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30/1/2012 Wine for the Mobile Generation
I've been playing around with Flashcodes to allow people with smartphones and other mobile devices to get and store information about us and our wines. If you've got the app, try this...
16/01/2012
Alternative ways to describe wine
How many times have you read a wine review and thought "What are they on about". Wine isn't about words, it's about feelings and sensations. For Vinisud 2012, Treloar and our fellow Outsiders are planning an alternative tasting which encourges people to match the sensation of wines to images and discuss why.
I like to describe wines in terms of characters, rather than smells or flavours. I often visualise a person, real or fictional, who resembles the character of the wine. So, just to limit things, here are some film characters who I think represent my wines:
One Block Muscat : Mrs Coulter
La Terre Promise : Galadriel
Le Ciel Vide : Jean de Florette
One Block Grenache : Princess Fiona
Three Peaks : Maximus Decimus Meridius
Le Secret : James Bond (as played by Daniel Craig)
Motus : Wolverine from X-Men
Tahi : James Bond (as played by Sean Connery)
14/11/2011 Foreign Adventures
Over the last 2 weeks Jonathan has been presenting our wine at a few events in foreign cities.
For the last weekend in October he was at Rindchen's Vinorell, their brilliant annual public tasting. This year we had a huge lineup of 7 wines, giving people the chance to taste new things like One Block Muscat and Le Secret as well as old favourites like One Block Grenache and Three Peaks but the star of the show was Tahi 2006.
At the start of November, Jon spent 3 days in Cambridge. He started with a tasting for the fellows of the Cambridge colleges, which resulted in our wines joining the world's most impressive cellars.
Then followed a couple of Game dinners at the St John Chophouse and The Cock in Hemingford Grey. Our wines go brilliantly with these kind of dishes. One Block Muscat was paired with the Quail and Black Pudding Terrine with Chutney. La Terre Promise with Squirrel, Cobnut and Bramble salad. All the reds, particularly Motus, are perfect partners for richer dishes like Pheasant Breast, Confit of Hare, Venison Haunch and the incredibly rich Game Livers.
On the third night Jon presented the range to the Leckhampton Wine Club (Corpus Christi Postgraduates) where the overall impression was the incredible value for money of the wines.
06/10/2011 End of Harvest and a Special Project
Harvest 2011 is finally over. It has been a great one. Weather conditions through the year were tricky but ended with a long ripening period just before harvest. We had to reject a lot of bunches damaged by hail, downy mildew and insects but the rigorous selection has resulted in some of the most concentrated and delicious wines we've ever made. Quantities will be limited in all wines so please contact us to reserve your favourites.
Chateau McGuire is the name of a special project wine that we have made for Stuart McGuire. Stuart is one of our loyal customers who found himself a victim of testicular cancer at a young age. In order to raise awareness of the risks of testicular cancer and to raise money for the charities that helped him through the ordeal, Stuart has commissioned a fabulous Cotes du Roussillon red wine from us.
Chateau McGuire 2008 is available in the UK and France. 3€ from each bottle will be split between his chosen charities - Cancer Research UK and McMillans.
Please read Stuart's story on his own page.
You can order Chateau McGuire through us here.
21/6/2011 New releases of popular wines
Yesterday we finally bottled the latest vintages of some of our most in-demand wines. At last we have some white wines in stock!
One Block Muscat 2010 is a lovely combination of floral aromas and a citrus/peach flavour. For those who loved the 2006, this is the most similar to that vintage.
La Terre Promise 2010 has a fine minerality followed by great depth of flavour and complexity on the finish. This is our "Natural" wine, fermented in used barrels with wild yeasts and using only time to stabilise the wine.
Motus 2009 is another long-awaited wine. One of the only pure Mourvedre wines in the Roussillon and an extremely good value alternative to fine Bandol.
Tahi 2009 was only made in very small quantities. I spent longer trying to decide the perfect blend of this vintage than any other.
We also have a very limited number of Maginums of Tahi and Motus available.
To order or reserve these wines for collection, please go here.
31/5/2011 New Importers in Holland and Belgium
We are pleased to announce that De Ware Jacob, a well-established merchant in Amsterdam, has selected our wines.
In Belgium (Duffel) we are now being imported by Wijnhandel Opdebeeck .
