La Cave du Luberon, Coustellet.

 

 

The old buildings have stood empty for years.

We have the great good fotune to have friends with a house in the Luberon who generously invite us evey year.

In perhaps 30 visits we have seen the wines of the Luberon go from the obscure (plonk) to the category of 'really rather good.'

Architecture admired in its time.

 

So it was always a bit incongruous to see the massive abandoned building of the old Cooperative Vinicole at Coustellet dating back to 1923.

 

With the 'Really rather good' phase came new buildings. We had visited once or twice in recent years but the cooperative's reputation has dissuaded us from tasting, let alone buying anything. In any case the wines didn't look very interesting with various combinations of the 'usual suspect' grape varieties of the Southern Rhone at elevated alcohol values.

The wines drunk by locals looking for something superior are not from here. They include producers not affiliated to the cooperative such as La Canorgue, Domaine de La Royere,  Domaine de la Citadelle, Chateau La Verrerie and Ridley Scott's Mas des Infermieres.

So feeling sympathy for the underdogs at the cooperative we thought we'd give them a chance.  

We should have done this properly and tasted our way through the range but we were not sure of the protocol: was payment required and if not, how many wines could we taste for free? Our of cowardice more than anything (and also because we were driving) we selected just two wines to taste, both with the lowest alcohol of the range. There was also a heatwave on (37 degrees) and these wines were more appealing than the other much stronger ones.

 

Grenache Blanc

10.5%

 

60% Carignan, 40% Grenache

11.5%

These two wines were deliciously refreshing. We don't denigrate such wines in these pages. We never use phrases such as 'easy drinking,' 'Gluggable,' 'Vin des copains' etc. We reckon the virtues these phrases are trying to evoke shouldn't be in any sense pejorative.

The marketing and art work on these wines seems inexplicable. The last thing these wines suggest to us are Tom Boy and Bad Boy. Again we imagine thse monnikers could only have been dreamt up by people under pressure to come up with something - anything and perhaps having knocked back several bottles for 'inspiration.'

So on this evidence, we would say that the Cooperative is doing good work and the vignerons and consumers of the Luberon can be happy. 

From the Cave's website; 

Founded in 1923, this wine cooperative is the result of the passionate work of 100 producers who cultivate vines spread across the Luberon massifs (Maubec, Oppède, Ménerbes) and the Monts de Vaucluse (Cabrières d'Avignon, Gordes). It is distinguished by its commitment to producing environmentally friendly wines, offering a diverse range of AOP Luberon and Ventoux, IGP Méditerranée, and organic wines.

The wines

La Cave du Luberon sells only wines from its terroirs in the Luberon (northern slope of the massif) and Ventoux (southern slopes of the Monts de Vaucluse). Among their best-selling wines, the wines “Les Bories” (red, white, rosé), “ALIDON” (red, white, rosé), and “Les Promises” (red) stand out. You can even discover and purchase these wines online, making it easier to access these exceptional products.

Innovation and quality

Cave du Luberon stands out for its advanced technological approach and its skilled team, dedicated to producing exceptional wines. With nighttime harvests to preserve the freshness of the grapes, the winery is equipped with modern facilities: four pneumatic presses, stainless steel and coated concrete vats, state-of-the-art pumps, and a high-performance cooling system. The careful attention paid to inerting at each stage of production guarantees the superior quality of its wines. In addition, the winery has a state-of-the-art vinification cellar for red wines, where aging takes place in concrete vats or, for certain special vintages, in a barrel cellar.

 

Our Freiburg/Basel smash and grab

 

 

Is the world shrinking in terms of diversity? PostBrexit it seems we don't get as varied a choice of wines as we used to. On the other hand consumers seem to be getting slowly more adventurous. What are we talking about? Take Swiss wine for a start. There ws a guy called Nick Dobson who between 2002 and 2012 used to import a large and fascinating range of Swiss wines. Switzerland is a hot-spot for rare grape varieties and Nick wasn't afraid to specialise in them.

The company was taken over by the redoubtable Joelle Nebbe-Mornod who has managed to keep it going until today. One has the impression that this has not been easy becuse Joelle has widened the range by including several non-Swiss wines (Beaujolais, Austria, Liechtenstein, Champagne) and if we are not mistaken, reduced the range if not the quantity of wines from Switzerland. 

Not many other importers have taken up the challenge of bringing in Swiss wine so feeling the need to replenish our tiny stock of these fascinating wines we thought why not get a day flight to Basel on airmiles and bring back a haul of Himbertscha, Lafnetscha, Resi, Bondola, Completer, Diolinoir and Rauschling? Some of these are or have been available from Alpine Wines but many are no longer listed, out of stock or very expensive at up to £80 a bottle or more in certain cases.

So it made sense or so we thought to do a 'smash and grab' in Switzerland and we knew exactly where to go for that: the venerable Ullrich shop in Basel.

Spoiler alert: things have changed even more in Switzerland itself that at Alpine Wines. None of the varieties mentioned above was available from Ullrich. We were sure the choice had been much greater the last time we were there. 

