amarchinthevines

Back in Puimisson and all the better for being there. After travelling around vineyards and cellars in the Grand Est it was a relief to be in one place and reacquaint myself with the Coutelou domaine. The familiar and the new, people, wines and vineyards.

Exciting news came quickly as Flora, Jeff’s niece, is now working full time as his assistant. Exciting because the domaine is being tended by the Coutelou family, now and into the future. Flora has been working with Jeff for a couple of years, learning the role of the winemaker in the cellar and vineyard. Jeff is very happy with Flora’s role, I am delighted.

Gilles is still around, working mainly in the vines, driving the tractor and other specialist jobs. New to the scene is a lovely young couple in Ines and Jérôme, experienced in the cellar and vineyard and hoping to establish their own vineyard at some point.

My arrival was well timed, with a bit of manoeuvring by Jeff. He had told me bottling (la mise) was taking place in the week, wines such as Classe, Buvette À Paulette, Flambadou* and La Vigne Haute. Summer means the wines have been in tank for a good time and ready for bottle and as autumn approaches those tanks will be needed again. Jeff left La Vigne Haute to last so that I could be there, knowing it is my absolute favourite wine. It’s a familiar process after all these years, described in detail here. I was able to taste the four wines bottled and the signs are very good for the 22 wines, Classe was a joy but La Vigne Haute did steal the show, I believe that Jeff did utter the words “best ever” though he’d probably deny it! The remaining wine is taken out of tank and will be blended with other wine, magnums had already been made with the hand operated machine.

A few days later I was back as Jeff was tidying up some of the barrels. Some needed to be topped up (ouillage) with wine kept for that purpose in smaller containers. A barrel of fortified alcohol, was put into a steel tank to use in making some of the spirits and fortified wines which are now part of Vins et Spiritueux Coutelou, the proper name for the domaine these days.

As usual I am taken aback by the complexity of what wine is in what container. I know Jeff keeps spreadsheets with the details but in a flash he can tell you what is in each tank, barrel or other container. There are dozens of such containers, and Jeff is always thinking of how he can use some of the wines to show them at their best individually or to meet commercial needs.

There are always new wines, more in a future post as we tasted through the 22 range. There is also consistent change in the vineyards, more in the next post.

*In a recent tasting of Languedoc wines by a panel of experts Flambadou 2007 and 2017 both emerged with flying colours and praise, for the quality and for their longevity.

When Pat and I arranged this couple of weeks tour around the East the aim was to go back to places we used to visit regularly but not for a few years. Based in the Languedoc these days we travel down the centre of France when flitting between there and the UK. It was also a reminder of how we used to spend our summer holidays travelling from one place to another rather than being based in one village. From the Jura it was but a short hop to Beaune and then another, a few days later, to the heart of Beaujolais which was once our preferred region in all of France.

Burgundy is interesting for any wine lover. When I first went forty years ago the wine was expensive but not stratospheric, winemakers drove Peugeots and BMWs rather than Porsches and Ferraris (and, yes, I saw more than a few it isn’t just a cheap shot by me). We once visited a cellar there and were offered Échezeaux, I explained I wouldn’t be able to afford it but our generous host said that one day we might return when we could. Well, I may be better off these days but the price of such wine makes it something I wouldn’t realistically purchase. And yet… There is something about Burgundy. I love red Burgundy, it has a quality which no other wine can produce. Occasionally. I have had too many disappointing wines, okay wines which were fine but lacked the excitement that the best wines offer. Those best wines though just tempt you to try again and again. A half bottle of 2012 Ladoix-Serrigny 1er cru in a Saturday lunchtime Beaune restaurant was a reminder of just how beguiling Pinot Noir can be.

The other fascination is the geography of the vineyards, the subtleties of one parcel against another, next door neighbours but a world apart in esteem and value. Le Montrachet with its Chevalier and Bâtards nearby, Le Charlemagne looking haughtily down at Les Grèves. To wander around some of these and try to spot the nuances of hills facing the sun at different hours is engrossing for the likes of me and the many others who were doing exactly the same thing.

It was alarming though to see the number of distressed vines in those celebrated and pampered vineyards. Great swathes of yellow vines in Le Montrachet for example, lacking iron or magnesium perhaps? (carence).

I wanted to try some of the new wave of producers and enjoyed wines from Chapuis & Chapuis, Dandelion, Le Grappin, AMI and Fiona Leroy. I was also able to buy a few bottles to take back to the UK from the excellent Beaune shop Athenaeum which is worth a visit from any wine enthusiast for its wine related books, equipment and bottles. I hadn’t expected to find natural wines there but they stocked a section from Burgundy and other regions as well as a thorough collection of natural wine related books including Aaron Ayscough’s, ‘The World of Natural Wine’ which I reviewed here. Indeed, I ran into Aaron in Savigny-les-Beaune restaurant Le Soleil, which I would heartily recommend. Unlike the Gevrey Chambertin wine bar with its customer unfriendly host who wasn’t happy to see us even when the bar was empty.

