A dark and ominous storm gathered as I headed south.  I thought that finding Maury would be simple as there HAD to be a sign for the town along the autoroute.  But no, so I pulled off the road around some town names that I did know.  Of all people I should NEVER travel without a map as I have no sense of direction.  The sun helps of course….but first she must be out.  (Another friend who suffers from this problem calls it “directionally dyslexic”.  Since I am dyslexic in writing and speaking it all adds up.)  I did indeed have a map so finally pulled myself over and dug it out of my suitcase.  Wow, it cleared things up right away, imagine that!

My contacts here are Richard and Sarah Case.  Both are English but as winemaking was the chosen field for Richard, France was a natural.  Richard was making small lots of Old Vine Grenache and Old Vine Carignan in his basement…a humble facility at best.  The Vallé d’Agly was soon discovered for its plentiful hillsides of OVG and OVC.  These grapes had been going into Vin Doux Natural but it did not take long for winemakers from other areas/countries to see the gold hanging on these slopes.  Richard is now making his wine and wine for several others in an absolutely perfect winemaking facility designed and built by Dave Finney of Orin Swift/Prisoner fame (who has made a sizable investment in vineyards and the winemaking facility).

Richard and I had agreed by email that I would either come by the winery or call him on his cell, depending on the time of arrival.  I like to hone in a bit on my destination first….get the lay of the land.  I arrived in Maury around 6:30 and as I drove through its main street I passed the local pub.  I was immediately at home as I saw Richard (he is very tall) and a group relaxing over a beer.  I considered this a very good sign of days to come.

Turns out he was hanging with his associate Bob (also English), and Brian (and his cousin Pete) from Napa Valley.  Brian works with Dave (and Pete was just on vacation) and was here for the launch of the harvest.  A few beers later we were off to a party in Tautavel.  I completely blew it here as I did not have my camera.  I am not used to documenting my life and have never used a camera so it is not second nature.  I tried to get a few pictures of the party with Richard’s iphone, but…..

In any case please picture an old cellar but thoroughly renewed, with a long table with over 200 wines and a food table at one end where shortly two lambs were being sliced for our dining pleasure.  Dozens of winemakers from the area were here to kick off harvest with what is apparently an annual get together.  I was surprised to run into a few people I knew and of course there were many winemaking connections from both France and the rest of the grape community.  This was grand start to the week!

Although I missed a handful of party shots, I can share some of the beauty and charm of Maury.

The Local Hollywood Sign

The Local Cemetery

The Hills Slowly Close In

Magestic Risings

To the North