Most of the time in the wine trade we get really carried away with things like soil, climate, trellising, pruning, picking dates...the list goes on. Lost you already? While all of this is crucial to the wine, what is the basic thing we all really want? A delicious glass of wine at an honest price. If we can also trust and appreciate the source, even better. In an age when we are more and more concerned about knowing the origin of our food, supporting our local fruit and veg guy, our local butcher, why not also our wine? We should be talking about the growers. The guys who sweat in 40 degree heat and freeze in gale force winds in winter. These are the people whose livelihood can be wiped out with one bad storm. Sometimes we get so distracted by the technicalities of the vineyards and winemaking that we forget to talk about where it all starts. Without these passionate and, more importantly, stubborn and perservering vignerons we wouldn't be able to enjoy some of the greatest wines, the ones that don't come from big corporate brands or famous château. When you're on holiday in France, Spain or Italy, don't you ever drive past vineyards and wonder who they belong to and where you can drink their wine?
So here are just a few of those stories. After spending a week in the Roussillon, it's clear there are so many fantastic wines yet to venture out of this corner of France. Here's the place I'm talking about (thanks Wine Atlas!):
Think hot hot summers, gusty winds and the sun-baked Catalan coast lined with vineyards that almost plunge into the sea. And two distinct styles of wine: predominantly rich inky dark reds, and wines in the style of Port or Madeira, Vins Doux Naturels, that can rival the best of this style of wine. There's nothing subtle about this area, and neither are the wines: honest, warm, enticing, hedonistic, just like the people. Designed to be enjoyed in the best southern spirit of convivialité and joie de vivre. Made to be shared.
Here is a snapshot of a few very different producers from Maury down to Collioure and Banyuls. The Catalan corner of France.
Jean Charles Duran has spent his life in the vines. Once selling his crop to the local cooperative, he decided to go it alone and make his own wine, believing he could produce something really special and distinct. His vines have been in his family for generations, many are nearly 100 years old, and are located in some of the best sites around Maury. He's practising organic viticulture, even if he's not actually certified: it would be a nightmare having to sort out all the documents for certification, and he'd rather spend that money on the vineyards and making better wine. Given how much time it takes to look after the vineyards, probably best he doesn't bother with the paperwork. A lot of his vines are on steep slopes and require a lot of care and intensive attention. It's obvious he spends most of his time with them - he's a shade of brown I'll never achieve living in England (or even out of a bottle!).
You can see that no money is wasted on a fancy building or high tech equipment. The wines are made in a space not much bigger than a garage with just the necessary machinery. But Jean Charles doesn't need anything else: with dark powerful Grenache, Carignan and Syrah, he doesn't even need to worry about barrels. The wines are so big and rich that the fruit speaks for itself. Full-bodied and fruity, yet brilliantly complex, these reds are of a quality that would sell for twice the price from a region like the Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I tasted everything he had in tank and would happily drink these as my go-to drop of choice at home. But without a route to market, Jean Charles may not be able to keep his vines. He can't afford fancy marketing or travel to international fairs to drum up business (language also being a barrier) and besides this would take up precious time when his vines need him to be there. He needs a helping hand or we'll soon see old vines disappear, and with them the diversity and character that producers like Jean Charles offer. In fact, Jean Charles is so understatedly charmant that I volunteered to help with the harvest on the spot! I've since checked my diary...not sure I can make it (I hear it's super hot and very hard work...).
From the hot baked inland area around Maury, we now move to the picturesque seaside towns of Banyuls and Collioure. Made famous by impressionist painters who appreciated the light and Mediterranean way of life, the towns should be equally famous for both the dry and port-like wines that have been made here for a long time. The AOC Collioure is used for all dry wines, and the AOC Banyuls designates the Vins Doux Naturels of the region.
In the picture above you can just make out a vineyard on the headland that reaches almost all the way to the sea. In years gone by, the harvest would be collected on boats and shipped to the wineries for vinifcation. This may not be the case anymore but you can see why it is still perilous to make wine here: with harvesting done by hand and steep slopes, one false move and it could be an unrehearsed dive into the Med! Luckily Mas Blanc hasn't lost anyone yet, and they've been in the business for a long time.
Jean Michel Parcé is the latest of many generations to make wine under the Domaine name. It has been a family property since 1639, not a bad run! Jean Michel's been at the helm since 1976. People in the know might recognise this producer: at over 2,000 euros, Mas Blanc's top wine (tiny production) is the Roussillon's most expensive bottle. I wasn't lucky enough to taste it - understandably they don't open a bottle every day - but I did get to taste their wonderful Collioure reds including some brilliant single vineyard wines. And this is where preceptions need to be challenged. Often thought of as a region producing rustic, baked, hot wines, there is so much elegance and freshness offered by the best producers with the best vineyards. Some of Mas Blanc's wines would easily be picked as Burgundies in a blind line-up, and smart ones at that. Here you find finesse and wines capable of great aging. I've been told it's all about the schist but we won't go into all that business about soils right now...
Domaine San Sébastien is the new kid on the block in terms of producing wines under their own name but in fact Remould's family have been vignerons in the region for generations. Using all this family know-how he has embarked on a project to make full bodied powerful but elegant AOC Collioure wines. He's bought an old winery up in the hills around Banyuls, hidden away up gravel roads among bushland and old vines. And down in Banyuls itself, he has a cellar door where you can taste and buy all of his wines. He talks quickly, I'm sure to keep up with all the projects he has racing through his mind: he seems to be a whirlwind of activity.
I really liked the 2012 Domaine San Sébastien, AOC Collioure. The wine spends one year in oak but it is not at all dominating. It is a complex wine where the fruit shines through: black cherry and dark berries, a hint of black olive. It packs a punch but there is an underlying freshness which makes you want to keep on drinking.
And to round off the week, we popped in to taste all the wonderful old vintage Banyuls at Cave l'Etoile. You can't visit this part of the world and not fall for these luscious old Vins Doux Naturels packed full of caramel, dried fruits and christmas pudding. This is the cooperative in the region: it started in the 1920s when nine relatives and friends pulled together their resources to make the wine now synonymous with the area. Now there are more growers providing grapes to the coop but they are all small holders who rely on the harvest to survive.
These old vintage Banyuls were so good that I actually fainted (ok maybe it was the heat but it sounds better if we blame the wine!). There are younger paler versions with more rancio flavours, and then there are the older vintage rimage style wines. We tasted wines over 30 years old which still have a remarkable liveliness that makes them much easier to drink than something like port.
Whatever style of wine, this south west tip of the French Med coast offers wines worth a lot more than their price (something i should never say as a buyer...shhhh...) Not all the growers have the money to invest in marketing or entering competitions to get the medals they deserve, instead spending all of their very hard earned cash investing in the vineyards, the best barrels and producing wines that more of us should be drinking.
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