On to Beaujolais. Home of natural wine in many ways with the famous Gang of Four in the Morgon area, Lapierre, Foillard, Thévenet and Breton led by négociant Jules Chavet (we stayed in La Chapelle de Guinchay which now has a street named after Chavet). It was a busy time in the vineyards and I didn’t get organised very well for visits but we were able to hunt down some of my favourite producers’ bottles from some of the cru villages and the excellent Maison de Beaujolais in Belleville.

We had a drive round all of the ten Beaujolais cru villages for the first time in twenty years and it really is a treat to do so. It is lovely countryside with its rolling hills, we easily recalled why this was once our preferred region. Many of the villages have central stores offering wines from their producers at cellar door prices (as did Savigny-les-Beaune to be fair).

One point of interest. With the success of Beaujolais natural producers it was a reality check to see just how few winemakers are actually organic in the region, let alone natural. As I drink mainly natural wines I had assumed that they were much more widespread. There are plenty of young natural producers coming through however, I had good wines from Bonnet-Cotton, Domaine des Grottes as well as the children of that Gang of Fourm Charly Thévenet and Alex Foillard.

Not the best organised visit of producers (I managed to miss one of the local salons by a couple of days too) nevertheless an enjoyable visit to regions producing exciting wines.

Just as I had finished writing this article I was saddened to hear of the death of Julie Balagny who had so quickly made herself a star of the Beaujolais. Thoughts with all her friends and family.

Last time I stayed in the Jura was around thirty years ago, it rained non stop and was around 13c in mid August. This time we enjoyed lovely sunshine and temperatures in the 20s. Also very different from that time is the profile of Jura wines. Thirty years ago they were, generally, unloved and unknown outside of the region. Now, they are in huge demand especially from the USA and prices have rocketed as supply is limited due to it being a small vineyard area and following a number of bad years of frost damage. I fell for Jura wines back then, the unusual grape varieties and, at the time, unfashionable embrace of oxidation. I’m glad that those who fought to make their wines well loved are earning rewards but it is sad to find many producers reaching pricing levels too high for me.

I love so much about the region and if you are intending to visit then I suggest you start by reading this guide from my friend David Crossley who has been staying in the Jura for many years and knows many of the winemakers as well as places to stay, eat and visit.

We stayed in Pupillin, near Arbois, home to Pierre Overnoy who did so much to promote Jura wines and the development of natural wines there. Our host is a relative of Overnoy, and, with his brother, has vines and Montbeliarde cows – trademarks of the region, the latter providing the milk for the region’s famous cheeses such as Conté. More on our host’s wines later. One of the attractions of the Jura is the mixed agriculture, reminiscent of the Jurancon area for example. This is not a vineyard monoculture by any means.

There is plenty of walking, beautiful scenery and interesting small towns to occupy the visitor. Arbois was home to one of my heroes Louis Pasteur and I made my second visit to his home with its basic laboratory where he did some of the research into developing Germ Theory, vaccines and saving the French wine industry from the phylloxera epidemic of the 1850s and 60s. He had laboratories in nearby Dole as well as Paris but it is fascinating to see how a genius made such profound progress in such simple surroundings in a quiet town.

Being in the area for a week also provided me with the opportunity to reunite with my great friend Steeve who worked with Jeff for almost two years. He moved back to his native region to work with winemakers there and he introduced me to some of them and we tasted together. The good news is that Steeve is returning to the Languedoc, renting 2ha of vines in the Minervois, not too far from us, and will be harvesting his first vintage this year. I look forward to visiting his new domaine and will report back here of course.

Of course the Jura is also famed for its Vin Jaune and I took the opportunity to taste some and to visit the beautiful village of Chateau Chalon, which specialises in this style of wine and has the right to call its examples by the name of the village rather than just Vin Jaune. I particularly enjoyed the Berthet-Bondet Chateau Chalon, with a delicacy, finesse and length that stood out from the others. Vin Jaune is made from Savagnin grapes aged in barrels which are not topped up allowing a thin layer of yeast (the voile) to develop, the wine taking on oxidative flavours. The barrels must be carefully watched as the wine could easily be affected by volatile acidity, even vinegar. After six years and three months the wine can be bottled, this is not a hasty process! The final wine is sherry like with dry, nutty and spicy aromas and flavours. The best examples I have had, such as Berthet-Bondet and Michel Gahier, are beautifully balanced, clean acidity, full flavoured yet light at the same time. For much more on Vin Jaune please read this recent article by David on a tasting he went to in Australia.

