8 Languedoc Roussillon Winemakers from the Great Beyond

ViniSud is coming up soon, a huge trade fair with a massive amount of Mediterranean wines. I gather that a lot of Love That Languedoc readers might be in attendance this year. If it’s your first time at ViniSud, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. So I’ve been writing some lists and guides to help newcomers navigate ViniSud.

This is one of those lists. And since all the producers also Love That Languedoc, I thought I’d go ahead and put them on this site instead of the O’Vineyards blog.

The Outsiders

I belong to The Outsiders, a group of winemakers in the region who all originate from elsewhere.  A lot of us are presenting at ViniSud.  We’re doing an event together at the Pavilion 2.0 on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.  So those are great opportunities to taste our wines in one place.

More about the Pavilion 2.0 tastings on Monday and Tuesday.  RSVP on Facebook

And if you miss those events or just want to delve deeper into one of our members in particular, here’s a list with stand numbers and a wine they’ll be showcasing, explained by the winemakers themselves.  Enjoy!

Pinacle Syrah 2002 – Domaine de Sainte Rose
Cotes de Thongue – Hall 1, stand A8
Ten years ago, we moved to France, bought a vineyard, set up two businesses and started a family all at the same time!  To remind ourselves never to try and do that again all at once we have released a rather special wine from that first, rather stressful vintage!  Come and visit us at Vinisud and you can try the very exclusive, bottle aged 2002 Pinacle Syrah.  It is a huge wine, made with our real blood, sweat and tears and it is a living testimony that Languedoc wines can and do age well!

Occitania 2010,  the only 100% barrel-vinified Mauzac in the Limoux appellation.   We are particularly partial to this wine, maybe because we drank up the whole of the first vintage ourselves – nobody else would even taste it, let alone buy it.  Happy to say, the wine now sells out every year.   Mauzac is an old, traditional grape variety that has been growing in Limoux for over 600 years, used for Blanquette, the region’s famous fizz.   We have set aside two (organic) hectares of uncloned 50-year old vines for Occitania, and we’ll have a bottle of the latest vintage with us on at 9A70.

Domaine Jones Blanc 2010 by Domaine Jones
Roussillon – Hall 11, Aisle D, Stand 64 (Tuesday only!!)

The new vintage of Jones blanc 2011 has been desperate to get out and show itself off to the world.  Up Until now I have kept it back to mature and mellow just that little bit longer but on Tuesday the 21 st February I can hold it no longer and the Jones blanc Grenache Gris 2011 will be revealed to the world (or at least visitors to Vinisud).

Cuvée Henri 2008 by Château de Combebelle
Saint Chinian – Hall 9, Stand 9C18

For the first time, we will be presenting a magnum of 2008 “Cuvée Henri” (only like 150 produced). Made exclusively from a single vineyard on the estate and aged in 500l barrels for 2 years, this wine reflects our intensity and passion!  The bottle commemorates the birth of Henri into our family and a further addition to the family named Hugo may also be present (depending on its drinkability at the time!)  That is another single vineyard wine made exclusively from 70 year old Grenache.

Related Posts:

• Languedoc-Roussillon Wineries with Facebook Pages and Vineyards on Facebook
• What is Love that Languedoc?
• Harvest starting in the Languedoc
• Chateau Puech Haut Fantasy Dinner – Love That Languedoc Episode 50
• Virgile’s Vineyard with Virgile Joly – Love that Languedoc ep. 12

Does Decanter Love The Languedoc?

Andrew Jeffords and Rosemary George tackled the Herculean task of writing an eight page feature to describe the Languedoc in the March issue of Decanter.  A region so diverse and adventuruous is incredibly hard to encapsule in just a few pages, so they focused on giving readers a taste of that diversity.  And I think they did a really fantastic job.

Andrew Jeffords explains the pleasure of discovery and adventure in the Languedoc:

“One of the reasons why I wanted to live in this area was discovery.  Sure, we could have moved to Dijon and I could have biked down to Vosne every Sunday and worshipped at the walls of Romanée-Conti, saving up for a bottle per decade, but where’s the pleasure in that?  Languedoc, by contrast, is a giant funfair complete with eye-popping rides and weird sideshows, flashing lights and duck shoots and test-your-strength bells. Some of its wines are impolite, barely house-trained; others are exciting enough to make your hair stand on end. I love it.”

After Jeffords’ brilliant introduction, Rosemary George digs into the meat of the Languedoc.  A blow by blow analysis of Faugeres, La Clape, Terrasses du Larzac, Limoux, Minervois la Liviniere, Cabardes, and Pic Saint Loup (and Pezenas gets its own feature later in the magazine, p 114).  Each area description tries to explain what makes it so special and I think she George does a great job creating an image of each appellation.  She also gets a couple namedrops in for each area so you can get a feel for some of the movers and shakers.

No ink about me this time, but that’s actually pretty encouraging!  This article is about how vibrant and unexpected the region is.  And in a way, I’m old news.  Since I started Love That Languedoc (years ago!?) dozens of new wineries have started up and dozens of wines have come to new levels of prominence.  This region is a vast sea and we’re seeing a rising tide that I hope will change the wine world forever.

Why people love the Languedoc

If you’d like to read the full article, another winemaker in Limoux has already uploaded it.

Related Posts:

• Helicopter over Corbieres and La Clape
• Love La Pèira – Love that Languedoc Episode 8
• 8 Languedoc Roussillon Winemakers from the Great Beyond
• Laurent Vaille – Grange des Peres
• Languedoc-Roussillon Wineries with Facebook Pages and Vineyards on Facebook

Harvest starting in the Languedoc

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.

Domaine d’Aupilhac, Montpeyroux

Grenache Blanc and Marsanne coming in by hand at the Domaine d’Aupilhac. Video by intrepid caviste and videographer, Trinque Fougasse.

Pech d’André, Minervois

Some Clairette at Pech d’André.

Le Couvent, Roujan

Bringing in Grenache in the foothills of the Parc Naturel du Haut Languedoc.

Château Pech-Céleyran, La Clape

Harvesting Sauvginon Blanc in Côtes de Pérignan (think La Clape)

Related Posts:

• 2011 Harvest updates from around the Languedoc
• Harvest Time in the South of France 2010
• Languedoc-Roussillon Wineries with Facebook Pages and Vineyards on Facebook
• 8 Languedoc Roussillon Winemakers from the Great Beyond
• 2011 Harvest Photos

Laurent Vaille – Grange des Peres

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

Related Posts:

• Visiting Mas Daumas Gassac with Aimé Guibert – Love that Languedoc Ep 18
• 8 Languedoc Roussillon Winemakers from the Great Beyond
• Does Decanter Love The Languedoc?
• Helicopter over Corbieres and La Clape
• Salon d’Aniane – Languedoc je t’aime