Clos des Grillons (Rhone)

Nicolas Renaud pouring Rochefort su Gard (Rhone)
In this part of the southern Rhone you feel like in Provence, with the same white stone surfacing, same aromatic bushes and plants, and rocky hills that would be easily mistaken for being somewhere in the Var département. But we're a handful of kilometers southwest of Tavel and west of Avignon. Right before you reach Rochefort driving from Tavel, you pass a church on your right overlooking the region (pic on right - satellite view) with calvary procession shrines all along the way to the top. This is a pilgrimage place which was founded by Charlemagne in 798 A.D. (History page in French, written 1910)
This visit at Nicolas Renaud in the southern Rhone is among my backlog of still unpublished visits I made earlier this year before going to Japan. While my intention was clearly to publish the story later, the sight of Nicolas Renaud's bottles at an excellent wine/sake shop in Fushimi, Kyoto (story here), was a good reminder on my path that I hadn't finished my job.
Nicolas Renaud is a young vigneron I heard about through Eric Pfifferling (Domaine de L'Anglore), the two are almost neigbors and have been working along a similar winemaking philosophy. Nicolas's estate Clos des Grillons had its start in 2008. For the anecdote, Nicolas Renaud was teaching history and geography before that, he had no vineyards of his own when he quit the teaching sector in 2005. At that time he went to work for 2 years at the Vieille Julienne in Chateauneuf du Pape, both in the vineyards and in the cellar, to better the knowledge that he had already accumulated by meeting winemakers and vignerons. All the while, he took his first vineyards en fermage (rents) in 2006, in Rochefort and also near Saze. Typically, he would prune 8 or 9 hours at la Vielle Julienne and then do it again on his own vines in the evening.

