Bonjour, ça va ?
Given the positive feedback I received following issue 2, How to Buy Wine from the Supermarket (merci beaucoup !), I’ve decided to consecrate one newsletter per month to all things wine-related. And there’s no better base than France to tell the fantastical stories behind the nectar of Gods.
WORD ON THE GRAPEVINE
If COVID-19 hasn’t been disastrous enough for French winemakers, many of whom lost massive orders due to the closing of restaurants, this week certain wine regions of France were hit by a cold snap. (It snowed on Monday in Paris! In April!) Although amusing for us civilians, this cold snap spells disaster for many vignerons—especially because it’s off the back of an unseasonal heatwave that struck France at the end of March. Confused by the warmth, many vines flowered prematurely (especially Chardonnay) and baby grapes started blossoming. Now, this cold snap threatens to kill the young grape buds. To put it simply:
Unseasonal cold snap = frost = death of buds = no wine = financial ruin for winemakers.
To keep the buds warm and prevent the formation of frost, vignerons have been placing candles beneath each vine. Some (well-off) winemakers have even resorted to flying helicopters above the vineyards to circulate hot air. While this makes for many an Instagram-worthy snap (see below), the reality is not as romantic as the candle-lit vineyards may appear. At 10€ a candle per night, many winemakers have had to pick which vines they will attempt to salvage (it’s like picking which child you would save in the event of a house fire…). And even after these earnest efforts, there is no guarantee the grapes will be saved. In fact, I read that as of Friday, approximately half of all vines in Burgundy have been damaged. So as you sip your Chardos and Pinot Noirs this week, be sure to spare a thought for French winemakers who are on a one-way road to struggle street right now.
SHRINE TO THE VINE
I am a visual drinker. Shamefully, I often pick wines based on their label art and I struggle to recall what I have previously tasted unless I see a picture of the bottle. It’s the same for food: I am a huge fan of restaurants that provide pictures of each dish so that I will not be visually disappointed when my food arrives. If I ever have a restaurant, I will make sure there is a pictorial wine list for appellation illiterates like myself.
So it comes as no surprise that the inaugural Shrine to the Vine is dedicated to Phillipe Viret (of Domaine Phillipe Viret situated in the south of Rhône) who first caught my attention with his both visually and intellectually curious labels. Take his cuvée HORUS, a white maceration: the name of the wine is spelled out in Egyptian hieroglyphics (although Macération/skin contact is kindly plastered in vertical across the bottle for those of us who are not fluent in glyphs.)
And I don’t know even where to begin with deciphering his Domaine’s logo which is a rather nifty collation of the zodiac, a modified Illuminati symbol and some other symbols’ whose meaning is unbeknownst to me—all neatly rounded off with the Latin locution Post Laborem Scientiam (After Work, Science).
Viret’s penchant for cultish thought systems starts to make a little more sense once you understand that we are no longer in the realm of viticulture, this is COSMOCULTURE® (yes, it is a registered trademark). Developed by Viret and his father, Cosmoculture® is a method of cultivating vines that draws upon Mayan and Incan traditions to help harness the cosmic, electromagnetic, and terrestrial energies of the vineyard.
It would be too simplistic, however, to reduce Viret’s work to biodynamic, natural, or organic wines: he is a homme de sciences and interlaces principles from each of these three ‘methods’ with techniques gleaned from his personal studies of bioenergy, radionics, and water, amongst other things.
I had the opportunity to see Cosmoculture® in action a few weeks ago when I visited Viret at his Domaine. I can testify that there are vines planted in the form of a helix (as opposed to the classical straight rows) as well as massive grey plinths that dot the vineyards in order to attract all that good bioenergy. Truth be told, it’s quite a spiritual experience.
Overlooking the fifty different grape varieties that make up the Domaine is an Ancient Egyptian-style temple constructed in the golden ratio. Inside you’ll find clay amphores engraved with the signs of the zodiac. (Viret mentioned that he was one of the first modern winemakers in France to age his wines in amphores and not oak barrels but I haven’t been able to fact check this…)
Given his clear interest in astrology, I just had to ask which star sign makes the best winemakers. His humble response: Taurus, of course, like himself. As a fellow Taurean, I guess I know what my next career move is!
This all may seem a bit kooky and you may have already written off Viret as a natural wine wizard who makes ‘juice’ that tastes like dirty socks but let me tell you his wines are sensational. I’m not sure if it’s all that cosmic energy or the fact that Viret is an intellect and so passionately invested in his métier, but the guy is on to something.
My personal favourite is the aforementioned HORUS 2019. For me it looks and tastes like the golden ratio in liquid form with a hint of apricot but Live-In Sommelier offers some more formal tasting notes:
“It’s an assemblage of Muscat d’Alexandrie, Aranel, Viognier, Grenache Gris, and Vermentino. The colour is bronze with golden reflects. On the nose, it’s very elegant. You can smell honey, clay, medicinal herbs, white tea, a little bit of white pepper. It’s not a shy wine, but it’s poised. The mouth confirms everything on the nose. The tannins are present but subtle. Can taste the bitterness. Would pair well with a pad thai or a spicy Asian dish. And of course a carbonara.”
Other personal picks are his MVP, a light red that’s perfect for aperitif, and Renaissance, a full-bodied red that simply must be paired with a prime rib or a steak according to Live-In Sommelier.
A selection of his wines can be ordered from the Domaine’s website (shipping within Europe only) but I’ve also seen some of his wines at Delicatessen, Chambre Noire, and La Prohibition bottle shops in Paris. I know he has distributors in the US and UK as well but you’d have to email him to ask who (he is very friendly!). Unfortunately for my Australian readers, he doesn’t yet have an importer down under but if you know someone who is looking, he is interested!
TASTING NOTES
Wine resources if you’re interested in learning more!
- I recently stumbled upon this fabulous compact 101 wine guide entitled “The 24-Hour Wine Expert” by the legendary Jancis Robinson. I also live for her weekly column in the Financial Times for in-depth but digestible commentaries on wine happenings.
- Live-In Sommelier and I have been having a blast working our way through Noble Rot’s Wine From Another Galaxy. Compiled by the boys behind the Noble Rot Wine Bar in London (and the magazine of the same name), this galactical tome covers all the basics of wine in a playful and accessible manner (expect chapters like How to Order Wine from a Restaurant without Fear.) I really can’t recommend this book enough to anyone looking for a comprehensive introduction to the world of wine.
- My all-time favourite wine book is the famed American wine importer Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route, a sparkly memoir of his travels around the wine regions of France. Perfect for armchair travelling.
Bonne degustation!