amarch34

Last Friday and Saturday, June 5th and 6th, was full steam ahead at Mas Coutelou, almost literally given the high temperatures. It was time to bottle some cuvées and especially one of the largest productions, the popular Classe.

The waning moon on Friday morning

The moon was descending so Jeff thought this a propitious time to bottle as this usually brings lower air pressure.

On Friday around 2,000 bottles were filled with 2 cuvées, Blanc Frisant and Tête À Claques. The former is a white wine made from Macabeu and Grenache Gris but it’s fermentation is halted to allow some residual sugar to remain, this ferments slightly in bottle and so creates a slight spritz making the wine even more refreshing. The 2014 had around 9g of residual sugar meaning there would be spritz without creating too much pressure that a special cork would be needed.

Bottling Blanc Frisant

Corking Blanc Frisant

End of the line with quality control tools awaiting

Tête À Claques is a special cuvée made for Roberson Wines in the UK and is usually destined for restaurants such as Hawksmoor. It is made from the same grapes as Vin Des Amis with added extras and is yet another winner. When I tweeted pictures of the bottling to them Roberson and Hawksmoor were so pleased they called it Coutelou Party!

View down the line

Tete A Claques, bottled and resting until it heads to London

Then preparations were made for Saturday as this would be a much bigger bottling, 11,500 bottles of Classe. Work began at 7am and ended around 6.30pm, non-stop. The team worked tirelessly even as temperatures outside reached 35c. Even after all the bottling there was work still to do. Everything had to be cleaned thoroughly, the bottling line, the tank where the wine developed the pump, everything. Hygiene is essential in all winemaking but especially when using no sulphites.

Friday evening, bottles ready to be put in place for Saturday’s bottling

The team needs some introduction. Michel is from Puimisson, has worked for Jeff for many years now and drives the team on with his knowledge of work in the vineyards and cellar. Honest, hard working and ever cheerful, Michel is a reflection of the wines he helps to produce.

Michel, supervising the moving of wine

Carole has featured many times in this blog with videos of her working in the vineyards, e.g. pruning and debudding. She is from the Loire and has worked in vineyards there and in other parts of France and other countries. She is a true expert, has great knowledge of wines and has great patience in talking me through the work she does. She also shared an excellent bottle of Domaine L’Ecu Muscadet Granit 2011, which was a revelation to me. In addition we shared a fantastic Cornas Brise Cailloux 2012 from Barret, fruity, long and structured beautifully.

When Carole talks everyone listens, including Icare

Renaud now lives in Puimisson and has started working for Jeff regularly in the last year. He works hard, has a mischievous sense of humour and is a good man to have around. He is learning from Michel and Carole and helps me a lot too.

Renaud, pictured in March, planting new vines

We also welcomed visitors to the cellar, including sommelière Sandra Martinez who brought along a very interesting wine from Domaine De Cressance in the Gard. Largely based on Chenanson, a new grape to me, apparently a cross of Grenache and Jurancon Noir. It was very good, long liquorice flavours and refreshing. Sandra and her friend Isabelle set to work with enthusiasm and became a welcome part of the team. The well known wine writer Guillaume Deschamps also called by, it was good to meet him as I have admired his writing for some time.

And of course there is the boss, Jeff himself. Passionate about his vines, his wines and nature. Tireless in working to make them healthy and top class, and doing so successfully. He knows every job, supervises his team, leads from the front. And has a great team who are loyal and willing to push themselves to help him to achieve his goals. They really are all Classe.

Jeff leading the line

Meanwhile they are all very tolerant and welcoming of this Englishman doing his best to learn and to help. I do some of the jobs around the cellar, stepping in when breaks were taken for example. Hopefully I do actually contribute! It is certainly a huge pleasure for me to be a part time member of the team.

Plus there is one other member of the team who keeps us all entertained and smiling. Icare.

Siesta, work can be too tiring

Food, at last!!

June 3, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

Doctor Doctor

Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy. -Alexander Fleming

A short addendum to the post about the problems of disease.

Recently when talking to a visitor to his cellar Jeff was asked about using sulphur. His answer is worth repeating. He said that treating vines is like when you have a cold. You start by using cold remedies, hot lemon, tisanes etc and it’s the same with vines. You treat them with the tisanes of horsetail, nettles and ferns.

