Left-field Aveyron lovelies and a pair of prime Vernaccias

La Crouzette, Patrick Rols, Aveyron
Patrick Rols is another artisan grower in the village of Conques in the wilds of the Aveyron Vines were originally planted in this region by Burgundian monks in the Middle Ages, but these were subsequently wiped out by phylloxera and the two world wars. Patrick Rols replanted 0.6 hectares of vines on a beautiful site overlooking the village in 2003/ 2004.

Patrick on his labels and in the names of his cuvees alludes to the role of the abbey of Conques in providing shelter and sustenance to pilgrims on their way to Santiago di Compostela.

La Crouzette is a blend 20% Chenin Blanc, 80% Chardonnay from young vines on schistous soils. Patrick farms organically, harvests by hand. Vinification lasts twelve months whereupon the wine is assembled and aged for 16 months in oak barrels used already for 4-5 wines, before being bottled without filtration, fining and only a tiny amount of sulphur

Golden-yellow colour, warm aromas of bruised apples, pears and plums with some nutty sherry and spice notes, mouthfilling with rich waxy fruit and a delicate hint of honey on the finish and some dried spice from the lees contact. When I showed the wine at a staff training at a London restaurant the waiting staff loved it, which was rewarding because this wine will thoroughly piss off the anti natural whinistas.

Drink vehemently with organic or wild salmon, smoked fish (especially eel) and spatchcocked griddled quail.

Mauvais Temps, Nicolas Carmarans, Aveyron

Nico Carmarans, former restaurateur and someone who looks like he either wrestles bears for breakfast or sits down and has a jolly good drink with them, is based near Conques in the village of Campouriez. As well as some gorgeous Chenin which we will be getting in as soon as he’s bottled it, he has also some Fer Servadou (a local variety), Gamay and Negret de Bagniard, a local variety close to the Cöt but more adapted to high altitude (his vineyards are all terraced on decomposed granites and at an altitude of 500 metres). And don’t forget Blauer Portugueser.  The vines are 20-50 years old on average and he also replanted much of them. His élevage is made in casks only, the fermentations take place in vats, except for the whites and rosés for which it takes place in casks. Of course, he doesn’t use any usual additives and relies on indigenous yeasts for the fermentation. He makes a semi carbonic macerations of whole bunches in fibreglass vats or cuvee tronconnais for the reds.  The wine spends time in 3-5 year old oak barrels (from Philippe Pacalet) and is bottled without fining, filtration and maybe 1 gram of sulphur.

The Mauvais Temps (rotten weather) is the good bad time that can be enjoyed by all. A blend of 60% Fer, 30% Negret de Banhars (Nico has 1,500 of the 2,500 vines of this grape) with the balance of the two Cabernets this is a light red (11.5%) that gets briskly into its stride with energetic sour-cherry fruit. There is a firm backbone of acidity (although the tannins are understated) and a granitic firm-but-fairness that leaves the mouth puckered up for the next gobload and all the while craving some cassoulet to unglue.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano Tradizionale, Montenidoli
Vernaccia di San Gimignano Fiore, Montenidoli
“Elisabetta Fagiuoli is the living metaphor of her land, and she greets you, as the land welcomes you, with a smile that testifies to her joy in extending you hospitality. She shares with you her vision of the world, and impresses you with the same quiet strength that millennial culture of winemaking possesses. And you accept her for the elegance of her eloquence and gestures”. So says Luigu Veronelli.

Everything about Elisabetta radiates poetry, a deep sense of tradition and spiritual feeling for the land. The land is in her blood, thanks to her family, who cultivated vines and olive trees in Custozza, not far from Verona, since the 1700s, and also thanks to her childhood, spent wandering the vineyards of Valpolicella.

Montenidoli is the hill of the little nests; higher up the slopes are the Triassic terrains, the oldest in Tuscany, rich with minerals for the red wines, whilst further down are Quaternary terrains on the slopes, where the calcareous sediments left by the Ligurian Sea feed the white wines and enrich their perfumes. The Etruscans were the first to discover this treasure and plant their vines, followed by the Romans and the Knights Templar. Elisabetta and family arrived in 1965 to see how they could capture the wonderful potential of the terroir.

Montenidoli’s vineyards are organically grown. For fifty years no herbicide, insecticides or any other chemicals have been used. This is a microclimate brimming with life. The vineyards are aglow with fireflies by night and dancing with ladybugs by day. If I’m not selling you her wines then I’ve totally lost my touch.

“We began to break up the clods of earth and make hummus, raising earthworms and also rabbits, for their precious manure. Now, we leave the hoeing to the roots of plants we sow in the vineyards, and till under each spring”.

Sulfur and copper are the only substances used to treat infection. And only if absolutely necessary, because sunlight and clean air are perceived to be the best medicine to make the vines healthy, strong, and resistant to disease and bad weather.

The grapes for the Vernaccia Tradizionale are pressed and following the old tradition the must macerates at length with the skins and is pressed as soon as the fermentation begins, to extract the flavour of the terroir. The wine is straw yellow tending towards gold, with herbal and almond perfumes, rich flavours, and a dry, crisp aftertaste. The finish smacks of savoury spice, bitter almonds, and grape skin. Tremendous purity and drive, but this wine needs seafood.

Vernaccia Fiore is made with the free-run juice, displaying all the finesse and elegance of which Vernaccia is capable. It ferments in steel, and ages on the lees to gain roundness and
persistence. Displaying considerable depth, it is full, with rich, elegant white berry fruit supported by greenish accents and spice from grapes, and by clean rich white berry fruit acidity.

Elisabetta takes Vernaccia to a higher level without trying to make the wine more than it is.