Tramontane Wines

The Priorat

2011-01-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

It really was long overdue. The Priorat is not far away (one hour south of Barcelona), has much in common with the vineyards of Collioure, and makes some stunning wines. Also, fellow MW student and general bon viveur Stefan Lismond is based there, marketing some of the region's best wines. So just before Christmas, I hopped in the car and dropped in to meet him.

The weather was more reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands than sunny Spain, but highlighted the geography of this special place. Surrounded almost completelt by mountains, and it 400-800m altitude, Priorat is much cooler at night than our Collioure Appellation, and can have very different weather to the Spanish coast only 40 miles away.
This helps the wines to retain good acidity (pH3.2-3.4 as opposed to the Roussillon 3.6-4.0) and a sense of freshness. I was lucky to visit some of the finest wineries in the region. Clos Mogador - the hippy originators of the Appellation - was fascinaing and frank. Ferrer and Bobet was a masterclass in modern, polished winemaking with no expense spared. Their amazing gravity-fed winery is pictured above, and their new Syrah plantings...planted downhill rather than along the terraces...this would never be allowed in Collioure!
Best of all was El Givot, with its tiny cellar space barely allowing us room to taste. Amazing to think that super-scoring wines are produced here, wines with such depth and character. And the place is up for sale...if I had the money, I'd snap it up!
The region is still relatively undeveloped (1500 hectares, with room for 10 times that), but high production costs, low yields and the big style make it something of a hard sell. I really felt we'd got a lot in common. However, in Priorat, irrigation is permitted, and more varietals are permitted every year it seems. And the points keep rolling in, and prices keep rising. However, as in the Roussillon the 'bread and butter' wines are suffering, with volume wines from co-operatives just not getting to market. Grape growers were paid 4.50€ a kilo 10 years ago, now it is half of that.
I hope to visit again and spend more time talking to producers. The problems there are very similar to our own, and I'm sure we could use each others' help to find a way out of these tough times. Both regions have so much to offer....they just need to make it pay.

The Aftermath

2010-10-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

So vintage is now well and truly behind us here in the Roussillon, and the cold winter is closing in (yes - it does get cold down here). There is still a lot to be done in the winery to keep things running smoothly.
Firstly we need to keep an eye on our ferments. Several reasons for this. Firstly the whites must be sulphured when ferment is finished to prevent them from oxidation and tp stop malolactic kicking in. Those in barrel must be topped up, and some battonage (lees stirring) will be undertaken depending on the varietals.
For the reds, we need to keep a careful eye on the residual sugars at the end of ferment. Most of our reds continue to ferment after pressing, as pressing releases more sugard for the yeasts to consume. This means some tanks finish very slowly, and in some cases we might have to launch a 'pied de cuve' to finish the ferment dry. This is time consuming, as we need to start the yeasts with a small amount of wine, and gradually double up until the whole tank (usually 5000litres for us) is bubbling away.
We never have enough tanks (show me a winery that does) so we need to blend finished wines together, and of course look at blends for the 09s that are not yet bottled.
Cleaning is vital for all the machinery that will not be used for another year - picking bins, destemmers, press, must pumps etc all need a thorough clean which takes days to do properly.
In the vineyard, the team have started hand weeding, rebuilding walls and generally tidying up. Pruning will start in a month's time, and that is a 3 month job for us.
On the logistics side, I need to order up dry goods for our bottling runs over the next two months. Labels, capsules, corks, bottles and boxes all need to be just right, and different markets have different requirements.
So never a quiet moment, and the annual cycle continues apace....

Vintage Photos

2010-10-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

A few photos courtesy of Richard Bray, whose help over vintage is invaluable.

Making Red Wine

2010-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

When all the picking is done and the grapes have been processed, it's time to really concentrate on the winemaking. With the white wines all safely racked and bubbling away in tank or barrel, our attention turns to the red wines.
Because red wines are fermented with the skins, seeds and all (and pressed after fermentation, unlike white which is pressed as soon as it arrives in the winery) there is a lot more work to be done on the wines. Controlling the extraction process is great fun and something of an art form.
Once fermentation begins, the solid matter (the 'cap') rises above the juice thanks to the CO2 bubbles in the tank. This is where it gets interesting, as much of the tannin, colour and other phenolic compounds are in that cap. So we need the juice to be in contact with the cap to give good red wine.
How we go about this is a never-ending discussion amongst winemakers, and depends on the grape variety, ripeness, healthiness and style of wine required. It is a time-consuming process which may involve foot-treading, pumping over, rack and return, heating, plungeing and more. Having the time do to it all properly and seeing the tanks of red progress is wonderfully fulfilling. One of the most important decisions is knowing when to stop. Are the tannins still supple? Can we get more structure without any harshness? Do we in fact want any more structure? As soon as the balance is right (and this may be several weeks after ferment has finished), it's time to run off the free-run juice and press the rest of the must.
This morning we are pressing some Grenache and Carignan. Here is our Carignan tank when ferment started - sometimes the cap rising takes you by surprise....we had to empty a couple of hundred kilos out of this tank by hand!

