Mayragues.