However, sometimes the cold can become more serious and you have to seek help from a doctor with more drastic treatments. So too sulphur is the dramatic, interventionist treatment. You’d rather not have to use it but if needs must. It remains a natural treatment at least.

Which reminded me of some publicity material Mas Coutelou put out in January 🙂

June 1, 2015
by amarch34 5 Comments

There May be trouble ahead – disease

Version française

May was a drying month. Lots of sunshine with temperatures comfortably in the high 20s almost every day. However, this year was also marked by high winds. The Tramontane / Mistral blew for over a week and was truly maddening. Other winds meant the vines spent almost three weeks blowin’ in them.

With the rise in temperatures during the day and cool nights natural problems emerged. Oidium or powdery mildew showed itself first encouraged by the humidity resulting from daytime heat and cold nights.

Oidium on buds and leaves

This was followed by mildiou or downy mildew and vignerons all around the region were talking about its appearance by mid May. And in fact the high winds were helpful here, drying the vines and lessening the impact of mildew. At this stage if the vigneron can get on top of the disease then it is not a huge problem unlike if it were to get amongst the grapes later in the season as this could influence the taste of the wine.

Mildiou on a leaf near Margon

Mildiou scars and chemical treatment used to treat it (Margon)

Oidium can be treated by pesticides. Pesticides refers to any treatment which will get rid of problems, animal or fungal. Conventional vignerons will use chemicals or synthetic products to spray onto the vines. Organic producers also use a chemical, sulphur (I shall use the UK spelling of sulfur). Many non organic producers point out that sulphur is chemical and does damage life in the vineyard such as yeasts. Organic producers would counter that sulphur has little lasting effect especially on the soils and that sulphur is natural. The amount used will vary depending on the year, in 2014 Jeff used less than a quarter of the amount he had to use in 2013 when there was more oidium around. Other organic / natural producers will no doubt have used more as Jeff uses the least possible. Indeed on Saturday morning he was spraying between 2 and 5 in the morning as he feels that during the night the vines are more relaxed and take the sulphur better, so needing less of it. Not all vignerons would be doing that! In addition he uses horsetail weed and nettles in a tisane to treat the vines so as to use less sulphur. This practice is common amongst organic and biodynamic producers. Conventional producers can use various chemicals instead.

A conventional spray

Organic producers would say that these are absorbed by the plant rather than just being in contact with it and so the vine becomes resistant and needs more of the treatment. Many conventional vignerons would deny this and say that synthetic chemicals are longer lasting and reduce quantities.

This monstrous looking machine directs spray onto the vines more directly (Alignan du Vent)

Mildew is more complex. The traditonal treatment is copper, again a natural product but one which does leave its impact upon the soils and their ecosystem, for example killing worms and some mushrooms/fungae which support the soil. This inevitably draws criticism from conventional producers. Organic producers in one of the licensing bodies, Ecocert, are allowed to use up to 30kg per hectare over a 5 year period, averaging 6kg per year but amounts can vary annually according to the risk of mildew within the 5 year limit. Jeff used 2.9kg in 2013 but only 0.9kg in 2014 so well under the limits allowed.

So as a wine buyer you have choices to make. As ever much depends on the producer. There are some who spray chemicals in large quantities, usually for cheaper, bulk wines. Select wines by the producer if you know them, knowing that their practices aim to support the health of their soils and their vines.

Healthy flowering

However, May brought one final twist in its tail. Just as the winds helped relieve the problem of mildew they created a new problem. Jeff contacted me on Friday to say that coulure was showing in the Syrah vines of one vineyard. Coulure is the uneven development of grapes. Flowering is a highly delicate time for the vigneron as they are very fragile. The wind damaged some of them and the Syrah vines especially. Without a flower the grape can’t develop. So the bunch will have some but not all grapes, leading to reduced yields.

Coulure, missing flowers means missing grapes

Not a clear picture but you can see the uneven development

The remaining grapes will grow a little larger to compensate but not enough to make up the losses. Not good news, especially for lovers of Vin Des Amis like me. All the vigneron can do is wait and see how things develop, patience is required. As ever nature rules the day.

At least one member of the team is laid back!

May 28, 2015
by amarch34 5 Comments

It’s only natural

Version française

A month ago or so I wrote a piece about how some people seem to get very hot under the collar about natural wines. I thought that I would leave it there but the argument has come up again in French social media and I can’t help stirring the pot a little.