And relax....

2010-09-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

Harvest time is tough, but there's sometimes a moment to relax and take stock.
Several restaurateurs in the area wanted to come and harvest some grapes with us, so we made sure they helped us out with some lunch! Amazing homemade patés, seaweed butter, veal from the Auvergne, Catalan sausages and sea urchins magically appeared at our table. Great fun, although it was hard to get back to work afterwards...
Below Julien's mum with some good old charcuterie, and the team from the amazing l'Atelier restaurant in St. Cyprien, giving a lesson in how to open sea urchins...

Vintage Update 2

2010-09-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

At Mas Cristine the Cotes du Roussillon wines are taking shape very nicely.
All our whites are now picked, pressed and racked. Some tanks haven't started to ferment yet but we're not in a hurry. I realised we have over 50 different ferment vessels to keep track of...a full-time job in itself!

Some of the reds we picked early have been pressed already, to keep freshness and fruit in them. This meant a total maceration time of only 10 days or so, but this way we avoid any green notes from the skins. The later picked reds are coming in with superb colour (the Grenache juice is the colour of Syrah!) and really superb ripeness. Above picture is Olivier and I emptying a 2 tonne tank into the press.

Mas Cristine

2010-09-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

We've had a superb crop at Mas Cristine this year, in the Cotes du Roussillon.
All the whites are now in. Roussanne, Grenache Gris and Carignan Blanc looking absolutely superb.
Over 40,000 litres of white now bubbling away.
The first reds have shown incredibly vivid colour - the Grenache looks like Syrah. Another one of those mysteries that is hard to put your finger on, but the 2010 vintage will certainly produce v concentrated colour, without us having to extract a great deal.

Here's how we fill the press - by hand of course. Around 50 tonnes of white grapes in total have been hand harvested and put into our shiny new press. Also a picture of my son Theo, who loves drinking freshly-pressed the juice of the Muscat grapes (not the wine I hasten to add)....

Harvest Update

2010-09-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

Here in the Roussillon a lot of vignernons are reporting very small crops. Hail in the Agly valley, and poor fruit set all around has created a vintage even smaller than the 2009. This could spell absolute disaster for some producers.
At Coume del Mas we will certainly have a small vintage, but our old vines have somehow worn the storm better than most. Perhaps our philosophy of less treatments, careful pruning and leaf and shoot thinning has helped. Our Syrah was all but destroyed in high winds in April, but Grenache is looking pretty good.
At Mas Cristine, we have more fruit than ever! Although on 20km for Banyuls, we have good yields of perfectly ripe fruit for the whites. We have already processed 20,000 litres of juice, and will soon be moving on to the reds. I'm very happy with the quality so far, but rain is forecast tonight so we'll have to see what the coming days bring....

Tramontane Who?

2010-08-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

We've renamed our blog to encompass our three labels. Nothing has really changed, but it means we can let you know about ALL the wines we make, and intregate better with twitter and facbook (which we all need to do these days, right?!)
Essentially, Tramontane Wines looks after the logistics for Mas Cristine, Coume del Mas and our Tramontane brand. This means we can centrally manage anything from vintage workers to customs clearance through one company, without having to do everything three times. The French do love their bureaucracy, so anything to reduce the huge piles on Philippe's desk is most welcome (I can barely see him some days, as drowns in paperwork...).
In reality, it means we have more time to concentrate on the most important things: vineyards and winemaking! Nothing has changed except the blog title, and we remain as committed as ever to quality and control. Our new Consolation range of tiny cuvées reflects this commitment and our drive to keep on learning and experimenting. These wines just garnered some very nice reviews in the 2011 editions of Revue des Vins de France and the Gault-Millau guide.
Explanation over, now it's time to pick some Grenache Gris....

