Muscat Queen

Anne-Marie Lavaysse does everything her own way. She created Le Petit Domaine de Gimios 10 years ago and is now being helped by her son Pierre. Located in Saint Jean de Minervois, in the Languedoc, Anne-Marie keeps lettuce, leeks and other fruit trees on her vineyard. Certified Demeter (bioD), she doesn't add any sulfur or copper on her vines. When she started, she was doing like everyone else she admits, and was using sulfur from harvest to bottling. But rapidly she could not stand the smell and the lack of energey in her vines. She, then, stopped using sulfur and never looked back.
Very low yield, between 10 and 14 Hl/ha, she always harvests early in the morning to avoid having the picked grapes exposed to the hot Languedoc sun.




After trying her 2 reds, Rouge Fruit and Rouge de Causse, I finally got to try her dry Muscat Le Muscat Sec des Roumanis, 2008. Just like for her reds, I'm amazed by the balance and freshness offered by her wines, espcially when you consider this is Languedoc.
This Muscat may simply be the best muscat I have ever had. Very complex nose,with a lot going on: tea, rose, mandarine, orange skin, hint of minerality. There's also a tiny spritz. Very similar palate with maybe more apricot notes. Lively, fresh, really delicious.

A few biodynamic wines

While we're enjoying some time off in Southern California, we spent 4 days in San Francisco. I love this city and during our stay I bought a few wines to drink while in Newport Beach. For the 1st time, we went to San Francisco Wine Trading Company. I would really recommend anyone to stop there. Friendly staff and great selection for Provence and Languedoc especially.


Anyway, somehow, the 1st 3 wines we drunk were all issued from biodynamic wineries and were all great wines.

The 1st wine was a wonderful 2001 Marcel Deiss Burlenberg Pinot noir. Grown on limestone soil, this pinot would trick any blind taster and will lead you to Burgundy. I'm usually not a fan of Alsatian pinot noir except for the René Muré Clos St Landelin and this Deiss. There's a great spiciness with an impressive volume on the palate. Bright sherry with some blood orange. Mineral and long, this is drinking really well.
Then, we moved to the 2007 Clos Marie, Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St Loup, Cuvée Manon. Located just north of Montpellier, Christophe Peyrus farms in vineyards biodynamically. Made with typical southern grapes with a majority of grenache blanc (40%) and roussanne (30%) completed with clairette, maccabeu and carignan blanc. Raised in barrels, this shows a perfect balance and the wood is now completely integrated. Lovely nose with lemon, pear and mandarin. Hint of anise mixed with floral notes. Slightly nutty as well. Touch of fresh butter. Fat on the palate but with a surprising acidity and freshness. Only 12.5%. The most surprising thing in this wine is the incredible freshness. I was impressed. Bravo !
To finish our biodynamic journey, a superb 2008 Bott-Geyl Riesling Les Elements was sacrificed. Started very steely and mineral on the nose. Very lemony with grapefruit and floral notes with a touch of petrol. Very enjoyable nose. Almost dry, soft with very good acidity. Green apple. It's a little simple on the palate right now. Really easy to drink. Very nice wine.

While biodynamic practices do not assure great wines, this was the case here. Careful and thoughtful winemaking leading to balanced and low alcohol wines.