Domaine la Madura
To see Cyril and Nadia Bourgne at Domaine de Madura in their smart cellar in the hills above St Chinian. It was high time for an update as we had not met since I was researching Wines of the Languedoc back in 2017. So the obvious question was: what’s new?
First we talked about grape varieties. Cyril has been quietly campaigning for the inclusion of some of the old Languedoc varieties in the appellation of St Chinian for some fifteen years and this is finally going to happen, as cépages accessoires. So for red wines you can now plant Piquepoul Noir, and Rivairenc, and with more constraints Counoise, Marselan, Morrastel, Oeillade and Terret noir. And for whites the cépages accessoires are now Bourboulenc, Carignan Blanc, Clairette, Grenache Gris, Viognier and with tighter controls Piquepoul Blanc and Terret blanc. The new decree will be less rigid with regard to permitted percentages. Cyril observed that Syrah and Grenache have problems with an excess of alcohol in the hot years, whereas Mourvèdre and Carignan produce less alcohol. Everyone has Syrah and Grenache, whereas Mourvèdre and Carignan add complexity, and Carignan in particular freshness. The problem with Carignan was the high yields and consequent lack of ripeness. The changes will help the identity and quality of St. Chinian.
Next topic was Haute Valeur Environnementale which Cyril has followed for a number of years but now he is also registered as organic, since 2018, but that didn’t really change anything. However he is quite critical of organic viticulture, compared to HVE which is much more environmentally aware. The charter for organic viticulture says nothing about the environment. You can treat as often as you like with organic viticulture, even though you maybe polluting the atmosphere and compacting your soil. Cyril feels that the recent criticisms of HVE have come from organic producers defending their position, trying to justify themselves. However St Chinian is becoming more organic, with cooperative members converting to organic viticulture, prompted by the increased demand for organic wine coming from the supermarkets.
We talked about enherbement and the problems of drought. Enherbement helps prevent the erosion and ravinnement that can be caused by the heavy storms. It captures water which is good for the soil life. Cyril does not sow any seeds, but allows for natural enherbement, letting grass and other plants grow, observing that schist soil can be very poor, so nothing much might grow and some weeds are undesirable so he may also till. They also have some plots are simply no longer productive as the conditions are too dry, so they are pulling up those vines, sadly, but realistically. It was sad to see them losing their leaves too early, and they required a lot of work for not very much crop. So their estate has shrunk from 14 to 9 hectares, but with little loss of production. They are also replanting some Sauvignon vineyards and their percentage of white production has increased with the pulling up of red varieties.
And linked to this is the lack of people willing to work in the vineyards. Cyril lamented that it is impossible to find good people to do the manual work in the vineyards. The solution may be mechanisation, but that is not very qualitative. Wild boar too are an enormous problem. Ripe grapes are a source of liquid in dry conditions. The only solution is to close off everything, which is totally impractical if your vines are spread out. And there are apparently less hunters, to keep the wild boar population at bay.
The hotter vintages have also resulted in changes in the cellar, with more complicated fermentations. You can now obtain yeast which do not transform all the sugar into alcohol, and this also means that you can use less sulphur. The yeast are prepared by a laboratory; you buy them dried and rehydrate them and add them to your fementazing vat instead of sulphur.
And of course wine consumption is dropping, and there is a demand for low alcohol or no alcohol wines, which Cyril has decided to explore. There are two possible techniques for making no alcohol wines, by reverse osmosis and evaporation sous vide, in a vacuum, which tests better. Ultimately quality depends on the quality of the raw material. No alcohol wine can be very industrialised, with added flavours. They thought that the tannins might be too hard, but were proved wrong. However, no alcohol wine is more expensive to produce than classic wine. Quite simply you have to pay for the production process - you cannot do it yourself - and you lose 20% of the volume.
And then it was time for some tasting. Their range is very simple, two white and two red, and no rosé. Rosé is too complicated and you need more productive vines. It sells so cheaply in the Languedoc.
2023 Blanc Classique, Vin de France - 15.00€
It is not St. Chinian as the grape varieties are 60% Sauvignon and 40% Piquepoul. And it has been Pays d’Oc in the past, but that can be quite complicated, as you are supposed to make a declaration by a certain time. The 2023 had just been bottled, so it had not yet quite settled down. Light colour. The Sauvignon dominates the nose, but nicely so with some stony notes. It is fresh and pithy with dry fruit and good weight and mouthfeel. and balancing acidity. Cyril observed that the vintage date is critical with Sauvignon; too early and it like pipi de chat - that sounds better in French than English - and too late and the wine is too heavy. This was picked on 22nd August.
2023 Canopé Blanc - 21.00
The same blend, but vinified in old oak. A little more colour. Nicely rounded with some satisfying texture, balanced with good acidity. The oak is very well integrated; you are really not aware of it. Some lovely nuances.
2022 St Chinian Rouge Classique - 15.00€
Dominant Grenache and Carignan, with a little Syrah and Mourvèdre. Fermented in concrete, separately and then blended. Fresh red fruit. Elegant tannins. Nicely structured and restrained, with the Carignan giving a fresh note on the finish. Appealing red fruit. 2022 was a drought year, but the wine nevertheless retains its freshness.
2022 Canopé, St Chinian - 23.00€
The reverse blend, Syrah and Mourvèdre dominant, with Grenache and Carignan. No oak for this vintage. The Syrah and Mourvèdre usually goes into wood, but volume was so small.
Very bright, young purple colour. More depth and weight and tannin. Ageing potential. Not yet very harmonious. Needs to develop in the bottle.
Alternative 0% - 18.00€
Comes from the same raw material as 2022 Classique. It needs to be fresh so that you avoid any heavy, sugary flavours. Medium young colour. Soft red fruit; quite fresh with a steak of tannin. Very drinkable. Indeed I could consider drinking this, not too unhappily. The price is based on Classique, but with the extra production costs. And it can’t be labelled organic, as the technique of evaporation sous vide is not organic.
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