First Day of Harvest

2010-08-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

We started picking today...a lovely morning in Banyuls, with clear blue skies.
Our first day is always a family and friends day, so there were a lot of helpers to make short work of the Roussanne vineyard. Unfortunately, high winds in the spring meant we had even lower yields than last year (less than 10hl/Ha for this vineyard), but the grapes looked lovely!
These grapes will eventually be part of our cuvée C'est Pas du Pipo 2010, which will be blended with our Vermentino. The grapes are pressed, will settle overnight and then be racked to barrel to ferment. Always a very frothy ferment with Roussanne, no-one really seems to know why.

Holiday

2010-08-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes even wine needs a holiday...so we sent some of ours to Islay.
Unfortunately, they were consumed by a marauding team of marathon runners.
Here they are visting Bowmore distillery....

And relaxing on the beach....

Full Speed Ahead

2010-08-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well harvest is fast approaching, with estimates for picking whites being first week of September.
This is later than last year, perhaps because of a bout of rain and cooler weather 2 weeks ago, which hepled the vines immensely and slowed down the rapid sugar rising.
Despite initial forecasts, the crop this year looks to be small again. We averaged under 20hl/ha last year, so would very much like to make a little more wine this year! There is very little disease, in fact we haven't sprayed most of our vineyards since the middle of June.
In our Peyrefitte vineyard, seen below, we feared there would be no Syrah crop this year due to the fierce spring winds, but we've ended up with a little at least. Hopefully we'll be able to make a little Abysses this year.
Grenache Gris is showing 12.4% potential alcohol already, so we'll be up at 4.30am before we know it, and out with the secateurs...

Tastings Galore

2010-07-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year when people like to visit the Roussillon, and most importantly come and taste the wine. At Coume del Mas we're very happy to organise tastings for fans of our wines, and most days during the summer there is a group or two who turn up to taste.

It's a great opportunity to taste the new vintages, sample the latest wines from barrel, and meet the winemaker to get a feel for how things work at the Coume. And of course, there is no substitute for standing in the stunning vineyards of Banyuls to get a feel for the place, the terroir and the wines.
Please contact us here if you'd like to visit. We ask that you give us a few days notice, and don't just pitch up at the winery as we are frequently out in the vineyards or away selling our wares.
See you soon!

Organic Wine? No thanks!

2010-06-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

The EU-funded body Orwine has spent 3 years researching organic wine production within the EU. The body has been funded by member states, with the aim of reaching an agreement in labelling 'Organic Wine'. Currently, the only denomination available is 'Wine made form Organically Grown Grapes'.
Unfortunately, after this lengthly and costly research program was concluded, the EU Minister for Agriculture decided that agreement between the member states was untenable, and scrapped the whole plan.
This came down mainly to disagreements on the use of sulphur in the winery, which although it is a certified organic product for vineyard work, seems to represent a problem in the winery. Yet again, infighting seems to have detracted from an important and impressive project (download the Orwine recommendations here).
Is it important that wine be labelled organically? I think for clarity it is, and also of course for transparency of the process from grapes to bottle. The public is increasingly demanding of this. Many calls for tender we get are seeking specifically organic wine, so if the EU can't agree on what 'Organic Wine' is, then things are going to get complicated.
Our wines here are not organic, although we are considering the possibilities. In the larger picture, organics certainly makes growers and producers look harder at their systems and listen more to nature as they try to combat problems in more resourceful (and less harmful) ways.
Will we ever get an official 'Organic Wine' label in the EU? I wouldn't hold your breath...

Full Speed Ahead

2010-06-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

It's hot here now and the vines are really growing fast. Shoots can gain 2cm a day here in the summer sun. We've been out having a look around each of are plots to see what's going on. On the left you can see some Grenache from one of our Collioure vineyards. Notice the slightly uneven berry size, and the formation of some 'second set' bunches higher in the picture. These are not too serious however, and we are expecting a good Grenache season if all goes well. The other red varieties are more complicated due to bad weather, as I mentioned in a previous post.
Bad news North of here, where a hailstorm destroyed over 50% of fruit in some vineyards in the Agly valley last week, near the town of Maury. This is heartbtreaking for some excellent producers like Eric Laguerre who work the soil and vines organically, putting in a huge amount of hours. To then see their vines stripped by hail is a nightmare. The storm was so heavy that they had to use a snowplough to clear some roads!
Here in Collioure we've been doing a final spray of copper and/or sulphur on many of our vineyards to protect against mildew and oidium. These are organically-certified sprays which we use only when absoutely necessary. As you can see below, it is hard work when you can't get a tractor in the vineyard, as it involves a 30kg backpack and moving up and down every vineyard on foot to ensure each vine is well protected. Fortunately José has been doing it for a few years now, and has got the hang of it!

