The underground innovators: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2006/03/26 > The underground innovators

The underground innovators
Sunday, March 26, 2006 - By Tomas Clancy
The word ‘network’ has assumed unfortunate associations in the last few years, but there really is no better word for the set of young, dynamic winemakers that is forming a worldwide opposition to the big brand empires.

With a sound grasp of the commercial realities of their trade, these winemakers are bent on educating consumers on the beauties of their handmade wines. They believe they offer better wines than the big brands, and give better value and a richer life to wine drinkers who explore their regions.

For their part, big corporations looking to diversify are buying up small, bespoke wineries and bringing them into their portfolios. Almost every major player now has an organic wine and some hip labels.

THE RHONE VALLEY

It’s easy to see why the Rhone region breeds mavericks and radicals. It has a feeling of primordial wildness that is rarely felt in Europe and is certainly not present in the rest of France. Bordeaux is a formal park, Burgundy a series of bucolic shire hamlets and Champagne has all the wildness of Brown Thomas’s cosmetics floor.

The Rhone Valley is a twisting, raging beast torn out of mountains and deserts by a brutal, capricious river Rhone.

In the northern Rhone, the vineyards cling high on the sides of steep valleys carved by the furious river on its alpine descent. The incline on the vineyards is often one-in-one, that is you go up one foot for every foot forward. A trip through the vineyards is like walking up a thousand feet of stairs. Thankfully, terracing provides a few feet of rest as you climb.

The steep incline means that the vineyards - Cote¤ Rotie, Condrieu and Hermitage - must be hand-picked. The harvest in the northern Rhone replays the annual drama of man struggling with nature. Indeed, the whole region is in a soulful dialogue with nature; throw a pip here and you will hit another fully bio-dynamic grower.

DOMAINE MICHEL AND STEPHANE OGIER

Like most innovators and artists, the Ogiers live their art.

The produce of the Ogier estate in the US was seized by a growing band of fanatics when wine critic Robert Parker bestowed 100 points on its 1999 Cote Rotie, Cuvee Belle Helene.

However, as only 150 cases of the wine are made each year, the Ogiers remain elite and unaffected.

Winemaker Stephane Ogier is the force behind this great wine. He studied in Beaune and has worked on vintages around the wine world, including two in South Africa. He operates a distinctive, radical and thoughtful operation as a winemaker, from intricate delicate use of oak barrels to microscopic management of the vineyard.

Ogier’s latest project is a reclaimed Roman vineyard called Ame Soeur, near the ancient city of Vienne. The vineyard is in the heart of the Cote Rotie area but is legally outside the Cote¤ Rotie Appellation Controllee.

‘‘It has been quite difficult to assemble,” Ogier says wearily.

‘‘I have acquired 1.3 hectares; I am hoping to build up two hectares.

“I have had to approach seven different owners to assemble this tiny vineyard. Then I had to get legal permission from the government to plant vines there.”

His focus is evident in his approach to vineyard management.

‘‘The vines in this plot are very young, so I have pulled everything back,” he says. ‘‘In the vineyards we leave three branches per vine and only one bunch per branch. So we take only three bunches of grapes per vine.”

This process flaunts conventional vineyard management thinking, but allows Ogier to gain a higher level of intensity and pleasure in the wines produced.

The vineyard’s first vintage will arrive this year, but legal rules governing wine production mean that it must be termed a vins de pays.

Domaine Ogier, Ame Soeur, Syrah, Vins de Pays 2004 (92) at about €35

Domaine Ogier, La Rosine, Syrah, Vin de Pays 2000 (88) at about €22

Domaine Ogier, Cote Rotie, 2003 (93) at about €48

DOMAINE CHRISTOPHE AND PATRICK BONNEFOND

The Bonnefond estate is typical of an emerging European winery. Its vineyards had previously been supplying the base wines for cooperatives and large negociant houses, such as Guigal.

Bonnefond’s Le Rochains vineyard is next door to Guigal’s La Landonne vineyard, which is home to several 100-point vintages.

When the current generation of Bonnefonds took over the family winery, they decided to create and sell their produce independently. Christophe and his brother Patrick, both in their mid-30s, have developed a dazzling, modern Cote Rotie style.

While the usual approach to Cote Rotie is wait, wait and then wait again, these wines can be drunk within a couple of years of bottling. No lightweights either, they will keep for a decade.

Christophe is president of the Cote Rotie appellation, a further indication that the tiny, radicalised growers in the region represent the new power in the Rhone.

Domaine Bonnefond, Syrah, Vin De Pays 2004 (87) at about €15

Domaine Bonnefond, Cote Rotie 2003 (93) at about €38

Domaine Bonnefond, Cote Rotie 2004 (90) at about €38

Domaine Bonnefond, Cote Rotie, Les Rochains 2002 (92) at about €75.

NIEPOORT

Winemaker Dirk Niepoort produces shockingly brilliant wines from his vineyards in Portugal. His still wines from the Douro are the most exciting wines, not just in Portugal, but in all of southern Europe.

However, he saves his most outrageous genius for his ports.

Niepoort has taken on the establishment and won in every category.

Redoma Branco 2002 (90) at about €18

Redoma Blanco Reserva 2004 (92) at about €33

Redoma Tinto 2001 (92) at about €35

Batuta, Tinto 2001(93) at about €55

Charmes Tinto 2002 (94) at about €55

Niepoort, LBV Port 2000 (90) at about €20

Niepoort, Senior Tawny NV (89) at about €18

Niepoort, Colheita 1991 (94) at about €35

Niepoort Vintage Port 2000 (95) at about €70

Niepoort Vintage Port 2003 (96) at about €80.

MAS DE MARTIN

Schoolteacher Christian Mocci gave up his scholarly calling to travel the world making wine, before settling in Languedoc to set up the Mas De Martin estate in 1998.

The wines are lovingly made in a well-defined style that has resonance with Lynch Bages (Mocci’s former place of study). He avoids all the trappings of modern wine production in favour of an ancient biodynamic approach.

Mas De Martin, Cuvee Roi Patriote 2004 (89) at about €12

Mas De Martin, Cuvee Cinarca 2002 (88) at about €18

Mas De Martin, Cuvee Ultreia 2004 (91) at about €22.

CLASSIC MCLAREN WINES

WinemakerTony de Liso began home-brewing wine after a spell at giant winemaker Hardys. While attending a wine appreciation course, friends on the course brought bottles of his home blend to a wine show and snagged a US distributor, who managed to get the wine onto Robert Parker’s tasting table. Parker gave the wine a mark of 95 and De Liso didn’t look back.

His Classic McLaren Wines is perhaps not a fully radical winery. Owning all its own vineyards has allowed it to punch above what would be its perceived weight.

The winery’s CMC and La Testa names are wayward stars, with the undervalued grenache being the leftfield superstar. An underground hit, but the bright lights are beckoning.

CMC Grenache 2001 (92) at about €15

CMC Shiraz 2001 (89) at about €18

La Testa Merlot 2001 (90) at about €35

La Testa, Shiraz 2001(92) at about €75.

A group of innovative importers called the Wild Bunch aim to present these radical wineries of real substance here in Ireland.

The wines, available in Wineknows, Tyrell and Company Wines, Inis Wines and the Wicklow Wine Company, are likewise represented in adventurous wine shops, off-licences and restaurants across the country.

E-mail the wine column at tc@iol.ie