As mentioned I visited a number of domaines for tastings, mostly organised by Steeve. He has done a lot of work for Catherine Hannoun of Domaine De La Loue in Port Lesney, near the UNESCO site of Salins-les-Bains. Catherine offered us a number of white wines from barrel and red wine from bottle. A smallish 3.2ha of vines, not unusual for the Jura, produce the classic regional varieties and from talking with her it is clear she has taken on board a lot of advice from working alongside Emmanuel Houillon (now running Pierre Overnoy’s estate) and other leading winemakers. It was also apparent that Catherine is still trying out different approaches such as longer macerations and later picking.

Of the wines we tasted I enjoyed the whites more, particularly the Savagnins. Again Catherine is trying different barrels and my own favourite wine was a 2022 Savagnin aged in a foudre (larger barrel) rather than the standard 225l barrique. I liked the 2020 Savagnin with its citrus notes and the interesting 2022 later picked Savagnin which was fuller in the mouth and added spiciness to the citrus notes.

The following day we went along to Cramans, not far from Catherine’s base. Steeve was working with Thomas Jacquin that day bottling wines by hand. Thomas has around 1ha of vines near Arbois and has to supplement his winemaking with work for others. He spent a few years working with Jura star Stéphane Tissot and already sells his own wines around Europe including the UK (Tutto wines) though bear in mind that there is a very limited number of bottles available. I loved Thomas’ wines.

With such small quantities it would be easy for him to overwork his wines but he allows the quality of his fruit to express itself. All the wines tasted were from barrel or foudre. The Savagnin 20 carried lovely minerality under the yellow fruits, the 22 (foudre) even more depth to the flavours and that minerality cutting through and cleansing. Best of all was the Savagnin 21 with a tension, balancing fruit and, again, that cleansing minerality – long lasting flavours which seemed almost fragile, excellent. Very good too was the Poulsard 22 with its red fruit profile and lovely tannins which were part of the wine not separate and harsh like some Poulsards (or Ploussard as many here spell it) I tasted. This really needs time but will be a lovely wine. I will be trying to find Thomas’ wines whenever possible as unfortunately he carries no stock at present. Hopefully his and Steeve’s bottling that day will soon rectify that problem.

As mentioned above the gite where we stayed was run by a family which runs dairy and wine farming. Mikael Cronquand takes charge of the Overnoy Cronquand vines and winemaking whilst his brother runs the dairy side, though they obviously help each other as required. It was a real treat to discover that the wines are not only organic but would be classed as natural wines, with only some bottles having tiny sulfite addition at bottling.

Mikael led us through a very pleasing tasting of the wines. The Crémants were a nice surprise, not something which I usually enjoy very much but the rosé and brut had clean fruit flavours as well as the acidity needed for dry sparkling wine. In classic Jura fashion we tasted reds before whites, Pupillin being the home of Ploussard, it provided most of the wines. The Ploussards 19 and 20 had a dark colour and good black fruits with a nice aromatic profile but clean and direct. Trousseau 19 was lighter in style more red fruit character, slightly surprising since Ploussard has such thin skins it is usually the lighter coloured wine.

White wines were the star though. Chardonnay Ouillé 20 was round and fruity but bone dry. Ouillé means that the barrels are topped up so that the voile does not develop. Savagnin 21 was almost austere but savoury and refreshing. On to the oxidative wines. Chardonnay 18 was reductive but spicy and white fruits to the fore, the 19 was more oxidative in style but fuller in fruit and more balanced – very nice. Savagnin 18 had spent four years in barrel and was excellent, spicy yellow fruits and bone dry again, very good balance and length. In 2018 Mikael also left a parcel of 60 year old Chardonnay vines to stay on vine for a full month after the other grapes had been picked. There remains 1g of residual sugar but there is just a hint of sweetness balanced by concentrated fruit and clean acidity. Very interesting wine, a success. Finally, another Jura speciality, Macvin. This is wine to which distilled marc is added, in this case made from their own grapes including some red grapes. Again an oxidative note and a full, spicy aperitif style wine. An excellent tasting and wines to match.

I have long been a fan of Michel Gahier‘s wines, again hard to get hold of but certainly worth the effort. Steeve a friend of Michel’s treated us in Puimisson to some of his bottles including the Vin Jaune which was a star wine of 2021 for me. Michel doesn’t seek limelight and it was a real treat for me to be invited with Steeve to visit him in Montigny-lès-Arsures near Arbois. We were there for two hours or so as Michel poured from bottle and then samples from barrel. This village labels itself as the capital of Trousseau just as Pupillin does for Ploussard (and very much Ploussard not Poulsard). Michel’s family have been making wine here since 1525 (it should be a big celebration in two years time!) and he spent a lot of time with the Jura legend Jacques Puffeney who was based in the village, indeed he now uses the barrels to make his vin jaune which once did the job for Puffeney. Quietly spoken, almost shy at first, Michel led us through 14 wines in total and every one had something special, each coming from one vineyard to express the terroir rather than the variety.