Les Musiaques de Collioure

2010-06-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

Coume del Mas was proud to be part of Collioure's annual wine festival on the 11,12 and 13 June.
The weather was superb fore the weekend, and a v large crowd turned up to taste the wines of the region's producers, all accompanied with food some some of the area's best chefs. There was also music, art exhibitions, theatre and storytelling.

This sort of event is very important for small appellations like Collioure and Banyuls. Although there may be little direct selling on the day, the event helps people remember why our wines are special. It is also a rare opportunity for all the winegrowers to get together and sample each others' wines, and for the locals to have a glass of wine and a chat.

The Older the Better?

2010-05-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've long been an advocate of drinking Grenache relatively young and fresh...it seems to have such energy and vibrancy in the flushes of youth, and certainly doesn't have a powerful tannin structure suitable for ageing.
However, a regular visitor to the winery brought us a real treat last week: Schistes 2002 and Schistes 2004! Since we have virtually no library stock of our wines, we were thrilled to taste these, and in the wonderful setting of the the restaurant La Côte Vermeille in Port-Vendres.
2004 was still fresh and packed with fruit, and really impressive tannins that indicate further capability to age. The 2002 was more gentle with obviously developed fruit flavours, and delicious truffle and mineral notes. Both wines proved that there is immense pleasure to be had from sticking these bottles away for a few years...if only we (and our customers) had a little more patience.
So thank you David - it was a pleasure to taste these with you!

Stormy Weather

2010-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Torrential rain and very high winds wreaked havoc in our vineyards last week. With the shoots still young and fragile, many vines were ripped apart. It was particularly bad for the Syrah, which is less robust than other varieties. Normally we attach the shoots to the trellising round about now to help the plant survive and bad weather, but the storms came too soon.
It looks like we won't have any Syrah to make our cuvée Abysses this year, which is a huge blow. The vines will compensate by producing new shoots and bunches, but it is very unlikely they will ripen sufficiently to make decent wine.
On a positive note, Folio White 2009 is now bottled and is already tasting sumptuous - a decadent and weighty vintage for early drinking, with musky, spicy notes and juicy fruits. Quadratur 2008 is also in bottle, but needs a couple of months to settle down into what will be a very serious and structured wine.

Global Warming

2010-04-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

It would be hard for anyone having spent the last winter in Scotland - or even England - to believe that global warming is really kicking in, but even here in Collioure we have our doubts. The above photo is from 11th March 2010, when over a metre of snow fell in the town of Banyuls, and the coast was cut off and without power for days. I returned from a trip to Scotland (where the weather was pretty good!) to find the motorway blocked, the vines completely hidden, and general chaos.
How will this affect our wines? Melting snow is actually a wonderful way to get field capacity in soils in winter, since it melts slowly and is absorbed into the ground - as opposed to storm rains, which generally run off into the sea.
This all seems a lifetime away barely 3 weeks later, with temperatures in the 20C+ and budbreak occuring in many of our vineyards. We planted 800 new Grenache Gris vines yesterday, so in 4 years we will have a little more Folio on offer!
Happy Easter...

Vinisud

2010-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

We've spent a long time getting ready for the Vinsud show in Montpellier. It happens every 2 years, and showcases the wines of the Mediterranean coast, in particular the French part. So the Languedoc and Roussillon creat a lot of interest.
For us it's a big time....a stand is expensive, but the show attracts buyers from all over the world. We had people from Norway, Denmark, Holland, England, Canada, China, USA and more tasting at the stand, so its amazing for us.
Thankfully, people seem to have but the economic crisis behind them and are ready to do business and persuade people to drink more good wine! We didn't stop for 3 days, showing people our full range. A great experience, with over 35,000 people visiting the show. It felt like most of them came to see our stand! The word on the street was that the Roussillon hall was the busiest out of all 12, so perhaps the world is waking up to our wonderful old vines, local varieties and honest winemaking.
We even had the pleasure of Julien and José on the stand - the guys who normally take care of our vines. It was great for people to be able to speak to them directly about the conditions down here, and the guys both enjoyed the 'easy life' selling the stuff.

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

The month of December has been spent putting a lot of wines into bottle....both here and at our Mas Cristine project. We now have Quadratur 2008 in bottle - our traditional Collioure blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan, which spends a year in barrel. It's already showing just what a powerful and concentrated year it was (and high volume too - a vigneron's dream vintage!).

