Domaine Gramenon was my introduction to Natural Wine. It wasn’t that I hadn’t experience wines made this way before I drank my first bottle of Gramenon, it was just that I hadn’t really known that there was some underlying set of principles that informed or motivated the winemakers that were making them. Late one night towards the end of March of 2009, my friend Lisa called me from the back seat of a car making its way across the bumpy back roads of the southern Rhône. She had just left a tasting at the Domaine with owner/winemaker Michèle Aubèry-Laurent. Lisa was very excited by what she had found. She told me that I had to buy these wines – that I would go nuts as soon as I tried them. Without having tasted them, I gave her the thumbs up. She sent back 15 cases – the first 15 cases of Gramenon to make it to Vermont. Lisa was right – the wines were – and continues to be – right up my alley. They’re nervy, vibrant and alive. At a time when half of our industry seems hell bent on obscuring the essence of its fruit with all sorts of technology – new and old; Michèle and her son represent the best of an ancient tradition of doing exactly the opposite. Each and every one of the domain’s wines is a marker – a flagpole stuck in the dirt. This is the terroir of the southern Rhône.
Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “Poignée de Raisins” is super-juice – a thirst quenching red made from 100% Grenache, Gramenon’s speciality. Of the 11 wines they bottle, 9 are 100% Grenache; a testament to Michèle Aubèry-Laurent’s belief in the specificity of each plot of land upon which the grapes are grown. Every bottling is absolutely unique. Poignée de Raisins translates roughly into “a handful of grapes”, and the wine is exactly what you’d expect. The nose is fresh and vibrant – loads of red fruit – raspberry, red cherry and cranberry. It is medium-bodied – a tart blast of that red fruit followed by roasted nuts and earth. There’s a ton of acidity in here – it fills the mouth with saliva. A hunk of Chèvre and a bottle of this delicious wine – a stellar pairing.
Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “Poignée de Raisins” 2010 Domaine Gramenon – $22.99
Gramenon’s only red from a grape other than Grenache, the Sierra du Sud is 100% Syrah, and it’s a beauty. The nose is a very pretty mashup of blueberry, blackberry, mint and thyme. It’s a big, grippy mouthful of candied black cherry, bacon, and rosemary with a nice, tart minty red cherry finish. There are a few bottles of wine that really speak to the greatness of Syrah. Thierry Allemand’s brooding, infinitely complex Cornas is one of them – it’ll set you back around eighty bucks (it’s worth it, if you can find a bottle). This is another one. The terroir here is different – this wine is more about vibrancy and intensity. The fruit and aromatics are nimble. Pair it with roasted rack of lamb or a plate of salumi and crusty bread.
Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “Sierra du Sud”, 2010 Domaine Gramenon – $28.99
Maxime Magnon is an unassuming, almost shy guy. After spending a bit of time with him, most people wouldn’t know that the Maxime is leading a wine revolution in the Languedoc, or that he has quickly ascended to the same stature as his mentors Didier Barral and Jean Foillard. That is, unless they have the opportunity to talk to him about his wines. He’ll tell you that La Démarrante (The Start), is a co-fermentation of Carignan and Cinsault aged in both cuvee and foudre that he buys from a producer in Chassagne (Burgundy) after the old barrels have already gone through a few seasons of exposure to Pinot Noir. He may let it slip that he mows the cover crop in his vineyards with a mule and some goats – talk about low-impact stewardship! What he won’t tell you is that this wine, bottled under the humble AOC of Vin de Pays d’Oc, is an old-vine triumph. It’s floral at first, with a blast of minty rose and lilac, followed by aromatics of ripe strawberry and red cherry pie. Juicy and intense, La Démarrante is chewy and loaded with sleek red fruit (and another slice of that red cherry pie). Buy a case – you’re going to want to drink loads of it, and so will all of your friends
Vin de Pays d’Oc “La Démarrante”, 2010 Maxime Magnon – $19.99