A very old vine of Bourboulenc Nicolas Renaud made his first wines in 2007, or at least a small volume of 3000 bottles, and he really started his estate in 2008. He knew Eric Pfifferling since 2002 and that's when he tasted his 2003 wines in his cellar that he realized that something was going on with this type of wines. Pfifferling's work and wines were a source of inspiration for him until he decided two years later to quit teaching and start a winery. Nicolas' father was a wine amateur and since he was 15, he was given the opportunity to taste wines at home. He toured the cellars of the region with his father and he remembers that the first memorable winery visit that impressed him was at Domaine Gramenon, an atypical winery at the edge of southern Rhone and northern Rhone. He was 18, this was around 1996 and this was an awakening experience.
Nicolas Renaud now works on 18 hectares, 80 % of which being rented vineyards (fermage), the rest in ownership. With the wine production crisis going on around here there weren't many people interested in starting a winery and it allowed him to find interesting vineyards, either to rent or to buy, which was very important for him as he didn't have family-owned vineyards to start his project. And there was no competitor particularly for these old vines yielding small volumes of grapes because the coops (coopératives viticoles) asked for more productive vineyards. For the types of wines that he wanted to make, these 70/80 years old vineyards with yields in the range of 20/25 hectoliters/hectare were just perfect. In total, he makes 400 hectoliters of wine from his surface of 18 hectares.
Nicolas Renaud's winery is located in the village of Rochefort, right near where he lives with his family and children. There isn't much room, just a side building on the other side of a paved courtyard with little room to maneuver. It is a good thing that a vineyard tractor isn't very wide, because he could still park it behind the gate. After introducing ourselves, we followed Nicolas inside the different rooms and surface cellars to taste a few wines, before driving to the vineyards very close from there. Clos des Grillons white __ Clos des Grillons Blanc 2001, Cotes du Rhone white. The first wine that we taste in the cellar comes from an unmarked bottle, it is not bottled yet and Nicolas hadn't received the labels yet. Blend of Grenache Blanc (60 %), Bourboulenc and Clairette (5 %). The Grenache fermented in casks, the rest in vats, and the separate varieties were now in stainless-steel vats (the bottle is a blend sample). The wine looks unfiltered but Nicolas doesn't filter his wines anyway. Makes 13,5 in alcohol, the malolactic fermentation is completed and the wine hasn't got any SO2 yet. There will be 1 grams or 1,5 grams added at blending, which will help protect the bottling stage. The cold wave hadn't begun yet and that's mainly why there was still a bit of turbidity, but the natural winter cold would soon clarify the wines. 5 different parcels behind this wine, on both villages, Rochefort and Saze. THe Grenache grows on a northern-exposure slope with stones and sand. Bourboulenc are on a southern exposure with white-clay soils.
__ Clos des Grillond cuvée 1901, another white. Almost 100 % Bourboulenc, from a vineyard planted in 1901. Bourboulenc was a very traditional white variety in this part of the Rhone, but now people don't plant it anymore and much of it has been uprooted, in spite of the quality of this variety, which yields enjoyable wines, saline with vividness. Nicolas says that he likes wines with a saline side, and this variety is among them. Vineyard near Rochefort on northern exposition with white clays. We're drinking here a wine made with a 110-year old vineyard... Fermented in casks and still in casks. 13,5 ° in alcohol. Red Clos des Grillons __ Clos des Grillons rouge (red) 2011, straight from a stainless-steel vat. Cinsault & Grenache blend, part in carbonic maceration (then fermentation in vats), part with a six-day maceration of non-destemmed grapes (and fermentation in casks after pressing for this last part). Alas this cuvée was already soldout when we visited late january. He presented the wine among others at Octopus in Béziers and buyers reserved this one whole. Usually he has more volume of this wine, but this year he made half the normal volume. Still some gas in the wine but tastes good. 13,65 ° in alcohol. The Clos des Grillons red 2010 costs 11,5 € (public price).
__ Clos des Grillons, Les Terres Blanches 2010. The main cuvée here, with Les Grillons. Made with a large surface of vineyards including old vines (except the oldest, the 110-year ones). This wine is made with very old Carignan and old Grenache. Already bottled, since november 17. This cuvée is a complicated blending, it is made with a large number of small-batch vats, the carignan being usually non-destemmed but lightly crushed with a 6-7-day fermentation at cold temperature, and the old grenache being destemmed and fermenting in the open-top wooden fermenter for 15 to 21 days. A remaining part of grenache and carignan is blended in a concrete vat, the grenache being destemmed and not the carignan (alternate layers). He has some carignan that ripe at the same time than some of his grenache because of a particular soil and exposition conditions, that's why he can vinify them together, after which it goes into casks for more than a year, until the following november. Nice fruit with tannins. The dark color comes from the Carignan. Vat sample __ Clos des Grillons L'Exclu 2010 (bottle), bottled at the same time than the Terres Blanches 2010. This is a cuvée he doesn't make every year, but only when the vintage conditions allow it (he just made it in 2007, 2009 and 2010). 40-year old Grenache on sand and nothern slopes in Saze. There is also 20 % of Counoise (a local grape variety) in this Grenache parcel. Very pepper, spicy feel in the mouth, it comes from the Counoise, he says. Pairs well with meats, Nicolas says, as well as sugary-salty dishes. This cuvée, he says, is somehow the result of what he learnt at La Vieille Julienne, with atype of powerful Rhone wine with still a high freshness. He doesn't have many bottles available, also, for these cuvée.
