Bottling at Domaine Ribiera 2013 style

My 2012 post on Bottling at Domaine Ribiera at Aspiran described a lego-kit family and friends bottling line. This year, to explore an alternative, the faster but more expensive approach of a full-scale bottling lorry was taken.

Enormous lorry complete with pop-out sides

Like the lego-kit operation at least 7 people are needed, although four come with the lorry. The benefit is speed with up to 1 bottle a second which is three times faster.

The grab arm feeds a whole row of bottles at a time

Everything is computerised

Once the bottles are loaded, everything is automated under computer control except packing the bottles into cases - a job needing two professionals to keep up.

Checking the white Terret for clarity

Boxes are manually loaded onto palets and a fork-lift truck whisks them away to the cave.

Régis Pichon and David Caer (Clos Mathelisse) loading boxes onto palets

Naural Wine 3 years on

I see it’s now 3 years since the term natural wine has registered in my wine conscience and attending the Roquebrun Festival des vins naturel prompted me to reflect. Back then I more or less concluded “so what” given that most independent Languedoc growers were following practices upheld by the movement, especially in the area of organic/sustainable grape growing and minimal intervention in the winery.

Today, if I go to a natural wine fair, natural wine bar or just browse the vins naturel shelves of a caviste, I have expectations, at least in France (less so in the UK). Expressive young wines that dance around the senses perhaps playing with the limits of volatility and yeasty characteristics. Brett often features. Whites might be prickly, oak for reds will be less common and used lightly. The majority are best enjoyed relatively young.
B list grape varieties that are particularly low key on widely recognised characteristics will feature strongly. This is one area where natural wine makers excel; making interesting wines from the likes of Cinsault, Terret, Aligote, Gamey, Cot, Melon de Bourgogne etc.

I’ve also learnt that most “natural wines” are not made by zero SO2 fanatics with beards and sandals. Most growers are pragmatic and will, for example, add a dash of sulphur for wine destined for export. Others make “conventional” wines, but when conditions are right will bottle a modest cuvée sans SO2. Some bottlings will only be sold locally to reduce the risk of spoilage in transportation.

France vs UK emphasis

In the UK I’ve found the “definition” of natural wines to be a bit looser, possibly down to the dominance of marketers in a land where wine making is niche and hence lacks a winemaker driven movement. I've witnessed Organic and Biodynamic grape production used to make conventional wine branded as natural wine. In France a Bio wine fair has a different emphasis to a vins naturel one.

Road to an accepted norm?

I spent many years working in IT, an industry where new ideas and products emerged continuously. There is what observers call a "hype" cycle for new technology before it becomes mainstream. Take mobile phones. Initially they were hyped as the next big thing but then the first products were launched. They were seriously bulky, had a short battery life, offered no coverage and were expensive. Disillusion set in and the traditional telecoms companies continued to shun them. All these shortcomings melted away as the technology became ubiquitous rather than novel. The traditional telecoms invested heavily and made acquisitions to catch up.

Natural wine isn't an IT technology but some parallels with a "hype -> disillusionment -> enlightenment -> mainstream" cycle can be observed. There are still too many poor and overpriced examples that put consumers off, but know-how and standards are improving. Conventional wines are gradually using less sulphur and other additives. Significantly,  Languedoc negociant giant Gérard Bertrand now offers non-sulphured lines (stocked by Marks & Spencer in the UK) which signals a market for those who want or require such wine. A market beyond thrill seekers like me. Mainstream consumer acceptance may never fully happen, but this is a significant step. Arguably restaurant wine lists are the closest we have to broad acceptance with many serious lists featuring natural wines interspersed and indistinguishable from more convention offerings.

For me, “natural wines” have shaped a new style of wine to enjoy; up there with the “new world” invasion 30 years ago and my discovery of the Languedoc.

Festival des vins natures 4th edition Roquebrun

The marketing for this event is pretty specialised, seemingly through growers and cavistes. It was also spot on, buzzing not heaving and with nearly 200 seated for the long late lunch. Fewer were there earlier for the Balade vines to Domaine Marquise des Mures on the hillside above Roquebrun, an informative and pleasant prequel to the tasting. The setting, along the banks of the Orb in the shade of poplars, was idyllic.