There were six Chardonnay wines, a clean, fresh 22 from new vines. Les Crêts 20, from dark marne soils, was full and fruity. Les Follasses, from white marne soils, is cleaner and fresher to my palate, the 21 with white fruits bit still closed, whilst the 22, with protective reduction, had that directness but also fuller fruit. My favourite was actually Lou Blanc raised in foudre which balanced the fruit and minerality very well. (There’s a theme emerging here with me and foudre wines!). Melon à queue rouge is a Jura grape variety which many, though not all, believe to be a type of Chardonnay. Michel is an advocate of this variety and the Melon wine La Fauquette is often regarded as his outstanding white wine, I am now one of those who would agree. The wine is made without topping up the barrel where it spent four years. The voile gives the classic oxidative note to the wine but the elegance of the fruit still shines through. The 2017 was full, nutty and spicy but clean with white fruit notes. The 22 barrel sample, obviously far from the completed wine, showed more minerality and a sherbet like acidity which lifted the apple fruit profile. Lovely wines.

The red wines are, of course, based on Trousseau grapes. Michel let us try a new vine red from a vineyard with four distinct soil types, it was fruity and had some complexity. La Vigne de Louis 22 (barrel) was still closed but spicy and direct. Le Rouge du Max is labelled Vin De France as it includes a tiny amount of Mondeuse grapes as well as Pinot Noir, all from a vineyard which was owned by his late brother. The sample from foudre gave off a waft of pepper aromas and the spicy fruit was backed with good, soft tannins. The 22 example opened in glass after being initially closed up, revealing the pepper, spice and dark fruits. Grands Vergers is regarded as Michel’s top red made from 80 year old vines and the 22 was grand indeed, big and powerful yet approachable with a fresh, black fruit character. Finally, a real treat as Michel opened a bottle of Grands Vergers 1997 – wow. Aromas of strawberry, blackberry, pepper and truffle. Flavours had a truffley note from age but big red fruits and rich, full. A memorable wine to end a memorable evening, thank you Michel.

A week in a special region. The countryside, towns, history as well as the agriculture and people make it special. The Dauphiné cycle race even passed through with last year’s Tour De France winner Jonas Vingegaard (left of photo) amongst others. I left it thirty years before returning to the Jura but I hope to return much sooner. Thank you to all those who received us for visits and especially to Steeve for organising so much of it.

Summer has arrived and with it a new trip to France. A journey south to Coulobres and Jeff Coutelou in Puimisson of course but time to stop off in various parts of eastern France and rediscover areas not visited for many years if at all. Time also to meet up with friends such as Steeve who worked with Jeff for a year and a half before returning to work in his native Jura region.

In the next few posts I will describe impressions of regions such as Champagne’s Cote des Bar, Jura, Burgundy and Beaujolais as well as the wines and winemakers I encountered, established and new.

First stop was the Cotes de Bar. Timing was poor as this was a busy time in the vineyards with producers raising their vines on trellises. I had hoped to visit Val Frison whose ‘Lalore’ was my wine of the year in 2022. Unfortunately Val has given up and sold her stocks too, disappointing but I wish her well. Other producers were busy but I squeezed in visits to a couple of organic producers, Horiot and Cheurlin. Both offered pleasing wines.

It was interesting to see the infrastructure used in the region to combat the frost risk after years of damage. Windmills to keep air moving around the vines are dotted around the hillsides but even more noticeable are the pipes. These are not meant for irrigating the vines but to spray water over the vines when there is a Spring frost to protect the buds. Water freezing releases heat, 1 gram of water produces 80 calories and this small amount of heat keeps the plant safe.

This part of Champagne is not a tourist trap like Reims and Epernay but with towns such as Essoyes, with Renoir’s house, it was well worth a visit.

Next up, the Jura.

My favourite Coutelou wine, as you well know by now, is La Vigne Haute made only in the best vintages from Syrah grapes grown in La Garrigue vineyard. The vines face north on a slope meaning they are not overexposed to the most extreme heat of the Languedoc sun. In vintages which Jeff Coutelou considers less than ideal the grapes go into other wines or are bottles under a different label such as On Ne Peut Pas Vraiment Dire Que. La Vigne Haute appeals to me because it offers rich red fruit flavours, typical of the best Languedoc wines with a nice streak of acidity and minerality to balance the fruit. It is, in my opinion, every bit as good as much more expensive Syrahs from the Northern Rhone or Australia.

Showing the position next to the existing Syrah vines

Three years ago Jeff was able to buy the adjoining parcel of land, took out the vines of the previous owner and left the soils to refresh themselves as well as allowing them to become certifiably organic. On Wednesday April 5th it was time to plant new vines, an extension of the Syrah vineyard. Jeff had intended to plant a month earlier but the ground has been unusually dry for the time of year, rainfall has been lamentably low. There has been a little more rain and the plants were ready so it was time to go. I had intended to be there for this special day but family commitments left me in England though my wife Pat was able to be there and take the photos you see here other than the two by Jeff’s niece Flora..

