Domaine Gramenon
VINSOBRES & VALREAS
In 1978, Michèle Aubéry-Laurent and her husband Philippe Laurent bought a run-down farmhouse and vineyards in a village called Montbrison-sur-Lez in the remote northeastern reaches of the southern Rhône. They had three children. Michèle was a nurse, Philippe made organic wine – he was an early pioneer of natural wine, in fact. When he died unexpectedly in 1999, it was up to Michèle to pick up the vines and the children and raise them all single-handedly.
Today she works together with her son Maxime-François Laurent, making wines from biodynamic vineyards scattered close to their home in unfamiliar appellations such as Côtes du Rhône Villages Valréas and Vinsobres. Some of their best wines are bottled under AP Côtes du Rhône. Though they make enjoyable whites and even sparkling wines, their speciality is old-vine Grenache. They create beautifully crafted wines that tell vivid tales: wines like tapestries. In the UK, Domaine Gramenon remains something of an insider’s secret, but it’s time it was more widely recognised for what it is: one of the best, most soulful estates of the Rhône Valley.
Domaine Gramenon, L’Emouvante, Côtes du Rhône 2019 95 £31.20-£34.99 Chesters, Exel, Les Caves de Pyrene, Seven Cellars, Wine & Greene
Like a kind of southern Rhône Cornas, this has electric waves of black olive, bay leaf and gentle smokiness; no overt reduction, really alive and aromatic. Blueberry and blackberry sit in the background. Only medium-bodied, this is brisk in the mouth with no heavy extraction, and a tight knot of tannin at its heart. Very fresh and well balanced, so vibrant. Delicious now, but will be fascinating to see it in 10 years’ time. Southern Rhône Syrah is rarely truly compelling: this is cut from a different cloth. Syrah grown at 350m on sandstone near the winery at Montbrison-sur-Lez (north of Vinsobres), yields of 25hl/ha. Biodynamic. Drink 2021-2029 Alc 14.5%