General observations: -

• These were wines at the natural end of spectrum – organic vineyard standards, "wild" fermentations, no or minimal sulphur added
  
• The majority of growers come from less well known sites in their appellations. Cinsault and Terret were popular with most wines made way outside AOC regulations for grape variety percentages.
• Oaked reds less common or toned down while some whites had too much and/or were too young (2012).
• All wines leapt out of the glass showing their characters – no desperate glass swirling to coax closed wines
• No prices with little selling taking place
• Knowledgeable attendees
• High quality wines, only one I though was at the limit of VA and a couple were a bit too rustic, plus many of the 2012s on show needed longer to settle down in bottle.

Some highlights (from memory, nobody was making notes)

Les Temps des Cerises I recall having a red at the excellent restaurant Octopus in Béziers 6 or 7 years ago and it stands out as my first exposure to (as I can now associate) modern natural wine. Since then a couple of encounters have sadly seen volatile wine falling apart, perhaps down to poor storage by their guardians. These examples, especially the reds, had the vibrant freshness I would have expected from a wine made in the relatively cool upper Orb valley north of Bedarieux.

Far Ouest Mylène Bru is from the unfashionable (excepting Peyre Rose) Saint-Pargoire on the left bank of the Hérault. From Grenache, Carignan, Syrah with some Cinsault, Marselan and Tempranillo it's quite a rich full stlye and very Mediterranean without being heavy - clearly carefully made. At the more conventional end of the natural spectrum and none the worse for that. I was served a glass last year at the (now closed) Le Mimosa restaurant, so high praise indeed.

Domaine Yannick Pelletier Saint-Chinian. L'Oiselet (Cinsault) is another wine I've had in several restaurants including the aforementioned Octopus in Béziers. It always has a nice pure and structured cutting fruit and drinks well, as it did at the fair. l'engoulevent is more savoury and substantial (mainly Grenache, Carignan, Syrah) with lots going on under the surface. I found Coccigrues too oaky, especially in the context of lunch time in the open air.

La Fontude is a Domaine sited in the hills just to the west of Lake Saligou. I came across a bottle a few years ago but it didn't leave an impression. Clearly things have been refined as the "rouge" (Cinsault) was vibrant and delicious. The only disappointment was the 2006 Entremonde (Carignan, Aramon, Grenache, Cinsault) where the oak was still bullying the wine. Reusing the barrel made the younger vintages on show much more promising.

Domaine Ribiera. Last but not least the home team from my village. Régis Pichon was showing two whites, Y'a un terret (Terret) and Les Canilles (Rousanne) that were the whites of the show. Both 2011s, they had been in bottle a year and settled down. I found them the best whites on show. The Terret had a light racy crunch with attractive mouth feel while the Canilles is more aromatic but not at all heavy - fresh fennel and citrus peel.

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Domaine Thierry Navarre including Aspiran Noir

Last year I wrote about a small exhibition of lithographs 150 Years of Languedoc grape varieties. One variety I highlighted was Aspiran Noir and commented that Domaine Thierry Navarre at Roquebrun had rescued and grafted some vines and is now making wine from them. By chance the caviste at Les Caves Gourmandes in Gignac recommended a bottle that turned out to be Thierry's Rybeyrenc - yet another synonym/spelling variation for the variety.

Rybeyrenc 2011 has an attractive red colour, quite light for a Languedoc, and a distinct aroma of strawberry and mulberry. The palate is light and refreshing, a delight to just drink and at 11 deg. is a shock to one accustomed to southern reds. The closest in style would perhaps be a basic vrac red from a co-op petrol pump, but in this case the wine has the rustic edges and other dodgy characteristics eliminated and a lot more interest.

I've tried a couple of other of Thierry Navarre's wines recently. Le Laouzil 2010, a classic red blend enjoyed at the superb Octopus restaurant in Béziers where it's listed with a very modest mark-up. Ideal luncheon fayre, it also danced around a bit en bouche - the only clue that many would classify it as vin naturel.

Cuvée Olivier 2011 is also an appellation blend and is a fuller, slightly richer style with wonderful poise and balance. Apparently aged in 500 litre barrels, but clearly these are not new as the oak is not really noticeable which is the way I like it. Feels like a wine that will keep for a few years yet also drink well throughout its life.

Prices seem reasonable and range from €8 to €13 for the Olivier. Must get over there.

Sunday lunch at Domaine des Agriolles

Domaine des Agriolles don't make wine, it's a Ferme des Cochons (Pig farm, although that just doesn't have the same ring to it). Lunch and entertainment was the centrepiece on their popular open day.