14/02 2011 Critical Reviews in the UK and France
This month Le Secret was listed among the 50 best Syrah wines in the world under £25 by Decanter Magazine and selected by Rosemary George MW.
At the same time across the channel, or La Manche I should say, Le Revue du Vin de France listed our Le Ciel Vide in their top Roussillon Discoveries. It was by far the lowest priced wine in their review, with all its competitors ranging from 12 to 24 € compared to 5,50€, which probably explains why it is flying off the shelves at Cellier St Guilhem in Cabastany.
30/1/2011 Winery Improvements, phase II
We've started a series of improvments to the winery. Some aesthetic, some practical but all worthwhile. First of all we have put in a new entrance in the middle of the winery to make access easier and more attractive. We have got rid of the old harvest hopper - a vestige of the previous owner - and will create a new reception area to show off the old wooden presses and lovely oak vats.
Rachel has been very busy sorting out the courtyard, cutting down the bamboo to open the views to Canigou, planting fruit trees and shrubs around the borders and creating a new facade for the tractor shed. All in preparation for Vin Art at Easter.
30/12/2010 Three Peaks again chosen as the best value wine from the Roussillon
The most important wine website in Germany www.wein-plus.de has tasted, rated and reviewed all the Roussillon wines that are sold in Germany. The Three Peaks was awarded the highest rating for all wines under 10€.
18/11/2010 A few days in England
A week last Saturday I was rolling barrels around the winery. On Sunday morning I did a farmer's market in Trouillas village (more about that later) and on Sunday evening I was in Cambridge discussing the schedule for the next few days with Stewart Travers of Cambridge Wine Merchants.
On Monday I was reminded of the nightmare that driving around England has become. Three hours to cover 65 miles from Cambridge to Oxford! Caryl Penman, of Chateau Rives Blanques, and I were presenting our wines to the Stewards of the Oxford colleges - the largest wine buyer in the world and hence people who really know their stuff. Despite Le Secret being corked, it looks like Domaine Treloar will be in those historic cellars soon.
That evening we presented our wines to the young and enthusiastic staff of Cambridge Wine Merchants. One of the guys had built a whole cabinet showing the links between our wines and Bruce Springsteen. That guy received one of my new "This Hard Land" T-shirts.
On Tuesday we visited Midsummer House, the 2-star Michelin restaurant who lists our wines and then went through the wines which have been chosen by The Chop House. I was impressed by the high level of interest shown by their young team. In the eveing I hosted a Game dinner at the St John Chop House. Then menu featured rarities such as Rook and Squirrel alongside Hare, Wild Mallard and Venison Liver. I was very pleased with how well the wines (red and white) went with the dishes.
Early Wednesday morning I headed off to London for the Outsiders tasting at the Maison du Languedoc in Cavendish Square. I've been excited about this event for a long time and it lived up to expectations. The 12 of us showed what a diverse and exciting region this is for making wine, especially when you apply new skills and ideas. There were over 70 visitors covering the cream of British wine writing - Andrew Jefford, Anthony Rose, Tim Atkin, Simon Woods - and the trade - The Wine Society, Laithwaites, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Leon Stolarski and many more.
On Thursday I met up with a group of old friends from my previous life. Of course they wanted to know how it was all going and it was fantastic to be able to show them that day's Evening Standard which had a article featuring Treloar among the the best Roussillon wines.
17/10/2010 Article in Mana magazine
Mana is a very attractive Maori culture magazine in New Zealand. In issue 96 they have published an article about us. The text starts with "What's a wine with a Maori name doing in France?"
The article tells the story which can also be found on this website here but also includes an interesting piece of Treloar family history which can be downloaded.
It's a great article and will hopefully make some enterprising New Zealand wine importer realise that Treloar is not just another hard-to-sell Languedoc wine.
12/10/10 Harvest report
2010 has been our most challenging year so far. The weather has been unconventional
and we've also taken on a further 3 hectares of old vines for a project
with our German importer, Rindchen's.
Harvest lasted exactly one month. Beginning on the 28th August with Muscat petits grains and ending on the 28th September with Mourvedre, as usual.
Like many local producers, our yields are lower than usual but fortunately for us we have not lost whole vineyards to hail. So me must be thankful for that.