Cords to help keep straight lines, the vines with wax to protect the young plants

I wrote about planting a vineyard previously when we set up the terrace at Peilhan. The process was the same here of course. The new vines won’t produce grapes for a couple of years and not of the quality necessary to be included in La Vigne Haute for several more years after that so patience is required. Jeff’s commitment to planting for the future is admirable, even more that he also planted more trees and shrubs around the vineyard, plants which will not even be fully mature in his lifetime.

Rows of vines planted, watering afterwards

Even on a day of hard work there is always time to enjoy yourself when working with Jeff and what other bottle would he open this day to go with the cheese and charcuterie?

Whilst harvesting at Jeff Coutelou’s last September I couldn’t help but notice white cardboard hanging from the trees and bushes around the vineyards. They were certainly not there in 2021 so what was going on?

It turns out that this is one solution to the increasing problem of Cryptoblabes gnidiella or honeydew moth. I wrote about the emergence of this new type of moth in 2020 here. This moth has spread rapidly from Italy to Provence and now into the Hérault and Aude areas of the Languedoc and is moving inland too. Scientists believe that one of the reasons for the increase in numbers and range is climate change. The moth takes 93 days from egg to adult when the temperature is around 18c but at 26c that reduces to 32 days and at 29c just 23 days. There is less time for the farmers and viticulteurs to react. Moreover the moth seems to be less present in the vineyards until July/August, just in time for grape harvest. (Scientists are still trying to establish where the moths go in the Spring and early summer though they do live on up to 80 different types of plant).

The larvae live inside the bunches of grapes, the female lays around 100 – 230 eggs and the grapes are emptied of juice and pulp as the larvae feed. The damage spreads to other bunches as juice drips on to them inviting rot.

What can be done? Well, chemical sprays as I mentioned in the previous article but organic producers cannot resort to those. Theoretically they could destroy bunches of grapes left after harvest either on the vine or on the ground as that is where the moths and eggs spend winter. However, that would be prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthiest producers. Sexual confusion traps (mentioned in that 2020 article) might also not work well as scientists don’t know whether the eggs are already fertilised in summer, remember how they aren’t sure where the moths spend Spring.

photos from http://www.vignevin-occitanie.com

Jeff is also trying to encourage green lacewings to live in the vineyards, these also predate on moths and their eggs and would form an extra defence. They also spend winter in the vineyards and are available to combat the moths all year round as needed. Until he finds out whether that will be successful Jeff must hope that the cards are successful. Unfortunately 2022 saw a significant increase in the number and spread of vines affected by honeydew moths.

French company Bioline have produced one answer and that is the white card in the trees. The cards contain microscopic wasps 0.8mm in length, called trichotop buxus as they are usually used to combat box wood moths. The wasps eat the eggs of the moth so by placing and opening the cards Jeff and others bring a parasite to the vineyard to solve the moth problem. Two potential problems remain, the cards need to be renewed every 3 – 4 weeks and adding a new insect to the biodiversity may have its own consequences (though no evidence of that has emerged yet).

I started this blog in the summer of 2014 when Pat and I moved to the Languedoc and I began to spend time with Jeff Coutelou learning about wine, vines and winemaking. It was intended as a simple way for me to let my mother, Edna March, know what we were up to and how I was spending my time, a modern form of letter writing.

Mam died on February 5th aged 88. She had no interest in wine, as a Methodist she never drank alcohol other than a pretend sip of champagne on Christmas morning before passing the glass to one of us. She was amused and bemused by the success of the blog in following years and why thousands would want to read it. However, it achieved its purpose, she did read it in the early days and after visiting us in France she told me how pleased she was that I was learning about nature and plants and, in particular, how lucky I was to have a great friend in Jeff. How I wish I had taken a photo of the two of them together.

Mam was a teacher, headteacher, Guide and Brownie leader and loved people, especially children. Her faith guided her life and she worked tirelessly to help others and act as a true disciple. My sister, Linda, and I were fortunate to have two wonderful parents and a great childhood. Mam was my guiding light and this blog was just one tiny example. If you have enjoyed reading it at any time, then it’s thanks to her.

Buy it. If you’re interested in natural wine or wine in general then this is a must read book. Beautifully produced, easy to read, full of insight and exceptional research and use of images, old and new, Aaron Ayscough’s book has delighted me since it arrived in October. Like the best natural wine itself ‘The World of Natural Wine’ is a work of love, enthusiasm, hard work and respect, pleasing the heart and the head.