__ Clos des Grillons, Le Pic Gris 2011. Red wine. The first year he makes this cuvée. Made from Picpoul Gris, a variety which is from the same variety family as the Picpoul de Pinet but is a pink one, and which is native of the Chateauneuf du Pape region. There used to be a lot of Picpoul Gris around here and it remains only 3 parcels of it right now in the village. Nice acidity in this wine, Nicolas says that it's typical of the Picpoul Gris, plus it makes only 12,5 ° in alcohol. The parcel makes 0,35 hectare and he made 10 hectoliters of wine (1200 or 1300 bottles). Aromatic wine too, with a nice tension, although the malolactic fermentation went through. He planted 30 ares more of Picpoul Gris last year, with a massal selection. Very clear wine, he says that he made a very light filtration for this one, exceptionnally, because it was really too turbid. Very stony parcel of old vines __ Clos des Grillons Rosé 2011, Grillons C to be precise, from a cask (picture on top). Made from Cinsault. there will be two rosé wines, one named Grillons rosé C and the other Grillons rosé CA. the reason is that usually he blends Cinsault and Carignan for his rosé wine, but this year (2011), the separate varieties are better alone than in the blend. C will be for the Cinsault rosé and CA for the Carignan. Only 2 casks of this Grillons C, while there are 5 casks of CA. Tastes very well, let's itself drink very easily. Only 12 ° in alcohol. Unfiltered wine. Malolactic fermentation done. Carbonic maceration, 5 days. Nicolas says that this Cinsault has every year this friand side (yummy), but this year it's so marked that he wanted to keep it separate.
__ Grillons rosé CA 2011 (from the Carignan part). Different color, more like rosy/redish, it's a direct-press rosé. Nice intensity here, with lots of substance. Saline side that jumps at your face, you feel almost sea and iode here. Nicolas says that with these two very clearly different wines, they were better alone. His importer from Denmark visited a few days ago and he had him taste a micro-blend of the two to try but the guy said that it wasn't bad but he felt at times one side and at time another, so they tasted the single-varriety rosés and that was obvious, they had to be kept separate. Also a very nice expression, a bit more serious maybe than the other rosé which was so easy to swallow. In 2010, his rosé cost 7,5 € (public price). Parcel along a wooded plot __ Clos des Grillons, Les Terres Blanches 2011, red, taken from a cask. This is Carignan here. He says with a smile that he is probably going to do the same than for the rosé in 2011, that is bottle separately the varieties. Here also the Grenache and the Carignan will be bottled separately. He has 2 demi-muids (big-capacity casks) and 2 regular casks of this Carignan. Nice nose with pepper, with smoky, spicy notes. 14 ° in alcohol, but doesn't feel that high. They wwill bottle the Terres Blanches earlier too this year, in june probably.
__ Clos des Grillons Esprit Libre [means free mind] 2011. Red taken from a stainless-steel vat. This cuvée has no fixed composition, and every year it changes. This year it's a blend from the 3 terroirs he has on Signargues, that is grenache planted on pebble stones (galets roulés), then clay, then sands, to which he also blended some syrah (on red clay) and some mourvèdre (on pebble stones). Nice aromas on the nose, smells rocks or wet stones. Yummy wine. There will be 2500 bottles only of this wine. Will be bottled in march 2011 after the gas has been taken out. 14 ° in alcohol. I don't feel too much gas but he finds it too much obvious. Only stainless-steel here, no wood. Nicolas says that is not much syrah, no more than 10 % but he can feel the variety in the blend, the imprint is there. It will be labelled a Cotes du Rhone Signargues.
__ Clos des Grillons, Les Terres Blanches 2011, the Grenache part. A last red, from a stainless-steel vat. 19 hectoliters of this wine. The wine is cold, we have to warm up the glass in our hands. 14,5 ° in alcohol. Pi,ot style of aroma on the nose. This Terres-Blanches wine never goes into wood, because he considers it would sort of oxydize it too much. Fermented on wild yeats, like all his wines, which are also never acidity-corrected. Asked about the use of arabic-gum in the region, a common additive in France, he says it's widely used in the area. He of course doesn't use any. This wine we're tasting, he says, would be the typical wine where arabic gum would be added in the cellar, that's because arabic gum can soften, hide the tannins. He says that all these additives format the wines on the same model, they erase the terroir particularities. The reason a terroir like the one of Rochefort-sur-Gard is unknown is because the local coop buys most of the grapes in the area and as it works on a technological way [correcting with additives], the terroir was never expressed in the wines. He says that the terroirs around here are excellent, with the proximity of Tavel and Chateauneuf du Pape, interesting northern-exposition slopes etc... Les Terres Blanches (Carignan) We then drove to some of the vineyard parcels, beginning with Les Terres Blanches, and Carignan. The vineyard is windy and surrounded in part by wooded hedges. the soil is incredibly sandy with a bit of clay in the sand. You feel like you're walking on a beach. It's a very poor soiln, Nicolas says, the vines are struggling to find their nutrients here. The soil is made of sable éolien which was brought long time ago by the wind. It's 4 meter deep in some places here, he checked it himself. THe wind is strong year around, which is hard to stand in winter but a blessing in summer, including for the grapes. They plow at the foot of the vines (déchaussage) every year and as these vines are fragile, they're obliged to do it very carefully. In summer, it's scorched by the sun over here and the weeds dry by themselves. Bourboulenc vines, planted in 1920 He has also 