A new very old wine - picpoul de pinet
"Smells of apple and rhubarb candy, pear drops. Brightly primary, all sharp boiled sweeties and party-balloon fun. Super-young, a lemon-sherbet and candyfloss noisy funfair of a wine. Just the ticket for a massive platter of jalapeno poppers or prawns with sriracha and lime dressing. 16/20" Tamlyn Curran - Jancis Robinson.com (2017 vintage)
We had dinner with friends at Paris Go last night. Yes I know - Paris Go again so I won't talk about the food. However, our friend brought along the white - and he brought the bottle shown here. Well I'm not exactly sure of the vintage, but it was definitely a Villa Blanche Picpoul de Pinet from Languedoc-Roussillon. A genuine French wine. We both had a vague memory of having drunk a picpoul de pinet wine before - well it's such a different name isn't it? Picpoul or piquepoul, literally translated means to sting the lips. I'm not sure that any of us came up with any of the words used to describe this particular wine by the experts and the makers. I think the best we came up with was minerally, although as the evening wore on and the wine became less cold it also became less minerally. Whatever - it was lovely. As well as the glowing bit of wine critic jargon above I give you a couple more:
"A well balanced and fruit driven wine with excellent structure and mouth feel. Zesty and citrussy, with the characteristic "pique" on the lips (the Poule)." Affordable wine
And from the makers themselves:
"limmering with greenish gold highlights. The nose is frank and clear-cut, very floral with touches of aniseed and iodized notes. The first palate is smooth, full and extremely supple, evolving to a supremely fresh finish in a register of citrus fruit. A passage on lees confers texture and length. Always consistently elegant whilst young, this wine has the potential to age gracefully in the bottle for several years. A top-end Picpoul de Pinet for aperitif or for drinking at table, with all types of seafood and cheeses." Calmel & Joseph.com
None of the wine critics by the way thought that picpoul de pinet was a wine that aged all that well and that it was best drunk young - with oysters.
Here in Australia there are just two makers of picpoul. Coriole in McLaren Vale and Borrowed Cuttings which is a sort of offshoot of Moonlight Bay Oysters in Batemans Bay NSW. And there is a rather nice story about this.
The oyster man Steve Feletti was on one of his regular trips to Bouzigues on the Etang de Thau between Agde and Sète on the coast of Languedoc-Roussillon, where they also grow oysters. He was treated to a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet and was blown away by it. He visited the vineyard where the grower, when he heard of his interest, gave him some cuttings from his vineyard. And after the quarantine and grafting, etc. process the first vintage of a few hundred bottles was produced in 2016 to great acclaim. So now the oyster man is also a vigneron, albeit on a small scale. Well he's not actually the vigneron of course, that's Windowrie Wines of Canowindra. So maybe we shall see more of this grape type grown here. Currently in the new world, the Americans also grow it in several different regions.
Picpoul de Pinet the grape, exists in three varieties - blanc, noir and gris, although the gris is very rare and not much used.
It is very ancient - probably the most ancient of the Languedoc- Roussillon region. It is mostly grown along the coastal lagoons between Agde and Sète and back to the hills of the Haute Languedoc. It's a large grape that grows in big loose bunches and tends to drop off individual grapes. They used to put trays underneath to catch the ones that fell off. The Romans probably grew it. In the 17th and 18th century it was blended with clairette blanc to produce a wine called Picardan. But it fell out of favour, due to its tendency to mildew and other fungal diseases, particularly in the time when the French vineyards were plagued with disease. For a time it was simply blended with other wines - often in Chateauneuf de Pape wines. It is also grown in Spain. But the Languedoc-Roussillon region, which, in the past produced vast quantities of vin ordinaire is undergoing a revival of interest in quality wine-making and this is one of the wines that has been revived, and now has its own AOC accreditation.
"The region has experienced something of a renaissance over the last few decades and concentrates an enormous energy. Many young growers with enquiring minds are adopting practices that are virtuous and respectful of the environment. These ecologically aware enthusiasts are our partners, with the Domaine as a centre for exchanging experiences and sharing of ideas." Calmel & Joseph
The variety even has its own organisation and its own Official site, where you can read more about the growers and the wine.
The new versions of this varietal wine are described on the Decanter website, as having:
"zingy acidity. This is often complemented by citrus and green fruit flavours, with aromas of blossom. More complex examples can display mineral or yeasty notes, too."
I saw one website that said that it was shaping up to be a rival of New Zealand sauvignon blanc in England. Well it was rather lovely I have to admit.
'Our' wine came from the firm of Calmel & Joseph which has a rather beautiful website. Jérôme Joseph (on the left) founded a trading company with a major interest in wine in 1995. In 2007, having long nursed an ambition to produce his own wine, he met Laurent Calmel (on the right) a winemaker and together they developed a large range of wines, made from grapes sourced from private vineyards all over Languedoc-Roussillon.
They later bought a Domaine of more than 200 hectares in the northern part of the area, not far from Carcassonne. Here they grow grapes, olives, some lavender, other crops such as alfalfa, wheat and hay and they keep bees too. Oh and it's all bio this and organic that. Plus they have four apartments that they rent out. Canny businessmen I think. Well Joseph is probably the businessman. Calmel, the winemaker spent time in the USA, Chile and Australia before finally returning to the Languedoc-Roussillon to ply his trade. One of the young men that are remaking the image of the wine of the south.
It's a beautiful spot as these pictures show. If you click on them you will get a bigger picture.
Picpoul de Pinet, is by no means the only wine they make. They have a large range of other wines, including pinot noir, chardonnay, malbec, syrah and sauvignon blanc. And they do a picpoul de pinet noir too. They, like many of the new growers of the region do not see themselves as being confined to growing what the authorities deem that they should grow to comply with Appellation Controlée rules.
So there you go. Another contender for the 'next big thing' title.
