If the General Election, BREXIT and the news at large is too depressing then let me take you to a golden place – a region overflowing with grape varieties, taste, flavour, differentiation and high quality wines – Sud de France – Les Vignes d’Or.
Image: G. DeschampsThere is more to Sud de France than meets the eye. Whilst the most obvious translation is apparent, what is not, are the different wine regions that are using this imagination inspiring phrase to promote their wines.
As they say it is a Wine Mosaic from Occitaine Pyrenees-Mediterranee including the regions of Languedoc, Roussillon also known as Pays d’Oc and the vineyards in the South West of the country stretching up beyond Toulouse.
The whole region spans roughly 175 miles from Perpignan in the west to Avignon in the East and about the same again north beyond Toulouse.
It is a region steeped in winemaking history going back 2,000 years or more, and contains the better known names of Gaillac, Cahors, Corbieres, Minervois, Fitou, Cotes de Gascogne and others. It is a huge region with over 3,500 producers all ready to sell their wine, because selling it at home is just not that easy anymore.
There are many known varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvedre, Malbec, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Viognier, Picpoul de Pinet. There are red, white, sparkling, sweet, dry styles produced which mean that the region is a cornucopia of wine ready to be selected and drunk by the most discerning of buyers.
As Sud de France Food and Wine Promotions Manager, Sebastien du Boullay highlights. “This region has around 70 varieties of grapes, a focus on micro quality, and something new every year’.
Image: G. DeschampsThe focus on micro quality is bringing us new expressions of the region through newly designated Appelation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) regions. Last year brought us Pic Saint Loup and previously Picpoul de Pinet ad there is now speculation that Pezenas will be given its own AOC. Minervois has La Laviniere and Corbieres with a dozen different terroirs and micro-climates.
The region is unique in France as it is the only region that can mix indigenous grape varieties with the so-called international ones. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Fronton a small appellation in the South West of France.
Charlotte Humblot, Export Manager from Chateau Clamens, is massively enthusiastic about their 1,000 year history of cultivating Negrette in Fronton. At this Chateau they blend it with Syrah, Cabernet, Merlot and it produces multi award winning wine. As yet it is not available in the UK yet, but, she assures me, that is being worked on.
And that is just one Chateau – there are many more where that came from. In Gaillac, indigenous grape varieties like Fer Savadou, the wonderfully named Loin de l’Oeil and Duras only cultivated in Gaillac. These varieties are enjoying a resurgence as interest in the wines increases worldwide and produced as individual varieties or blends. Domaine Gayrard is one such property, a rejuvenation project after a previous generation ripped up the vines on the property.
Organic is a distinct niche UK consumer market now. It is one, which the region has had more than its share of producers over the years, as the natural environment and more bohemian atmosphere lends itself well to the more avant garde techniques. There are many producers that are Organic, Biodynamic, such as Les Vignals.
There are also those taking a singular approach such as Domaine Singla ‘One Vineyard > One VAT > One wine’ they state in a very deliberate way – the wines are good too.
Typically these producers are producing no more than 100, 000 bottles, so supplying the main retailers is usually too difficult and too risky to do. Therefore exclusivity for these superb producers is easy. They can offer unique wines to small importers – a different wine experience – who in turn offer it to their customers and consumers.
Let’s not forget that just a generation ago this region was looked down upon by especially haughty wine regions as merely a bulk supplier of wine with no quality attributes. As a result the prices of its wines were mostly low and of barely subsistent levels. As a frequent traveller, taster, buyer and brand developer there I know for a fact that this was never the entire story of the region.
So for the hospitality and catering industries there is quality, style, flavour in abundance a different story to tell and great value for money. It is a pleasure to see this superb region of France, lap up the interest and celebration of its wonderfully diverse wines. As Sebastien says – a golden region of opportunity.
Alistair Morrell
Hospitality & Catering News, Wine & Drinks Editor