Newsletter – July

Dear Grapeologist,

First of all, thank you for subscribing to the Grapeology Newsletter. I look forward to sharing my discoveries with you!

Grapeology, through this newsletter, aims to highlight natural wines and winemakers that I have discovered from around France and elsewhere.

The wines I present come from winemakers all of whom I have personally met after having visited their domain. Furthermore, my goal here is to create relationships both upstream of the distribution chain and downstream so that I know who I am buying from and who I am selling to.

Before introducing you to this month’s three cuvées, let me define (subjectively – there is no official definition yet) in a few points, “natural wines”:

• Organic or biodynamic vineyards (certified or not)
• Indigenous yeast fermentation
• No chemical inputs, except possible sulphites but limited to a total of 40 mg/l (“conventional” wines would generally have a total of sulphites around 150-200 mg/l)
• Mostly without fining or filtration

I also pay particular attention to how the soil is worked on, without heavy machinery that overpacks and damage the soil.

Working with or without a limited amount of sulphite requires specific work in winemaking and in the cellar, as sulphite serves both as a preservative and stabilizer. Without rigorous hygiene, sulphite-free wines could have organoleptic defects. Part of my work is therefore to identify clean, flawless sulphite-free/low wines.

Also, “natural” winemakers generally try not to “standardize” their wines through “heavy” and significant vinification or ageing processes (e.g. ageing in marking wood, etc.), which allows for the specificities of grape varieties and terroirs to be appreciated and highlighted, much to our delight. Finally, what I particularly appreciate about natural wines, and which makes them pleasant to taste, is their incredible digestibility.

Note: living wines generally do not like large temperature variations and should be kept at 14°C. In the wine range which I will present to you over the coming months, you will find both “zero-zero” wines (without added sulphites at all) and wines which contain some added sulphites. However, I would recommend that as soon as a bottle of “zero-zero” wine has been opened, it would be preferable to drink it all on the same day.

Let’s drink better!

The Mas des Agrunelles

This year, I discovered the Mas des Agrunelles, through its cuvée La Marèle 2007, at the restaurant La Chassagnette, located in Camargue, in the south of France. (btw, I would highly recommend this table – one Michelin star and the Green star. They produce most of the vegetables they serve, thus offering visitors freshness and delicacy. The restaurant is surrounded by lush gardens and a number of green-houses hosting tropical fruits, definitely worth a visit).

La Marèle, and it’s 17 years of bottle, what madness! Such youth, such crispiness! And yes, despite preconceived ideas, natural wines, like other wines, can age well!

Surrounded by 400 hectares of Garrigue, on the Terrasses du Larzac, the Mas des Agrunelles, run by Stéphanie and Frédéric, has been cultivated organically since 2003, and biodynamically since 2010. It is located in the Montpellier region, in Argelliers, in a relatively cool area (it can freeze until May), which allows for fresh and very pleasant wines to drink in any season. Moreover, Stéphanie and Frédéric avoid any marked effect of vinification and ageing, in order to let the terroir express itself.

I had a wonderful meeting at the estate with them… sunshine in their hearts, despite this very rainy April morning, where time seemed suspended and exchanges of life journeys, sometimes a bit rocky were imbued with great wisdom. I had the opportunity to taste La Marèle again, vintages 2011 and 2021. The emotion was still there! Alongside La Marèle, I was also able to discover two additional cuvées, very fresh, precise wines, with beautiful structures. A real delight!

I propose three of their cuvées, Les Mauves (100% Cinsault), La Valière (100% Viognier), and of course, La Marèle (65% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 15% Mourvèdre). Perfect for an initiation in natural wines; these cuvées are accessible to everyone. So, no need to be a natural wine geek to appreciate them.\