There are just too many great interactions to get them all into a blog. But a day exploring Vingrau turned into a lot of fun. For the most part I am drawn to an area by the vineyards but as you can tell, find other wonderful things to enchant and delight. Vingrau is not far from Tautavel (both northeast of Maury and active parts of the winemaking community of the Roussillon…..I should probably have a map somewhere on this site!!??). This village is smaller than Tautavel because it does not have “Tautavel Man” to bump up its cachet.
There were a number of lovely alleys and impasse to draw one in. A front door with a CD disc nailed to it was a case in point. I stopped, observed, thought it of interest, took a shot or two and was quickly startled by a youngish man with a mop of unruly black hair jabbing at my chest with a cigarette asking what the hell I thought I was doing. “Taking a picture of a most unusual door knocker”, I said, pointing at the CD. Turns out that he had something to do with that CD, to little personal avail and was plenty unhappy about it. I heard the sad tale over a couple of glasses of rosé sitting in a waning October afternoon.
I also had a chance to visit Opoul which has a higher altitude than Tautavel or Vingrau and offers fruit with greater acidity and freshness. It is also remarkable close to the Mediterranean. This became important when visiting with the Castany family of Domaine de L’edre (www.edre.fr) a winery that is getting plenty of notice in the states (imported by Dan Kravitz, Hand Picked Selections). The wines are full throttle, but have some racy acidity from these higher elevation vineyard sites. Don’t miss them if you can find them.
Just Another Front Yard
Just Around the Corner
More Delights
Native Succulent?
High Road to Opoul
The "Tractors" at Lunch
High Altitude Vines
TERROIR!
The Castany Family in Their Domaine
Jacques Castany, Vigneron
Le Heurtoir de la Porte
Jonathan Hesford and Rachel Treloar started their Domaine (Treloar) in the mid-oughts. Theirs’ is yet another remarkable story of how two people threw in the “success” towel to start something more meaningful and powerful in the pursuit of personal and familial fulfillment. Although Jonathan is British and Rachel from New Zealand, America (9/11 to be precise) had its own dramatic impact on their lives and decisions. Jonathan (ultimately) went to winemaking school in New Zealand with Erik Kramer who is the Associate Winemaker at Adelsheim Vineyard (hence the original introduction). David and I visited with Jonathan and Rachel last spring when we made our initial investigation of Languedoc/Roussillon. It also turns out that they are good friends with Richard and Sara Case from Maury…small world as we know.
I had a chance to return to their Domaine for an update on their busy lives. There wines are not sold in the states for the most part (a small number of cases go to NY) but their story is compelling (www.domainetreloar.com) and their wines lovely, elegant, and focused.
The Leafy Drive Down to Trouillas
Cultivated Beauty
Arbored Archways Abound
First Sample of the Day
Jonathan Hesford, Vigneron
Winery Kitties
The Small Cellar
Grape Press in the Air, Chute Open
Jonathan Backs In
Woosh! Down Falls the Pomace
Domaine Treloar
The famous attraction in the town of Tautavel is the “Tautavel Prehistoric Man” Museum. In 1971 remains were found of a 450,000 year old man. For me however the town is famous for two things, 1) the awesome harvest celebration that kicked off my stay in the Roussillon and 2) the incredible tiles and mosaics that I discovered around the town. I tried to find out why Tautavel had these little gems of art engraved in random walls throughout the village but have yet to discover the answer. If anyone knows I would sure love to be enlightened.
I did not visit the museum (perhaps next trip) but I did do my best to track down as much of the “mosaic history” as possible.
Tautavel Co-op, Party Scene Over
Tautavel Tiles
I First Noticed this Tilework
The Mairie
Close Up
Pruning
The Site (for lack of a dissertation on "terroir")
The Plantation or Vineyard
Man Arrives in Europe
Man Arrives in Europe and Discovers BBQ???
The Men of Tautavel
The Birth of Fire
Birth of Art
"Man"
An Artist with a Sense of Irony
Those are all that I found but as the story is not complete I am sure that there were several others!
Slowly a few lieu-dit are being called out in the Roussillon appellation. One such area is Calce. This is mostly due to one specific vigneron, Gérard Gauby, who has set a new standard of quality for the area. My base is Maury, but one can go in any direction and find yet another valley of incredible vines. It could take months to figure out exactly what each site/soil imparts to a wine. For now, we follow the leaders. In addition to Gauby there is Olivier Pithon, another strong proponent of the Calce region.
Gauby has been making wine from his family’s vines since 1985 (before they went to the local co-op). His approach to his vineyards has changed over the years and therefore so have the wines. The early wines were huge and massive and lacked the kind of focus and finesse that we taste today. Some of this was probably growing up, and the other was a shift in farming practices. I believe that he is strictly bio at this point, as is his protégé Olivier Pithon. Gauby was instrumental in Pithon’s arrival in Calce (from calcaire) but Stephane Derenoncourt was the person that gave Olivier permission to be fully passionate about all things vinous.
I had the pleasure of meeting both men and a chance to talk briefly about the harvest. But as they were in the full swing of the vendange, there was not enough time to fully discuss or visit the vineyards. We agreed to spend some quality time among the vines when I return in the spring.
Leaving Estagel on D1
Incredible and Diverse Flora
Sisyphusian Rock Walls
Permanent Town Signs
Calcaire Hilltop
Shist Soils In Addition to Calcaire
Another "Routine" Leafy Canopy
Tags:
Calce
The main part of the town winds up the hill from the lower road. Nothing is more than a ten minute walk from one place to another. There are still many houses that have not been updated since before the war, a handful of those that were updated after the war and now some exciting remodels. I am in fact in one of the remodels that is modern and it makes a first rate apartment/house. The place includes a washer/dryer, full kitchen (that’s a French kitchen, well stocked!), télé, radio, and loads of room. There is plenty of light. It lacks old world charm of course, but there are times when I would rather “see” old world charm rather than live it. If there was a WIFI connection it would be perfection.
Welcome
First Flight
Living Room at Night
Dining Area at Night
The Kitchen
Daily Lunch Chez Moi
The Artsy-Fartsy Foto