It actually started with a well known British writer who attended RAW the wine fair in London devoted to natural wines. His comments bugged me a little, saying that he was going but not sure why as the wines would be wild and murky. So why bother going if you’ve already made up your mind to dislike them?

There followed an article in Le Monde which upset many people because a) Le Monde hardly ever covers wine and b) having chosen to do so the article was an attack on conventional and organic winemaking and the use of sulphites and pesticides. Its preference for biodynamic and natural wines angered some with comments in response that included one claiming that organic wines tasted blind are ‘nefarious plonk’ (infâmes piquettes).

On Facebook one winemaker stated that he could tell those who like organic and natural wines at a dégustation because they are the sandal wearing ones who never smile. Clearly he hasn’t seen me!

Then today an interview with Stéphane Derenoncourt, well known winemaker and consultant in Bordeaux. He made some valid points about Bordeaux losing touch with reality because of its collector status and high prices and how lower down the scale Bordeaux winemakers are suffering and out of fashion. So far so much in agreement. But then a final statement in which he attacked natural wines as undrinkable and badly made. Out of the blue. Now he may have been asked this as a final question to make headlines for the new magazine in which the interview is a feature but it did seem somewhat gratuitous.

Why are these people so angry and hostile towards natural wine and even organic and biodynamic wines?

I suspect because they are trendy and therefore some might see them as a fad which will disappear.

Partly because some in the natural wine movement do proselytise rather and other wine makers must get fed up of being told they are damaging the earth etc. Understandable. Many conventional winemakers do minimise their use of pesticides and see the use of sulphur and copper as part of organic winemaking as rather hypocritical.

Perhaps it’s the lack of clarity about what constitutes natural wine, but then those who make it often don’t like regulations. But they do not follow the winemaking which many were brought up with and educated in so it makes them uncomfortable.

However, to dismiss all natural wines as murky bacterial soups is nonsense and lazy generalising. Yes there are some bad natural wines, bad organic wines and bad biodynamic wines. But equally there are many more examples of bad conventional wines. There are many great wines in all categories.

Ironically I was at a very good tasting this morning of older vintages of conventional wines from around France including excellent Grand Cru Chablis 1989, Vieux Télégraphe Chateauneuf Du Pape 1996 and Le Pape Sauternes 2005. There is room for all kinds of wine and personal choice is paramount. I like some wines, I don’t like others. I like conventional, organic, biodynamic and natural wines. I do not criticise a type of wine and, by extension, those who like them. I do not generalise about types of wine and those who drink them.

It’s only natural. So calm down, enjoy a glass of wine and try before you criticise. It’s Languedoc Wine Day tomorrow (May 29th) so make it a Languedoc wine, in whatever style you prefer.

May 25, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

Flowering

Version francaise

During the last week the vines have started to change, again. Flowering (Floraison) has begun in Puimisson. The buds (boutons) which formed in the last few weeks and divided on the grappes are starting to flower as you can see in the photo. The boutons have little hoods (capuchons) which protect the forming flower and as they fall away the flower emerges. Technically it is officially called floraison when 50% of the buds have flowered but the process is usually given the name.

Capuchons on some of the buds

The flowers are in the form of stamens or pistils. Vines self fertilise and the pollen produced in the anther part of the stamen will be carried into the ovule of the pistil. The vines have no need for bees or other insects to pollinate and fertilise them despite popular belief. The flowers will then give way to the fruit, as with other fruit and vegetables.

Pistils and stamens are evident in this vine in Rome vineyard

Floraison is also a marking point in the vineyard calendar as traditionally there are 100 days between the flowering of the bud and the harvesting of the grape. In reality it is the white grape producing vines and precocious ones at that which are flowering, though the rest will follow in the next couple of weeks. So plans can be made for the harvest, the countdown starts … but let’s enjoy summer first.

Tendrils clinging to the wires

May 21, 2015
by amarch34 Leave a comment

A number of tasting events

I have updated the Tastings page with a number of events including Montpeyroux Portes Ouvertes, Saint Saturnin Printemps du Vin, Coteaux Du Languedoc 30th anniversary and two natural wine events in Adissan and Béziers. Lots of good wines, some great wines and some recommendations.

May 14, 2015
by amarch34 Leave a comment

May – the force be with you

La Garrigue, vines flourish in the ploughed soils

Version francaise

An old French saying runs as follows

“Nul ne sait ce que vaudra le vin

Avant du mois de mai la fin.”