I must declare a friendship with Aaron, I have met him just once at Jeff Coutelou’s in 2021 but we have long corresponded and are most certainly on the same side. I admire his eagerness to learn which has taken him around the natural wine scene for many years and led to him working alongside producers such as my friends, the Andrieus, at Clos Fantine in Faugeres. He even embarked on a winemaking course in Burgundy, his scepticism about much of it being a regular feature in his subscription website Not Drinking Poison. Uncompromising in his views Aaron is not afraid to argue his case and express his love for natural wine and the people who make it.

The book is lavishly produced, quality paper, full of illustrations and set out in readable sections which aim to answer the issues of the subtitle, ‘What it is, who makes it and why it matters’. As other reviewers have pointed out it is very France centred because that is the wine scene which Aaron knows best and where the natural wine scene really began in the 1980s. Other countries are covered and I am sure Aaron will have it in mind to spread his wings at a future time. Let me run through the chapters to show how he tackles those issues mentioned above.

Part I, A Way of Thinking About Wine, begins with the history of natural wine in chapter 1 and let me quote the opening sentence, “Natural wine is wine with nothing to hide”. Excellent. Aaron’s thesis is that natural wine is a reaction to some of the farming practices of the 20th century, especially the increased use of chemicals, the wine frauds of past centuries such as the Bordeaux scandal of 1973-4 and dissatisfaction with the industrialisation of land and winemaking in general. He charts the resurrection of old wine methodology from Beaujolais to wine bars Paris and then to the rest of France with a carefully researched narrative using excellent archive photographs. I know from Jeff that it was in such Parisian wine bars that he became enthused by what natural wine might be.

Aaron goes on to examine in chapter 2 how the grapes are grown, comparing natural methods with conventional farming and winemaking with side by side examples and descriptions. He considers organics, the calendar, and practices such as pruning, ploughing, irrigation and use of copper and sulfur. I like the fact that Aaron does not shrink from issues such as sulfur, he is a natural wine purist but is prepared to consider all points of view and admit where scientific research does not support some of the claims which have been made for natural wine. He is open about his allegiances but is not blindly biased. We also see the first example of a regular theme through the book, looking at how some of the vineyard and cellar practices influence what we drink in the glass, eg, pruning.

Chapter 3 takes us from vineyard to cellar and how natural wine is made. More comparisons between natural and conventional, issues such as yeasts and, of course, sulfites, before taking us through the whole process of winemaking from harvest to bottle via maceration, pressing, racking, fermentation and choice of ageing vessel. All of these are again superbly illustrated helping to explain the whole process and using Aaron’s contacts and experience of cellars across France. Different types of wine including PetNat and sweet wine are covered with recommendations of bottles to buy. We see more examples of how practices such as carbonic maceration influence the final wine we taste and the lexicon of wine is made clear.

Part I is my favourite part of the book and would have made a fulfilling tome on its own but there is more to come. Part II, dare I say more conventionally, takes us on a journey around wine domaines in different regions of France and then other parts of Europe. The choice of domaines is exemplary, their story and philosophies set out with a ‘wine to try’ given, the choice of OW for Jeff Coutelou being an interesting and typically offbeat one by Aaron but showing his understanding of the domaine too. Part II is Francocentric for sure but that is Aaron’s expertise at present.

Part III bears the excellent title of Enjoying Natural Wine, how often books overlook enjoyment. There are three sections: tasting, looking at how natural wines can differ from conventional ones with more honesty about problems and flaws; serving wines including storage and age; finding the wines with recommendations for cavistes around the world. Finally, there is a useful page on further reading which is guiding my own choices at present.

I made my feelings about the book very clear in my opening paragraph, it is one of the best wine books I have read. It can be read as a whole or in chunks, the format makes it easy to dip in and out as you might see from the images above. I learned a lot, enjoyed it and I commend it without reservation and look forward to more of Aaron’s work.

Regular readers may recall that every January Jeff Coutelou sends out a Carte Des Voeux or greetings card to customers such as wine merchants and importers. This comes with a topical image, eg about elections, pensions. This year’s features recent the diversity of bottle shapes. Inside is a summary of the previous year and a glimpse of wines to come.

Here is my translation of Jeff’s card for 2023.

2022, a vintage which foresees the future?

Autumn 21, mild and dry, didn’t reassure that water levels in the soil would be restored but in March 22 abundant rain allowed the season to get going in favourable circumstances.

The most notable feature of the vintage was the warmth in temperature. The winter wasn’t cold, Spring was particularly hot and the summer saw a heatwave. Budding began at the end of March, and from May the various stages of vine phenology proceeded rapidly…. flowering was early and especially generous on those vines which were damaged by frost in 2021.