4 rows of very old Bourboulenc vines, which were planted in 1920. At the origin, the parcel was standing alone here, surrounded by woods and orchards. A former owners for some reason tried to train them on trellis, probably to help them change their shape, cutting the branches and guiding the shoots along the wires. It was not a good idea, Nicolas says, because it weakened considerably the plant. Happily, he didn't trellis more than 4 rows (more rows had been addes around these since 1920), his original goal was probably to force the vines into a line and use a machine between the rows. When Nicolas took over this parcel, it was conventionally farmed, and he had a difficult time during the two first years, the wines coming from these vineyards didn't turn out well, like the fermentation wouldn't go to the end. But the vines at last recovered somehow from years of treatments, the microbial life of the soil too maybe, and he could make wine from this plot, particularly since 2009.
When you look at these vines, you can't but think to what they went through : raised traditionally by plowing plus maybe some natural compost for years throughout the 20th century, they find themselves sprayed with the mixtures of the technological revolution in, say, the late 70s' or early 80s', until an unexpected truce brings the survivors back to breath and life in the early 21st century... I bet the wine must reflect their respite and gratitude. Parcel of Grenache Noir Next to the old Bourboulenc, there is a parcel of Grenache Noir which makes a part of Les Terres Blanches. There's a a beautiful background of trees and hills in the far. It's the same galets roulés soil (pebble stones) which must be quite arid in summer. These vines are a bit less old than the Bourboulenc, they were planted in 1948. The name of the cuvée, Terres Blanches, which means white earth, must I guess have been chosen because this soil looks so white in winter as well as in summer.
We walk further to another parcel of Bourboulenc which Nicolas took over 4 years ago and which is part of the cuvée Grillons Blanc (white). He replaanted the missing vines but they struggle to grow because the neighboring vines sent their roots where the now-dead vine had its roots. It's a rent, the owner doesn't want to sell the plot because it's too close from the first houses of the village : if he sold it, he would risk loosing a juicy opportunity to make big money if the land status here went from vineyard & agricultural only (very small realestate value) to construction land (the jackpot). There's a suburban sprawl in many French villages especially in the south, and the local administrations are tempted to change the status of fields and vineyards because with more houses built, this will bring more taxes and permanent revenues, fill the schools etc.... It's a real problem for vignerons who want to buy vineyards, the competition with an ever-growing building-land surface prevents the purchase, leaving only the rent as option, until the land status changes, forcing the vigneron to look for another available plot. So, Nicolas just hopes to be able to work on this parcel the longest time possible. Very old vine of Bourboulenc (planted in 1901) Nicolas Renaud says that he doesn't touch the soil after the harvest, he leaves it alone and some grass has time to grow between the rows until spring, when the soil quality allows it, that is. We walk then among the cinsault & grenache which will be part of Esprit Libre, this year, it's a Côtes du Rhône Signargues appellation, technically. The terroir here is very stony and poor, lots of small pebble stones, the vines must struggle I guess (picture on the right). This parcel was conventionally farmed before he took the rent but the vines adapted much more easily to the organic farming, maybe the treatments weren't too tough or it's because there's a large organic parcel on its side (not his). Nicolas says that sorgho has been sowed by the owner to make natural compost without having anything to do : it dries by itself in summer and goes back to the earth, giving back good things to the soil. The yields are quite low on this plot : on 0,7 hectare, he makes 1,7 tons of grapes, or 12 hectoliters. When the grapes aren't used for Esprit Libre, it goes in Les Grillons. We see also a few wild leeks which seem to stand the winter correctly (pic on left).
We reach the old-Bourboulenc parcel which lies right after this first plot. The vines look like they come from a distant past (picture above), and still producing grapes, if not much. They stand quite high above the ground. the parcel is exposed on the north, which seems to be quite a good exposition under these latitudes, given the scorching heat in summer. Checking the 110-year-old vines Nicolas Renaud says that he had a lot of work to bring these old vines back in order : many vines were just lying, and he brought them standing again, they weren't broken at the root level and recovered. He still has to continue the recovering with proper pruning and selection of fruit-carrying branches, plus there are some dead branches to cut here and there so that the plant can regenerate. He also replaced the missing vines. Last year he made a plow on this vineyard (chaussage) and this year he'll do the counter-plowing (dechaussage, this all helping keep the weeds in check.
Apart of these old vines, most vines are relatively low in this area, that's because it's so windy all the time, the vine keeps safe, close to the ground level.
Nicolas Renaud's estate is certified by Ecocert.
Clos des Grillons wines are exported to Japan (Rakuten) and to the U.S. (Savio Soares)

Clos des Grillons 25 rue du Grand Pont 30650 Rochefort sur Gard phone + 33 4 90 92 44 47 closdesgrillons [at] yahoo [dot] fr Short video (harvest 2009) made by the local state TV channel

Old vine with Rochefort sur Gard in the far

Comments

[Gites in France]

You've put together a wonderful post here. France has to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world and their wines can't be beat.

Thanks for posting the photos too!

Best wishes, Alex.