On the wine front it was BYO to accompany the fine - for mass outdoor catering - lunch. In our group I was reminded how racy and stimulating Muscadet can be, too good to be mixed with cassis as a kir. On the other hand a magnum of 2005 claret from somewhere in the Haut Medoc didn't inspire me; chunky and too firm.

We brought a bottle of 2012 SansSoo Domaine de la Réserve d'O from Arboras/St Saturnin (i.e. Terrasses du Larzac). A blend of Syrah and roughly a third Cinsault there is no added sulphur, hence the pun. Initially there was heaps of sweet straightforward red fruit that took a while to calm down; maceration carbonique was suggested. Attractive drinking but not as serious as the ridiculously thick heavy glass bottle might suggest. Well made and certainly won't upset those wary of the wilder styles of unsulphured wine. I suspect this was recently bottled and should improve as the elements settle down.


The Domaine des Agriolles is not far from the A750 west of Montpellier and has an attached shop Boutique Ô champs where the deep flavoured pâté included in the lunch can be purchased, along with plenty of other pork products and more. The cochons are raised on an artisan scale with unrestricted access to plenty of outside space. Everything is processed on site. Most of the produce is sold locally to those in the know.

En retard

Northern Europe experienced the coldest March ever recorded in places with the meteorological finger pointed firmly at the jet steam which was sitting further south than "normal" for early spring. The consequence of this in the Languedoc has been a wet March, certainly the wettest for more than 50 years and near the Pic Saint-Loup all records were broken with 357mm for the month (or pushing half and inch a day if you prefer).

Given there were relatively few damaging floods this is mostly good news as the water table is now back to "normal" after a run of too many relatively dry winters. Ditches have flowing water and the countryside looks greener for it, as do weed killer free vineyards.

Weed killer free vineyard enjoys a wet 2013 spring

An asparagus grower in the village told me the season started a month late, although a mid-March start would have been considered a bit prompt. Cold nights are blamed with the inability of the skies to string together more than a day of sun. In the photo above, taken on the 11th April, the vines are visually dormant. A week of sunshine from 12th has done the trick and bud-burst in under way.

Old Cinsault vine bud-burst 22nd April 2013

Given a "normal" summer, no doubt the least likely scenario, the harvest is going to be a couple of weeks late. At least the drier vineyards will be sparing established vines water stress.

Climate change

My post on "Freshness" in wine reminded me about climate change and specifically evidence for it. The Observatoire Viticol site for the Department de l'Herault is an excellent source of all sorts of statistics related to matters vinous. Original material can be reproduced providing credit is given.

The following chart is from the 'Documents' section under 'Viticulture' sub-menu 'Milieu Physique' and uses data from Meteo France. It plots the average annual temperature over 62 years in Montpellier.

Clearly the 1980s saw a transition and since then the average temperature has risen by pushing one degree C in relation to the long-term average since 1950. 1987 is the most recent below average year, although 2010 got close mainly due to a cool summer.

Further analysis of this quickly becomes subsumed into other variables, a reminder that statistics can be used to prove anything. This chart plots average winter temperatures with the interesting observation being that colder winters tend to come in 3 year clutches.

Other charts show that most of the warming since the 1980s is down to warmer May to August weather. This fits in with the winter temperatures chart above, along with 2010 having a cooler summer than recent years resulting in a lower average temperature than its peers.

I found some Eurostat and DataMarket data on Languedoc-Roussillon Degree-Days from 1980 to 2009. Degree-days are used as a guide to how much heating a house will need, so the lower the figure the warmer it is. On days when the temperature exceeds 18 deg. C that day scores zero. Below that, the colder it is the bigger the number so the data is more a measure of winter temperature than summer highs.

As expected, Degree-Days shows a correlation with the average winter temperatures chart above. What my chart displays is the moving average (purple line) which is clearly in decline.

When it comes to wine then cooler nights in the growing and especially ripening season will normally be more desirable for growers than the absolute average temperature.

I also looked at rainfall data for the Hérault. Because of the mountainous hinterland rainfall amounts vary dramatically but one conclusion that can be drawn is that since 1999 below average winter rainfall featured in the majority of years, especially on the coastal plains. Most climatologists seem to agree that we must expect more weather extremes going forward. March 2013 has been the wettest since 1960 in most places (Montpellier had 191 mm) and in some areas, e.g. close to Pic St Loup, the wettest on record. On a positive note the water table, having been in decline due to too many dry winters, has recovered and is good news for most vineyards.