( How the wine will turn out no-one can say, before the end of the month of May)

Hopefully the rest of this post will be better than my rhyming translation. The point is however, that May is the turning point. The preparation of pruning, ploughing and pampering paves the way for the lush growth of May. In the wild vines grow in forests and are climbing plants using trees to help them reach sunlight so that photosynthesis can take place to feed the grapes and their seeds. Cultivated vines still climb relentlessly and the growth is stunning to see. Tendrils reach for the sky pulling the vine higher and the leaves fill out.

Tendrils reach up

The buds have grown showing the development of the bunches and these in turn are now dividing ready for the start of flowering which will bring pollination and then the fruit.

Early buds

The grappes divide

The division accelerates

As for the vignerons it has become a very busy time. In the vineyards a second ploughing to prepare the soils with organic matter as they need help to sustain their rapid growth. In addition the first treatments of pesticides to protect the new growth. Insects are also growing fast and tender buds, leaves and shoots are welcome nourishment. Conventional vignerons use chemical sprays, those who prefer a lutte raisonnée use synthetic chemicals which do less damage to the soils.

Conventional spraying

A spraying machine with octopus like arms to reach different rows of vines, this one is used on a conventional vineyard

For organic producers the choice is a little diluted sulphur (some use more than others) but also treatments based on plants such as nettles, horsetail weeds and ferns. I shall be picking up this topic in a later post as it is a controversial issue.

Tractor with tank of organic treatment for spraying

The other risk has been the development of mildew. Powdery mildew (oidium) is a threat as colder nights and hot days encourage humidity which oidium requires. The first signs appeared this week (May 10-17) and this is why sulphur and horsetail are used in the spray.

Oidium, powdery mildew, photographed this week. Happily the only vine affected in Peilhan

The nettles and ferns act as insecticides. I am told that mildiou or downy mildew is also appearing in some vineyards in the area though not so far at Mas Coutelou, fingers crossed it stays away.

The other major job in the vineyard has been ébourgeonnage, the removal of some of the lush growth of the vines, sometimes also known as épamprage. They are so fertile at present that the vines need to be cut back so that their energy is not dissipated on surplus leaves and growth.

Carole ties a young vine to support it

Carole is back in Puimisson and she demonstrated to me how ébourgeonnage works in the video below. She was working on newly grafted vines which won’t necessarily be producing much fruit this year but the process is the same. No prisoners are taken.

In the cellar work continues apace. As more of the 2014 wines are ready further bottling has been taking place. Not helped by the breakdown of one machine but older equipment was brought out to continue. In the picture you will see Jeff and Renaud corking a jereboam of Vin Des Amis. Magnums and even Balthazars were also bottled as well as the regular 75cl bottles. More deliveries were sent to various countries around Europe and the USA.

Jeff at the controls of the bottling machine

Magnums standing after bottling. They stand to allow the large corks to expand and seal the bottle. They will then be laid horizontally

A third part of the work is commercialisation and there have been a number of salons where amateurs and professionals have tasted the wines and placed orders or bought wine. Jeff has been to salons in Paris and in the Languedoc and will shortly be heading to the Loire. All time consuming but a necessary part of the job, sales are after all what keep the vines growing.

Finally the office work. France loves its bureaucracy and there are many hours of paperwork to complete. Daily record keeping of work done, treatments used, employment data etc etc etc.

So whilst May has been a beautiful month to be here in the Languedoc with temperatures now consistently high and sunshine aplenty the vignerons are working hard. Ironically France has numerous bank holidays in May, yet I know at least one vigneron who doesn’t get time off.

My favourite vineyard Rome is a lovely place to be at present, the work with the pioche (pick axe or hoe) and grass cutting has prepared the vines. Flowers, butterflies and birds enjoy the peace and shelter of this parcel, two partridges were there on Friday but sadly flew off before I could get my camera ready. The video shows Rome and its beautiful centurion gobelet vines and you can hear the birdsong in all its glory including a hoopoe.

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Flowers and (right) butterflies in Rome vineyard

May 4, 2015
by amarch34 Leave a comment

The year so far

The vineyards of Mas Coutelou

We are a third of the way through 2015 already and the work of making wine has been hard throughout those 4 months. I have put the links together to show a summary of everything that Jeff, Carole, Michel and Renaud have been up to so far. And occasionally me too.