Heatwave

The first peak in temperature began mid June and and was followed by a long, hot and dry period until mid August. At the beginning of August this all led to us fearing a difficult vintage. The changing of colour in red grapes was not a smooth process, ripening became blocked. The vines had to dig deep to adapt to this extreme weather. We were expecting a small, concentrated vintage but a revitalising storm on August 14^th brought life back to the vines. The grapes swelled up, berries changed colour, ripening advanced, harvest could begin…

Harvest

They began on August 22^nd (a week after our first estimate) and ended on September 9^th. Cooler temperatures, especially at night, helped produce lovely ripening. The grapes were beautiful, abundant and seemed well balanced. The alcohol levels weren’t too high though acidity rather feeble.

By contrast there was a raised level of lactic bacteria in some of the cuvées which led to slow, rather languid end to fermentation. We had to intervene to keep on top of this and, in the end, the results were rather satisfying.

We carried out assemblages at the start of December and can announce the wines which should emerge this year.

Spring

Clairette: our 100% Clairette Blanc

Gris: Piquepoul, Riveyrenc and Grenache Gris all from direct pressing

Grosé: Grenache Gris, Terret and Carignan Blanc – made from macerated grapes, skin contact

Ploutelou: Cinsault, Aramon and Syrah

Le vin des amis: Cinsault, Syrah and grenache

Grenache mise de printemps: 100% Grenache

Autumn

Classe: Syrah, grenache, Mourvedre

Tradition: a blend of old varieties in all three colours

La Vigne Haute: the Syrah of La Garrigue, first new version since 2018

Flambadou: Carignan Noir from Rec D’Oulette, first new version since 2017

Mourvedre: a beautiful Mourvedre bringing together fluidity, finesse and a lightness

Macabeu: aged in concrete egg

Other wines should also emerge through the course of the year, notably from the amphorae, the Muscat D’Alexandrie and a few surprises…

We, like all our colleagues, are finding it hard to get supplies of bottles and are subject to high price rises.

In the vines

A parcel of Xarello has been planted on the terraces of Peilhan, it’s a beautiful site and we would hope for a first, small harvest in 2024. This year we hope to plant a parcel of Syrah in La Garrigue, next to the existing one and hopefully this will bring La Vigne Haute in most years.

The work on the pond is finished, it is well filled with shelters for reptiles, insects birds and bats. This totem of biodiversity along the length of the hill watches over the Peilhan parcel. The first inhabitants have taken up residency. Fruit trees and Mediterranean plants surround it. The shrubs damaged by last year’s fire have been replaced. We have created a true haven of pece for flora and fauna.

It is tradition at the start of the year to send best wishes. The last few years have not spared us but we hope that this year will be more gentle.

Let 2023 be a year full of diversity.

A year of mixed blessings, moving back to normality from the pandemic, successful and happy trips abroad but a sting in the tail with a family accident and illness. I have blogged less yet reader numbers remain good and I am grateful to you all for taking the time to look in. The most read article was my last about regenerative viticulture, pleasing as it was my favourite one to write. Here is a review of my wine year.

I am fortunate to try lots of different wines at tastings and in France when I am working with Jeff Coutelou. Memorable tastings this year began with a rare event in North East England thanks to Les Caves De Pyrene. It was odd to resume such events after the hiatus of recent years but that made me appreciate it even more. I also thoroughly enjoyed the June Faugeres tasting in somewhat warmer and sunnier climes. I also led a tasting in my local area for 60 people in order to raise funds for Ukraine, worthwhile and a good experience which I hope to repeat.

I want to give a mention to Marks And Spencers’ Found range which I wrote about here. The company deserve much credit for highlighting grape varieties, outside the norm for supermarket customers, I have continued to seek out more of the range after I wrote the article and have been rewarded with some affordable, well made and interesting wines. I still like the Weissburgunder best but there are many more worthy of purchase.

Looking back through the notes and photos of wines tasted in 2022 I kept noticing the regular appearance of wines made with Chenin Blanc grapes. This is something of a return to my wine roots as the Loire, Vouvray especially, was where I made my initial vineyard visits and tastings. Vouvray once more provided my favourite of the Chenins I tasted this year, Michel Autran’s Les Enfers Tranquilles 2017, a lovely balance of freshness and depth, fruit and minerality. Another excellent Loire Chenin was Jean Christophe Garnier’s Rouchefert 2020, I shall be seeking out more bottles and keep a few for longer term drinking. Craig Hawkins’ Testalonga wines have received recommendations galore from me in these pages and South Africa is a source of excellent Chenin Blanc wines, including Stay Brave 2021 with its salty, spicy profile heightened by short skin contact. I also had examples of Chenin from the USA and Central Europe but my other favourite was Brash Higgins’ CHN 2020 from McLaren Vale in South Australia with a profile quite similar to Testalonga but a little wilder. So, Chenin Blanc, my grape of the year.