This
year we have made some exciting small batches of wine including a 100% Carignan
and 3 barrels hand-selected from the oldest Syrah vineyard in the commune.
The character is more like Cote Rotie than Roussillon and I have high hopes
for this wine.
Our 2010 harvest team was one of the best. Helped by three great students from Plumpton College - Tom (who has been here twice before), Janet and Helen. We were also joined by Jill, an old friend from New York.
The new barrels should be arriving this week then we can get the wines safely tucked up in their oak homes for the next 12 months.
Here are the pickers enjoying the now famous Treloar Coffee and Croissants...
28/5/10 Fabulous reviews from Jancis Robinson
Jancis lists us among her favourite 30 producers in the whole of the Languedoc-Roussillon. Not bad considering there are 3000 of us to choose from.
At Vinisud we had the pleasure of meeting the exuberent Tamlyn Currin who is part of Jancis's small but highly talented tasting and writing team.
Jancis has now published her article on "Strangers in the Languedoc" (subscribers only) which features Domaine Treloar. It tells our story much better than I have ever managed to do and the critical reviews of our wines are still making me blush. Click here for the tasting notes.
15/5/10 Is the The Year of the Volcano?
2010 is turning out to be a very odd year weather-wise. First we had a very dry winter, then a foot of snow in March, followed by a hot spell when the Icelandic volcano stopped flights. Then it turned very cold with driving rain for 2 weeks in April and early May. Now the rain has stopped and La Tramontane has arrived with winds of up to 50kmh.
Despite this weirdness the vines are looking pretty healthy and the weather has actually reduced the need to spray against the usual mildews. Traditional farmers (organic and conventional) have been wasting time and money on chemicals but I haven't sprayed anything yet. That's Sustainable Viticulture.
5/5/10 New Shipments to Canada
We are pleased to announce that some of our wines will shortly be available in Ontario and Alberta.
For Ontario, please contact Pascale Daignault at Oakpoint Wines or on 519-337-5288.
For Alberta, please contact Marc Vigneron of Nobilis Wine Importers on 403-296-0170
1/5/10 Wine Educators Visit
A rather embarrasing start to the day. It was booked in the diary for 8:30 Saturday morning. Where was I? In bed reading "Bad Science". Whoops! Quick shower, brush teeth, off we go...
An hour in the vineyard discussing Richard Smart's theories on viticulture, why I believe Sustainable Viticulture is more ecological than Organics, the truth and the myths of terroir and the various diseases that affect grapevines.
It was a very interesting visit, for me as well as the group, because of the questions.
Follow the link for more information on the classes and tours run by the Association of Wine Educators
1/3/10 One Block wins Gold Medal 
Our One Block Grenache was entered in the Berlin Wine Trophy by our German importer Rindchen's Weinkontor and came away with a gold medal. Not having known that the wine was even in the competition, we are naturally pleased with the news.
What is happening all too often is that by the time the results of tastings or competitions are published, the recommended vintage has all been bought. As I feel that our wines are improving all the time, mainly due to the effects of my vineyard work, this is not really a problem.
4/2/10 We now have a UK Agent
We are pleased to announce that our wines are now being represented in the UK by Hallgarten Druit. We'll still be available through our existing merchants but we are hoping that Hallgarten will help us reach new customers that we couldn't supply directly. It will also save me a lot of paperwork and those uncomfortable phone calls prospecting merchants.
As part of their UK roadshow, I'll be presenting our wine at France Under One Roof at Lords Cricket Ground on 10th March.
14/1/10 Three Peaks - The Best Value wine in the Region
Gerhart Eichelmanns, a highly-respected German wine journalist has listed our Three Peaks as the best value-for-money wine out of 1500 Roussillon wines tasted during his exhaustive tour of the region. The notes are published in "Mondo 57".
6/1/10 Love That Roussillon
Over the holidays we had the pleasure of welcoming Ryan O'Connor. Ryan wears two hats. He's the winemaker of O'Vineyards in the Cotes de la Malpere and the author and director of Love That Languedoc, a video blog of the wines and winemakers of the Languedoc-Roussillon. We had a good old chat while tasting the new Rose and my white wines. Move over Oz Clarke, I think we have a new on-screen wine personality! Watch the video here.