We have also bottled a couple of wines for our Consolation project. These are very small quantities of single parcel wines which seem exceptional in a particular year. We have bottled 2008 Catala Blanc - a pure Grenache Gris from a single vineyard high above Collioure, ploughed by horse and harvested and made by hand. Only 700 bottles of this! Also in bottle is the Dog Strangler - my favourite grape variety - Mourvedre - with ferment in barrel and plenty of extraction, then a year in old casks. This is stunning already and I have to say we did amazingly well with a veriety that can be very difficult. The name - by the way - is what the locals used to call Mourvedre (etrangle-chien) thanks to its formidable tannins.

We've also bottled up our Banyuls Blanc, which is oft forgotten but really is a treat. Waxy, coconutty, vanilla, peaches and cocoa dusting....a wonderful aperitif. I fact, I am drinking a glass as I write!

So a very Merry Christmas to you all...here at Coume del Mas we shall enjoy a glass of great wine with our families and friends....we hope you will do the same.

Sell, Sell, Sell

2009-11-24T07:12:00.001-08:00

Well, it's a quiet time for winemaking right now. The tanks and barrels in the winery are sitting quietly through the winter months, with just a couple of barrels needing to finish fermentation. Since we use 100% indigenous yeasts, it can be hard sometimes at the end of ferment to get the wines to go 'dry', that is 2g/L or less of sugar. Any more than this, and we run the risk of the wines refermenting once in bottle and shipped in a warm container. So we have to heat the wine gently, give it some air, and in extreme cases try and add some active yeast. This is the risk with natural ferments, but we believe in the long run that the wine is more complex and true to its origins.
In the vines the leaves are dying away and the plants return to dormancy. Some people have started to prune already, but its too soon for most Grenache is this will encourage it to sprout early in the season. Not a bad time to get started in the Mourvedre though, as long as the leaves browning.
Much of our time is devoted to selling the wine at this point in the year, and encouraging people to drink more for the festive season! It has been a tough year in many markets (the USA seems hardest hit in terms of sales of high-end wines)
but we feel you've really got to get out there, let people taste the wines, and see how passionate we are about the whole thing. So there you go....get out there and buy some Coume del Mas to keep you wamr over the winter months!
If you're in the South of France in February, come and see us at Vinisud...it's a huge exhibition for Mediterranean wines and is a wonderful 3 days. We meet up with clients from all over the world in this time, and launch our new wines. There will be lots to do and lots to taste...click on the link below to come and joins us.....www.vinisud.com

Vintage Elsewhere

2009-10-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

With harvest over in the Roussillon, I took a trip with the family up to the Aveyron to see a friend who has some vines. An obscure Appellation - Entraygues le Fel - with only 20 hectares of vines to its name, it is a hidden gem. As you can see, the vines are on steep terraces which plunge from 500m up down to the Lot river at the bottom of the Gorge.
The Massif Central is the high plateau that covers central France, and it was already -5C at night in October, so the harvest is somewhat later than in Banyuls. The varieties are Fer Servadou and Cabernet Franc for the reds and Chenin Blanc for the white.
Our friend Laurent has built a great winery, and there is no shortage of pickers for vintage...around 30 people (all volunteers) turned up on the day we were there to help out.
The wines are really characterful and individual...another example of the huge variety in French viticulture.
The region is also famous for wonderful cheese, beef (Aubrac) and vegetables. We ate non-stop whilst we were there, and Laurent's wines were the perfect accompaniment. Every corner you turn in France, it seems there is another culture of wine, food and friendship, and we were very happy to discover le Fel , its people and its delicious wines.

VIntage Update II

2009-10-10T08:29:00.001-07:00

So now to the red wines, most picked 3 weeks earlier than last year.
Our parcels of Grenache near the sea are generally picked first, then some Syrah and Mourvedre, then our older vines of Grenache and Mourvedre, and finally the Carignan. Each grape variety is vinified separately, and some parcels are even vinified apart where space allows.
Of course, there is a lot more work to be done with reds than whites during ferment. We spend our days treading, punching down, pumping over, racking or delestaging (all very dynamic names - and with good reason!). Below Rich is foot-treading some old-vine Mourvedre that we fermented in an open-top new oak barrel. The wine has just about finished ferment now, and has an awesome tannin profile already.

When the reds arrive in the winery, we sort the grapes to ensure only the very best make it into the vats. We do this using a vibrating table and a system called 'Mistrale' which separates out unripe fruit and stalks using a jet of air. It's expensive, but works superbly well.