I am a wine nut, I love learning and reading about winemaking. I wrote about Jamie Goode’s excellent book Regenerative Viticulture recently and reiterate my recommendation for any like minded wine enthusiast to read it. You will be rewarded with approachable, convincing arguments about vineyard practice, remarkably entertaining for a subject which could be dry (apologies for an inadvertent pun). However, my book of the year and also wine website of the year are the work of one person, Aaron Ayscough. I declare my friendship and liking for Aaron, who has worked vendanges in Faugeres with Clos Fantine and visits Jeff regularly. He does not hide his thoughts, likes and dislikes and is not afraid to upset others who may disagree. The website Not Drinking Poison has interviews, articles and wine notes based on Aaron’s restless voyaging around the natural wine world. It is well worth the subscription though there are some free articles. I will be reviewing Aaron’s book, The World Of Natural Wine, in a forthcoming article but suffice to say it is essential reading. Some fascinating insight into the context of natural wine in relation to past winemaking, a balanced approach to some of the claims for the wines and good insight into how natural wine is made along with top recommendations. All in a beautifully produced format, this is a book to read and reread.

To my wines of the year. Not necessarily the greatest wines but the ones I enjoyed most. Let’s start with white wines and, despite my previously professed love of Chenin Blanc, my favourite white grape, Riesling. Julien Meyer’s Riesling Grittermatte 2014 was a joyful, complex wine full of citrus flavours, a slick of honey and great length. When I visited Patrick Meyer a few years ago he had bottles which he’d opened a few days before but were utterly delicious. This was still youthful, yet full and balanced, a great bottle. Hermit Ram Sauvignon Blanc 2020 made by Theo Coles in Canterbury, New Zealand. Skin contact, no SO2, cloudy – almost a stereotype of natural white wine- but this is full, fresh, salty and simply delicious. A New Zealand Sauvignon but certainly not a typical New Zealand Sauvignon. A different style of Sauvignon Blanc altogether was Alexandre Bain’s La Levée 2019. Bain makes Puilly Fumés that don’t always meet with approval from the local authorities as he seeks extra ripe, fuller flavours. La Levée was rich, full of citrus and apple but also round and waxy. Two Sauvignons, two great wines, two completely different wines.

At the Faugeres tasting I attended in June the stand out white wine was from Catherine Roque’s Mas D’Alezon, Cabretta 2021. A blend from Roussanne, Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris this offered white fruits, minerality, freshness and complexity and the flavours lingered long. When you taste a large number of wines in one event a standout wine grabs your attention, it becomes memorable, the one you want to return to. This was that wine. Needless to say I bought some and this was close to being my wine of the year.

Beaujolais provided me with a lot of red wine pleasure this year. An older Foillard Morgon, Dutraive’s Fleurie and Chateau Cambon bottles, all excellent. My most memorable though was Séléné Cote De Brouilly 2020. I had heard a lot of good things about the producer but found it hard to get hold of any wine. Whilst in France I was able to purchase this bottle and it lived up to those glowing reports. The light red fruit profile of Beaujolais but backed up by good tannins and depth, a very classy wine. If Riesling is my favourite white grape then Pinot Noir is, probably, its red equivalent. Alsace provided my favourite example this year, as with the Riesling. Rietsch Pinot Noir Vieilles Vignes 2020 is simple winemaking leaving ripe, balanced grapes to express their fruit whilst offering further spicy flavours as well as texture. I had more expensive Pinots this year but for sheer pleasure this was my favourite.

The Languedoc obviously provides me with much of my wine and two wines stood out. From Jeff Coutelou I most enjoyed On Peut Pas Vraiment Dire Que 2015. This is Syrah from the vineyard which makes La Vigne Haute in the best vintages but in lesser years Jeff prefers to release it under different labels to maintain the high quality of La Vigne Haute. The 2015 bottle, released as OPPVDQ showed, like the Meyer Riesling, that natural wines do age well when they are made by talented producers and the full fruits were matched by a complexity produced by age, spice and leather for example. It really is worth aging bottles sometimes. That can’t be the case for Thomas Angles who made his first wines in 2021 in the St. Chinian area. I have never met Thomas even though he did harvest with Jeff in 2020 as that was accursed pandemic year. I was recommended Thomas’ Carignan and was seriously impressed, the bright red fruits were supported by light tannins and a spicy aftertaste which lingered. For a first vintage, excellent.

Unusually my wine of the year though is a Champagne. I don’t drink huge amounts of sparkling wines, let alone top Champagnes but I appreciate a good one whenever I can. Jeff opened Val Frison’s Lalore on the last day of vendanges to celebrate our work and a very good vintage. This Blanc De Blancs, 100% Chardonnay, is aged for nine months in old oak then spends sixteen months in bottle before release with no additions, filtration or dosage. The result is a pure expression of the vineyards, clean, fresh, citrussy fruit combined the classic yeasty notes of Champagne. Lalore is, relatively, cheap for Champagne yet I believe that it stands up against much more celebrated and expensive examples. The wine, the occasion and the memory of a bottle shared with friends, Lalore is my wine of the year.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, may 2023 bring good wines, health and happiness.