I love sweet wines so when I saw that the French Winophiles group was writing about French dessert wines, I thought I would join for the first time. I’m part of a blogging circle about Italian wines but thus far haven’t join the Francophiles. In truth, I am a Francophile of longstanding. I majored in French in college, lived in Dijon and grew up in a home where everything French was considered at a higher level. My life has led me to spend more time and thought on Italy these last 15 years but I am making my way back to France and all things French.

Today’s wine is one that I had on a Sunday. Sundays are always a mixed bag for me. Like many people I like the weekend and am always sad to see it end. To cure my malaise, this week I decided to sweeten the last hours of Sunday as I cooked tomato sauce. I also like to drink sweet wines on Sundays. Give me a glass of sweet wine over dessert any day of the week. This one was a Vin Doux Naturel from Maury, Le Coume du Roy. Maury is a French town near the Spanish border in the Languedoc-Roussillon. The climate is hot and the soil in this area is black schist.

This wine is made from grenache and is a sweet oxidized Vin Doux Naturel. VDN are made by the addition of alcohol to stop the fermentation process. Some 90% of France’s VDN come from this region, according to Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s “The Concise World Atlas of Wine.” La Coume du Roy is a very old winery in the town of Maury, founded in 1850. The sixth generation is now managing the winery. The current owners are Agnès and Jean-François Bachelet who work to preserve the tradition and learning of the previous generations. They make vins doux naturels and Muscat de Rivesaltes.

This wine is enveloping, with beautiful black fruit, dried fig, plum and an layered but not cloying mouthfeel. It is a great wine to surprise people who think you can only drink Port or Sauternes after a meal. I can’t wait to visit the Languedoc-Roussillon region. I hope to do so soon. In the meantime though, I wish everyone a good weekend and happy holidays. Sante!.

In December’s French Winophiles segment we call upon active wine writers, pulling from them the phrases and impressions to describe the lovely experience of drinking French dessert wines.
Join us on Saturday, December 16th at 10am CST on Twitter. Find the hashtag #Winophiles and explore our questions and answers, photos and articles, recipes and travel plans.

Here’s what our French Winophiles will be sharing:

• Quince Crumble with Lillet Blanc Cordials created by Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Affordable France: Bordeaux Reds and Sauternes Wines served by Gwen at Wine Predator
• 2010 Cave de Rasteau “Signature” Vin Doux Naturel and Brutti Ma Buoni written by Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• 2011 Châteu Grand-Jauga Sauternes presented by Amber at Napa Food and Vine
• The Sweet Secret of Barsac: Château Doisy-Daëne comes from Lynn at Savor the Harvest
• But First, Dessert! Get to Know French Dessert Wines with Liz at What’s in that Bottle
• Revealing Roussillon’s Sweeter Side from Michelle at Rockin Red Blog
• When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Sauternes with Jeff at FoodWineClick!
• How to Pair Sauternes with Dessert served up by Jane at Always Ravenous
• Dessert Wines from Southern France from Jill at L’Occasion
• Discovering Maury AOC with Susannah at Avvinare