The reds remain in tank with the skins for at least a month, where we work hard to extract the right flavours and tannins to create some serious wines. Then they are pressed and go into barrel...we only have some Carignan left to press off and then most of the work is done.
Quantity wise we have done better with the reds - only around 20% down on last year, but we had to sacrifice any thoughts of making rosé in order to get this volume.
So now a calmer period, where we've got time to check the ageing wines are performing well, and assemble the 08s for bottling next month. Then we have to go and sell the stuff...

Vintage Update

2009-10-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Vintage is officially over! So first of all, news of the white wines.
We wholebunch press the whites, and have to take care with the Grenache Gris (our main varietal) as this can easily take colour from the pinkish skins. So we use wholebunch to help juice flow and keep the pressure low, sending the last of the pressings to be kept apart.
We picked very early this year, but we have fantastic ripeness of fruit. All the barrels have fermented with no nutrition problems, and many are dry already. Because we rely 100% on wild yeast, stuck ferments and nutrient deficiency can somestimes be a problem, but with this year's super-healthy fruit things have gone very well.
Quantity wise we have around 30% less white than last year, but what we have looks excellent. The Roussanne and Vermentino which go into our other micro cuvée (C'est Pas du Pipo) were also picked at perfect ripeness. Unfortunately, with the lack of fruit for reds too, there will be no Farniente Rosé 2009.

Above is our international winemaking team! On the left, Rich Bray from the USA via Scotland, centre Philippe Gard (owner and winemaker) and on the right, Johnny Gibson, from the fine region of Waipara in New Zealand. With such staff, it was virtually guaranteed we'd make amazing wine this year. Here they're enjoying a break in processing with a glass of Bordeaux and some pigs' head sauasage....delicious!
So the whites are now in our temperature-controlled barrel room, where we batonnage occasionnally (stir the lees in the bottom of the barrel). We don't do this routinely to add flavour (especially in a good year where the wine already has plenty of texture) but more to help the ferment finish dry. We don't want any residual sugar in these wines - or no more than 3g/L - and wild yeasts aren't as ruthless as industrial, so we have to do all we can to help the ferments on their way.
News on the reds to follow....

Vintage 09

2009-09-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Harvest came early this year, with the first grapes being picked mid 14th August. This is around 2 weeks earlier than the average, and means we are already well advanced. All the whites have now been picked at Coume del Mas, and also at our sister property Mas Cristine. Below is one of our trusted pickers in our old Consolation vineyard above Collioure. He helped us identify some of the more obscure varieties planted here - such as Aramon, Clairette and San Sebastien. This small parcel is planted with over 10 different varieties and we hope this adds complexity and texture to the wine, even if we're not sure exactly what each variety is!

We have pressed off some rosé, and started bringing in the reds. The quality of the grapes so far has been outstanding...no rotten or diseased bunches at all and we've planned well to pick everything at perfect maturity. The wines have started fermentation with no problems (we rely on the wild yeasts to do the work) and the musts are looking really outstanding.
The only downside is volume - between 30-50% down on last year, which is a huge loss for a small winery like ourselves. Of course, we naturally try to find more grapes through trusted friends, but everyone is in the same boat and there are just no extras to be had. So if you're a fan of our wines, snap up the 09s as soon as they get into bottle - there won't be much of them!!
Why so few grapes? Well, bunches are formed in the previous season between the shoots of the vines, and after last year's bumper crop the vine was probably balancing its efforts. Does it have anything to do with this year's wet spring or searingly hot summer? Probably not, as the crop size was already low at flowering. In fact, the lower yields have meant that the vines can cope with the summer heat with few problems as they have less carbohydrate requirements than last year.
More on vntage to follow shortly....

Veraison

2009-07-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Veraison is a point in the yearly lifecycle of the vine where the grapes change very rapidly.
The most obvious sign that this is happening is that the grapes change colour. Below are examples of Syrah and Mourvedre in the middle of veraison. The anthcyanin levels in the skins increase rapidly and colour change is achieved in a few days. Even white grapes change to a more golden colour. There are also important changes in sugars (rapid increase) and acids (rapid decrease). Generally speaking, it is the stage where growth stops and ripening really starts.
As you can see, the Syrah on the left is has longer bunches, more even berry size and coloration. Mourvedre varies much more from bunch to bunch, and indeed the same bunch. The clusters on the Mourvedre are very small this year - sometimes they can weigh over a kilo.

