It’s hard for normal people to understand what harvest means to a winemaker. It’s an intense moment (a moment that can last a month) in which a whole year of hard labor takes substance. So much can happen in so few days. And since I’m in a slightly later-harvesting portion of the region, I always get to watch the signs of harvest at my neighbors’ before things really take off at O’Vineyards.
Seeing the turned over fruit crates and empty buckets gets me all worked up.
As early as 2 weeks ago, I was getting reports about precocious harvests in some parts of the Roussillon and Limoux. Now, we’re getting to the bulk of harvest season. Even though I won’t be harvesting until mid September, I can still share all the Languedoc buzz that’s going down today.
A friend of mine just posted this video interview at Grange des Peres, and it’s everything you’d expect. Laurent Vaillé is the enigmatic and reclusive winemaker at the heart of this property, and he would sooner kick you out of the tasting room than wax poetic about his wine.
This interview captures his disarming charm in the awkward silence after questions, in the quiet giggles, and so on. My kind of interview! Well done, Obiwine! And I’m glad there’s some footage with the dad Alain too. All very cool.
For the wine nerds
I often claim that I’m writing this blog for people who just like wine and don’t necessarily obsess over it. So I’ll step back from that claim for a second and say that this next bit is very nerdy. In my mind, there are several important Languedoc personalities around Aniane and two of them are pretty much direct neighbors. There are certain overt similarities between their projects, and then they’re almost exact opposites in every other way imaginable. And I am fascinated by this pair of great men.
From the beginning of the video, JJ Carré sets up how special Grange des Pères is, notably because its a Cabernet intensive wine. Since Cabernet Sauvignon is not an indigenous grape varietal to the south of France, this choice forces Domaine de la Grange des Pères to abandon their French AOC status and instead be labeled as simple Vin de Table. This is a truly rebellious move.
Vaillé alludes to his training at Trevallon, an estate in Provence that also works with Cabernet Sauvignon (with remarkable results!) But whether we’re with his dad Alain Vaillé on the hilltop parcel of vines above Aniane or down by the irrigation canal with Laurent, I can’t help but notice the elephant in the vineyard. The subject nobody is talking about.
The big reference here that nobody seems to be mentioning is that the direct neighbor of Grange des Peres also planted Cabernet Sauvignon in this area (in the 70s) and also makes an expensive vin de table with it. Now, having tasted both of these properties, I assure you that they are very very different. And I’m only bringing this up because there’s such a charming and unlikely dichotomy formed by these two neighbors. A dichotomy which adds a lot of color to the region.
Laurent Vaillé is a quiet man, his answers to every question seem restrained and shy. He’s known for being a bit reclusive and journalists often have a hard time getting in touch. He’s not afraid to say no to a visit even if it’s a critic or other emblematic wine figure. In his first vintage, the 15 hectare property only produced a few thousand bottles. Grange des Peres is a remarkable wine that (whenever I taste it) almost always seems a year or two older than it says on the label (perhaps a sign of that elegance and maturity he refers to during the interview!). And Laurent’s only forty something but he seems like a very sage winemaker with a lot of patience and an ability to wait quietly.
A few minutes away, you’ll find Aimé Guibert at the Mas de Daumas Gassac. This neighbor is also making a top quality wine with its own style and flavor. But even when I’m drinking 8 or 9 year old vintages from Daumas Gassac, I always feel like I’m drinking his wines too young. And the man seems that way to me too. He’s 80-something, but he’s still incredibly alert and bouncing off the walls at times. His demeanor is so comically opposed to Vaillé’s that I can’t help but think about them in a room together. Guibert is boisterous and press-savvy, and he always seems to have the right answer on the tip of his tongue. Vaillé seems quiet and withdrawn, uncertain that any of the questions even have “right answers”. They’re really wonderfully different.
And yet they both have this sort of steadfast, rebellious defiance about them.
Anyway, this has been a tangent, but I really hope it’s a fun insight into Aniane. You have these two winemakers who both seek out excellence. And they have totally different personalities. But they’re both sort of infamous for being rebels. It’s wacky. I hope neither of them gets pissed off by this write-up because I like what they’ve done and what they continue to do for the region. But even if it does irk one or both of them, I have my rebellious side to think about too. ;D
Oh boy. So I got to fly over some of my favorite places in the Languedoc in one of Gerard Bertrand’s helicopters. Naturally we started and ended at two of his vineyards: Cigalus in Boutenac Corbieres and L’Hospitalet in La Clape. The journey took me over the northeastern portion of the Corbieres, the etangs (type of marshland) around Bages and Gruissan and the Massif de la Clape.
These are all landmarks that define the department of Aude in the Languedoc. These are some of my favorite places, and it was great to see them from above.
The big thing to take in is that the Languedoc and Aude in particular has a varied terrain with lots of peaks and valleys, plateaus, hills, and so on. These differing reliefs run right up to the coast and provide a wonderful backdrop for planting grapevines. They drain well and they create many different microclimates in close proximity. The Languedoc is a land of diversity!
I also tried to caption a few photos from the ride so that you can be more certain of what you’re seeing when.