January Part 1 – work in the vineyard

January Part 2 – Pruning (La taille)

February Part 1 – vineyards

February Part 2 – vineyards and grass

February Part 3 – ploughing (labours)

March Part 1 – new planting

March Part 2 – bottling (embouteillage)

March Part 3 – vineyards

April – vineyards

May 2, 2015
by amarch34 1 Comment

April – the vines they are a changin’

Version francaise

“Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown”

(Bob Dylan)

Magnificent old vine in Rome vineyard, a centurion

After a couple of months of dry and windy weather in the main April brought some relief for vignerons with some good rainfall. Indeed not so much April showers as steady rain on a couple of weekends. The results were immediate in terms of the vine growth as they have shot away in the last week or so as temperatures rise too.

Beginning of April, La Garrigue

Mid April, ploughing evident

End of April

The work of previous months continued; hard work, unglamorous work but vital work for the vineyards and domaines to prosper. I spoke to a very good producer (Plan de l’Homme) and he told me that the commercial side of winemaking is hard work. He was at a salon in Montpellier to celebrate 30 years of Coteaux du Languedoc, one of many salons throughout the month. He and others attend regularly to find buyers, especially cavistes. Deborah Core of Mas Gabriel assured me that such salons do pay for themselves and are worth the effort but they are hard work, long days of repeating the same information to tasters who all matter of course, though some are more receptive than others. Reminds me of being a teacher! I shall come back to the commercial side another time as it is the third important part of the job after vineyard and cellar work.

With Corine Andrieu of Clos Fantine at a Faugeres tasting

Bottling also continued as well as habillage, getting the bottles ready to send to cavistes across the world. Previous posts have shown this work so please have a look for them if you have not seen them before. More of the 2014 wines are now in bottle including my old favourite Vin Des Amis which in my view is the best of this cuvée since 2010.

Cases sent to Belgium, early April

However, the real change has been in the vineyards and it is there that the work has been centred as they are literally blossoming. Vines are a climbing plant and will grow very quickly in the next few months. It has been a joy for me to watch their early development, seeing in real life what I had only read about before.

The buds emerged towards the end of March and the beginning of April and as I described their emergence varied in time according to the cépage and the position of the vine. Leaf break, flowering and the formation of the grape bunches, grappes, all quickly followed. In the last week or so the small grappes began to divide showing how they will form.

Buds form, the leaves just visible

Leaves and flowers

Grappe formation

Bunches form

To encourage and support this growth the vineyards were ploughed twice to provide organic matter from last year’s growth of grass, flowers and other plants. Long hours on a tractor going up and down the rows makes for tough days. Then further weeding using a pioche or intercep, forms of hoe, to get inbetween the vines. In some vineyards the base of the vines were covered a bit more in autumn to protect against frost, cavaillonage. These are now removed and the vines stand ready for the heat to come.

Syrah vine, La Garrigue beginning of April

Syrah vine, La Garrigue, mid April

Same vine, La Garrigue, end of April

I went to Barcelona for a few days last week and the difference in the vines was staggering in that short space of time. Nature and the dedication of the vigneron are at work.

New vine, Peilhan, early April

End of April

Mi avril

Wildflowers bordering Peilhan

April 27, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

Turbine boosted

Version française

On March 11th I posted about the threat to some of the vineyards of Mas Coutelou. A neighbouring village drew up plans to install wind turbines across the lower end of the community, which happened to run across some of Jeff’s vineyards, Peilhan and Rec d’Oulette, as well as altering the nature of the whole area.

A thousand readers responded to the blog and many of Jeff’s friends rallied to his cause by signing the petition and sending messages of support. I was at the cellar when the lady who organised the online petition called to thank Jeff for mobilising support, it did make a difference.

The local campaign was undoubtedly helped by the timing of departmental elections across France so pressure was put on local candidates to oppose the plans. The mayor of the local village was standing in those elections and he announced his opposition to the turbines. The council then went further and passed a motion stopping their development in future.

Clearly this is great news for everyone in the locality, especially Puimisson. It is, for this blog, the best possible news for Mas Coutelou and all of us who love the wines and the man behind them. The plans he has for Peilhan in particular can now move ahead with a renewed confidence, the new plantation of old cépages has a brighter future. We are all boosted.