The vine is trying to make the fruit as attractive as possible to hungry animals...it achieves this by producing lots of juicy fructose and glucose, plus attractive volatile compounds which give aroma (wild boar, for example, cannot resist the whiff of ripe Muscat vines). Once the animals eat the grapes and the seeds drop out the other end then the vine's task is complete. Survival and procreation are the only aims of the vine...man has chosen to harness this, and to manipulate this instinct to produce grapes fit for winemaking. Such a simple premise, but with seemingly infinite possibilities. Cheers!

Full Speed Ahead

2009-07-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

We've had temperatures over 35 degrees in the last couple of weeks, plus some full-on summer storms and also some hail over a couple of parcels. This means the vines have had plenty of water and plenty of heat, so they've been growing onwards and upwards in their quest to survive and flourish.
Of course, humidity, rain and heat also brings disease pressure, and we've been spreading sulphur powder in several vineyards to keep mildew at bay. We've also had to use some insecticides as the second generation of grape worms was causing havoc in some sectors.
Below is a problem of a different nature. This reddish brown coloration around the outside of the leaves is actually caused by acidity in the soil. A lower pH causes certain elements to be liberated (and therefore absorped) more easily. So here we have a classic example of aluminium toxicity, as a result of acid soils.

Next year we will treat this by adding some lime to the soils early in the year and let the spring rains absorb the alkaline calcium carbonate and corrects the imbalance. Vines are fussy things really, and need to be kept happy in order to produce the best fruit possible.

All of last year's wine are now bottled (apart from those still in barrel) so we can think about cleaning the emtpy tanks and starting to get the whole winery ready for 2009 vintage. It seems a while away yet, but it will be here before we know it, and then there's no time to think!

A Growth Spurt

2009-06-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been pretty unusual of late...stormy and humid in the mornings, then clearing up to bright sunshine later on. This is not great for disease pressure as mildew thrives on moisture followed by sunshine, but so far our vineyards have not suffered too badly and our spray programs should keep that at bay.

All the work we did attaching and cutting back the vines means that have spent the last couple of weeks surging forth, throwing out tendrils and sucker roots in an effort to survive. This means some work passing through the vines to remove the 'entrecoeurs' (shoots which grow between the leaf and principal shoot, and do nothing except sap energy from the poor vine, which is desperate to keep growing and propagating).

So we pass through the vines in teams, removing these shoots and any dried leaves from the centre of each vine. The idea is to provide a good level of sapce and light in the vines, and the right balance of canopy/vigour/fruit. The grapes need some direct sunlight (not for photosynthesis - that happens in the leaves - but for development of certain volatile and phenolic compounds which tests have shown are enhanced by direct sunlight), however too much and they will simply burn in the strong sun down here. Also, we need to provide space in the canopy for air to circulate, minimising disease risk. But if we remove to much greenery we are upsetting the source/sink balance of the vine and it doesn't have enough 'fuel producing' leaves to power subsequent growth.
So it is all a balancing act. Each vine is different and occupies a couple of minutes of our time which means - you guessed it - it is a long process for several thousand vines. However, look at the nice neat vines above and you can see it is all worthwhile. Don't they just look like they're going to produce some wonderful Syrah grapes?

Hot Stuff

2009-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Temperatures are expected to rise over 30C in the next few days, so summer is truly upon us here. Some shoots are over head height now, and all vineyards have flowered with good fruit set (although fewer bunches than last year) and some fruit now 'petit pois' size.
We've been watering our newly-planted vines this week to ensure they have enough water to take root properly. Of course, irrigation is illegal in French vineyards producing Appellation Contrôlée quality wine, but it is allowed for young plants around here. Otherwise they would simply wither up under the summer sun. Above you can see Jean-Philippe watering the old-fashioned way....1000 plants later it starts to get a bit tiring!
We like to start them early in Catalonia, so we got 3 month old Theo out into the Consolation vineyard last week whilst I was attaching some Mourvedre. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to keen on the whole viticulture experience.....