The landmarks in the video that people ask about most are the pink rectangles near Gruissan’s beachfront. Those are salins or salt pans where sea salt is harvested from the brine that is left behind after the sun evaporates sea water. The pink color comes from a microalgea called Dunaliella salina. Not all salt pans have this beautiful shade of pink and most fleur de sel I’ve seen in other regions retain a sort of grayish color rather than the pink one.
taking off from cigalus in boutenac corbieres
the garrigue plants resist hot, dry summers in the languedoc
vines beside garrigue in boutenac corbieres
aerial view of garrigue in the corbieres with helicopter shadow
aerial view of garrigue and corbieres mountains
waving goodbye to domaine cigalus and the buses
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
corbieres mountains
vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights
corbieres
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast
passing over the mountains and approaching the mediterranean coast
crossing the autoroute A9
vines vines vines in the corbieres…we make a lot of wine in the Languedoc
corbieres right up to the coast
corbieres right up to the coast and bages in the side of the frame
Bages in the corbieres in aude
etang de bages et de sigean
bages projects into the etang de bages et de sigean
our crazy pilot
etangs on the mediterranean coast
marshes along the coast
the land gets a bit flatter as you near narbonne
etangs dans l’aude
etangs dans l’aude
etangs dans l’aude
gruissan in aude
Gruissan vines in the south of France
Gruissan in languedoc
Gruissan in languedoc
salt pans of gruissan and their notable pink color
salins de gruissan
from above, the salt pans of gruissan look like pink rectangles
salins de gruissan et leur couleur rose qui marque le fleur de sel
pink rectangular salt pans of gruissan
gruissan is a beautiful beach town
Gruissan is a beach town in the languedoc roussillon
Gruissan is a beach town in aude
Gruissan is a beach town near narbonne
etang du grazel
gruissan
gruissan
gruissan plage
gruissan sand banks
gruissan sand banks near narbonne in aude
nearing the massif de la clape in a helicopter
over le massif de la clape in a helicopter
flying over vineyards on la clape
massif de la clape
massif de la clape
approaching l’hospitalet on massif de la clape in a helicopter
approaching vineyard in a helicopter
trees and garrigue at l’hospitalet on la clape
vineyards in la clape with plateau in background
hospitalet landing pad
hospitalet vines
the shadow of our helicopter on hospitalet vines as we do a the first half of a barrel roll
vines around l’hospitalet
flying over l’hospitalet in La Clape
landing at l’hospitalet on the massif de la clape
Enjoy the pictures and video! I hope you all get a chance to experience the massive beauty of the region one day.
Earlier this year, a group of bloggers participated in a very interesting introduction to the Costieres de Nimes.
Costieres de Nimes
As I mentioned in last year’s Secret Wine competition, Costieres de Nimes is an interesting wine country that sits between the Languedoc and Rhone (both geographically and stylistically). This unique position allows them to create their own style of elegant, rich wines.
A few observations:
Mostly red and rosé; syrah, grenache, etc.
Most producers I met seemed to have relatively large properties (40+ hectares)
about 100 wineries and 400-some growers.
Approximately 4500 hectares
mixed agriculture and viticulture
The vines were at least 3 weeks ahead of schedule in May 2011
I just popped a bottle of Chateau Mourgues du Gres yesterday with my dad. It was one of my favorite producers from the trip, and the bottle I brought home was just as good as I remembered. Here’s a video of the winemaker at Mourgues du Gres recorded by Christian Pennaud from Vinblog.
Costieres de Nimes is a region where people can make rich wines with a lot of balance. My kind of place.
I might also note that this is a slightly more agrarian landscape than many parts of the south of France. Beside vineyards, you could find fruit orchards, squash gardens, and other signs that there’s a little more water in the Costieres de Nimes than you might find in the heights of the Coteaux du Languedoc. It’s not ALL garrigue here. And that’s not a bad thing. The ultimate proof that this is an interesting terroir is that we tasted great wine (and enjoyed a beautiful walk too!)
Vignes Toquées
The Vignes Toquées event is a really wonderful opportunity to taste wine in context amidst the vines. You walk along a route that connects six vineyards. Each vineyard has a food station so that, by the end of the day, you’ve had a six course meal, tasted dozens of wines, and seen several different properties.
You really get to roam around where the wine comes from. See the vines. Kick the dirt. Feel the Mediterranean sunshine (and this May, it was out IN FORCE).
The biggest problem with tasting wine this way is that you can get really really hot (and somewhat exhausted). But the producers did an amazing job of keeping wines at temperature and the food was delicious. And they had lots of water at all the stations. Seasoned wine tasters know that water can be a rare commodity at some tasting events. But there was plenty here to keep us hydrated as we walked in the warm Mediterranean sunshine. Though I will admit that even I started to falter somewhere between the bull meat and the cheese course. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I was drinking more water than wine by the end of the walk (liters of both! ;D)
All in all, these sort of ballades gourmandes are really awesome. Although you should remember to pace yourself!
Toward the end of the day, I caught up with Daniel Roche who has helped to organize the Vignes Toquees and other ballades gourmandes around the region. He refused to take credit for how well the event ran, but you can tell he’s very pleased! “Il faisait beau. Il fasait chaud. Mais on est comme-même dans une région de chaleur et de soleil donc c’est bien qu’il faisait beau et chaud!”
What kind of people come to Vignes Toquees?
I also love how varied the crowd was. French and foreign. Young and old. People came as couples, family outings, or just a fun day with friends. It’s great to see that the event appeals to such a diverse array of people.
English | Ryan O'Connell August 25, 2011 | 
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