I had written this little note before reading all this weekend’s comments, among which some a bit "Hard":
I am dreaming for Roussillon, and as for Hervé Bizeul and others, this dream is coming true.
Instead of buying in Napa, some Americans invest in the valley of Maury because of the tremendous potential of this old, very old wine region, still under-exploited.
I definitely noticed Peter Sisseck’s (Pingus) eyes pop-out at the sight of these very old vines of Grenache or Carignan planted on these slopes so difficult to farm, at the sight of these terroir of schist, granite, clayey-limestone, all, of course, so appropriate for vine culture!
How not to be shocked when you have to fight against friends, family, for this beautiful country.
How not scream « Come and see! » and afterwards, you will be able to say nothing more, incredulous that you are!
No this is not made only to produce big plunk reds, this is not only made for medicine wines. Yes they produce too much alcohol, sun, and then?!
I’ll be damned if these terroirs will never make a great red wine and even if for Michel Bettane, Maury is the obvious wine and if the comment he wrote on our Maury on 2004 in the supplement of Le Monde brought tears to the eyes of Mary and Jean Roger, I want one day that La Passion du Vin, Le Grand Jury Européen, or even the Devil, organize a tasting of the best red wines of Chateauneuf or elsewhere against some of the crus from this beautiful region.
Will “Terre de Vin” be the media which will help change the mentalities?
Will the Roussillon, like Fronsac in Bordeaux, be the eternal forgotten – stuck to quality price ratio?
Since 2000, our “Thunevin-Calvet” project is not a wild dream, and I believe strongly that we will succeed, with Herve and the others.
It is certain
I believe it.
Following this weekend’s comments, I would like to ad :
Why, Hervé and I, even if I seem less “tense”, are so “wound-up” against what we consider as unfair (or even contemptuous): comments made by some journalists, who we actually also respect.
We expect, probably too much, from Michel Bettane who, it is true, does not hide his skepticism of creating a great red wines in the Roussillon, nor his skepticism on the qualities of Carignan. And it is true that no one has written a declaration of love on Maury as he has done.
As for me, Michel was so important for Valandraud that, thanks to his credibility, Valandraud was able, at last, to seduce other critics and convince a great part of the establishment.
All of us in the Roussillon would love for critics, journalists, leaders of opinion come and take the time to taste and fall in love with the terroirs, varietals, the people and their cultures. All the private wine cellars, natives as well as foreigners, cooperatives, all hope to seduce amateurs of good and great wines. No need to go to Chili, Argentina to discover such a wild wine growing region: garrigue, mountains and hillsides, close to the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees and the Cathares fortresses.
May “Terre des Vins” the next big French magazine on wine and way of life be the pretext to rediscover, and for Michel Bettane, the catalyst of a curiosity for this beautiful Roussillon.
Why not a "heavyweight" dedicated on the Roussillon in RVF? Actually, why so few articles in RVF than in Decanter where Jancis and the others have already written seriously on this Roussillon?
Why not give a small sign of encouragement to Hervé and his friends for the different trends, bio, environmentalist, classic (if, yes), modernist, small and big projects, new or old?
Why not answer there, if I simply believe the 24 comments on my blog: interesting subject, no?
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