Protecting the Vines

2009-05-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

This month we are concentrating on keeping the young vines healthy and growing well.
It is a fragile time for the plants - the stems are young and easily broken and the bunches are in need of good weather to produce grapes.
Flowering has occurred in some vineyards already. Grape flowers are not very exciting (in fact barely noticeable), but they do let the grower know that it is a very important time. Rain, wind and disease can drastically reduce a crop at this moment.
So, we set about a few tasks to keep the vines on track for a successful harvest. Firstly we attach most of our vineyards to trellising or posts. This is time consuming (we have over 40,000 plants) but essential work. Once the vines are attached wind and heavy rain are much more unlikely to break and stems or bunches. In addition, the vine has a more evenly distributed canopy and we can then fruit- and leaf-thin more easily in a month or two. In New Zealand they called this work Vertical Shoot Positioning, and they never seemed to shut up about how important it was.
Secondly are the treatments to protect the vines. Already Oidium and, to a lesser extent, Mildew have awoken from their winter sleeping in dead wood, and have been spotted around the area. We use Sulphur and Copper to combat these diseases. They also work against other pests (even rabbits are put off by Sulphur), and in addition they are entirely organic. Below Damien is using our new atomiser, which really pushes out fine particles onto every part of the plant.

Then we keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be kind to us...a week of rain now could reduce harvest by 50% this year. So far this season we have seen good growth with moderate bunch counts. If the spring weather holds out, it could be a great year.

Bottling

2009-05-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

The mobile bottling line that arrives once every couple of months is, quite simply, a marvel of modern science. In the hold of a medium-sized lorry is everything we need to take the wine from tank to bottle. Filtration, bottle-washing, corking, sealing capsules, screwcaps if necessary, additions of CO2 or Nitrogen, labelling, lot numbers, sealing of boxes and printing on the finished carton. Within an hour of arriving, the line is set up, sterile and ready to go. We can process around 12,000 bottles in a full day.
It is the end of a process that began up to two years ago in the winery, and of course years before in the vineyard. The less glamorous (but equally important) side is to have all the dry goods ready. The correct number of boxes, fillers, labels, capsules, corks and bottles for each wine. This is a logistic nightmare because the Roussillon is the back of beyond as far as most suppliers are concerned, and things rarely turn up on time, or as requested.
After it's all over though, it is great to see the latest vintage bottled up, and wonder how it will develop in the bottle. The wine needs a few weeks to settle down from the 'bottle shock' before it reveals its true colours. And the verdict so far? Well of course, I'm bound to say they are outstanding!

New Plantings

2009-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

This monthy we have planted 2000 new vines in our vineyards around Collioure.
As you can just about see here, they are starting to show small buds - a sign that all is going well. The buds burst through the protective wax that covers the graft, and the young vine starts its fragile first year.
It seems crazy that just about every single vine planted in France today has been grafted onto new rootstock. Millions upon millions of vines that are cut below the head and re-attached to American rootstock like two jigsaw pieces fitting together.
The reason for this is the root-eating bug Phylloxera Vastatrix, which decimated the indigenous rootstock of Europe in the late 19th Century. The only cure that proved successful was to graft European vinifera vines into American labrusca vines (a different species within the grape genus Vitis).
It is almost certain that without this intervention, there would be no vinifera plantings left in Europe, and most other parts of the world. But of course, the wine industry is not without its own scandals, and there has been a cover-up for the last 20 years or so regarding a rootstock known as AXR1. This was recommended by UCD and was a great commercial success. However, there is a serious worry that through mutation it has lost its Phylloxera resistance, and much of the Napa valley had to be replanted as a result.

Our young Grenache Gris vines are on healthy 110-Richter rootstock, and should pose us no problems. The vine nursery guarantees them disease and virus free. A little water, a post to tie each vine to, and three years of patience will bring us our first crop. We have added some organic fertilizer and also some lime to the vineyards to help the new plantings. The lime corrects acid soils - a correct acidity range greatly increases assimilation of minerals and nutrients into the grapevine.
The rest of the vineyard is progressing at a healthy rate...with 4-6 leaves showing and signs of healthy bunches starting to appear. There has been a good amount of water this spring, so things are looking good. We will soon be tying down the shoots onto trellising where we have it, and starting a disease programme to keep the vines healthy for the 2009 cycle.

2009-04-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone - Welcome to the first posting from the South of France.
For those of you who have merely stumbled upon this blog by chance, let me introduce you to our set-up in the Roussillon. We are a small winery owned by the Gard family, with around 12 hectares of vineyard (that's roughly 40,000 vines). We make around 30,000 bottles of wine a year. These are dry reds, whites and rosés under the Appellation Collioure, and fortified sweet wines under the Appellation Banyuls.
Our vines are one steep, terrassed slopes of schist rock, with very little top soil. The vines must dig deep to find water and nutrients. The weather is very hot and sunny in summer with strong mountain winds to cool the vineyards a little.

In this blog we will let you know about our work in the vines and winery. If you've get any questions or comments then please send them to me! AJC