Humagne Rouge (Cornalin), Fendant and the rare Humagne Blanche

 

In fact we were only able to buy a Humagne Rouge (aka. Cornalin), a Humagne Blanche (no relation) and of course a Fendant (Chasselas) there. The staff were very sweet but didn't know a great deal about Swiss grape varieties. Could something have changed there?  There seemed to be an inordinate amount of Pinot Noir on the shelves. Later we read somewhere that Pinot Noir now accounts for 95% of Swiss red wine. 

Also, there was not one bottle of Dole to be had. We had always been impressed by the range of Dole on offer at Zurich Airport Duty Free, but here at Ullrich, not a sign. 

 

We actually bought this bottle of Dole when back in the UK

Pleasant enough.

Why did we want to buy a bottle of Dole you ask? It is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay - a sort of Passetousgrains. Well, it is or was a Swiss speciality so we wanted to find out what it was that made it so. Ditto Chasselas which some say is a boring grape but it very much is a Swiss speciality so there had to be something to it.

'Cepage Freiburger'

Cave et Domaine du Petit Chateau

2023, 13.5%. Appellation d'Origine Controlle.

Thanks to an article in 'Purple Pages' we had learend about a new Swiss hybrid called Freiburger. We managed to obtain a bottle of this from Moevenpick wine also in Basel . Apart from this bottle of Freiburger, the selection there was no better than at Ullrich. 

Freiburger is also known as Freisamer and is a cross between Sylvaner and Pinot Gris.

Talking about Freiburger, our plan for the one day 'Smash and Grab'  included a side-trip to Freiburg-im-Breisgau. This was to be a trip down memory lane hearkening back to 1963 when we spend a 'Sommersemester' brushing up our 'Germanistik' at the Albrecht Ludwigs Universitaet there. That was to have been our first deep immersion into a wine-producing area and we had enjoyed discovering the then little-known and unfashionable wines of Baden-Wuerttemberg and elsewhere. 

 

Goethe

We remember in particular consumeing refreshing bottles of Steinwein (a favourite of Goethe no less). Apparently Steiwein from Franken (Wuertzburg) is the oldest surviving wine in continuous production in Germany. It can be made from Riesling (inevitably) or Sylvaner. 

 

We remember Sylvaner Steinwein in particular in ther 'Bocksbeutel,' 

 

 

Also in the Freiburg Muensterplatz restaurants, you could get nice Baden wine in their characteristic glasses which are rare these days. These wines included the mysterious Rulander which we later discovered to be Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio. 

Back then people used to talk about Kaiserstuehler wines but we didn't  drink any of those at that time. So we resolved to buy some Kaiserstuhl wines in Freiburg. 

At the same time we put on the list some other German specialities otherwise unobtainable in the UK such as Trollinger (OK, that's Schiava which you can get here but not the German version), 

Beethoven

 

Portugieser, the grape of Voslau which we reckon is what Beethoven drank in Vienna when he couldn/t get his beloved Rheinland Hock, and Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) and Samtrot (a clone of Pinot Meunier). 

We also discovered a variety which was new to us; Rieslaner.  This is a crossing of Riesling and Sylvaner from 1921 by August Ziegler at the Bayerischer Landesanstalt fuer Weinbau und Gartenbau in Veitshochheim near Wuertzburg. Rieslaner makes a white dessert wine and is usually rather expensive.

 

In Freiburg, we discovered a great wine merchant called Drexler. I was founded in 1899 but we had managed to miss it in 1963. 

Dr. Heger Pinot Noir and Hoefflin's Souvignier Gris 

 

both from the famous Kaiderstuhl area near Freiburg

The excellent staff at Drexler found a Spaetburgunder from the Kaiserstuhl, Dr. Heger's Ihringer 2020 which just fitted the bill and from them we also bought a Souvignier Gris by Weingut Hoefflin of Boetzingen, also in the Kaiserstuhl which should be interesting.

 

Also in Freiburg we went to the local branch of the fantastic supermarket, REWE where they had wines from all corners of Germany and elsewhere.  

Dornfelder, Samtrot and Trollinger

 

 

Samtrot is unheard-of  and Trollinger is rare in the UK.

 

Here we picked up a Samtrot and a Trollinger both from Wuerttemburg and a Dornfelder from the Pfalz. 

While researching Kaiserstuhl wines we came across a merchant in Weil am Rhein, Germany just over the border from Basel called Wein Werte. This excellent company is the brainchild of an extraordinary New-Zealander, Dr. Craig Thorrold. As well as winemerchant Craig has been a Sommelier in a Michelin starred restaurant in London, obtained a DPhil in Medieval Studies in Cambridge and lectured in languages and culture at universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is also part-owner of a restaurant for refugees near Basel SBB station called 'Restaurant du Coeur' and last but not least wine merchant.

 

 

On Wein Werte's list we had spotted many interesting wines including two we vere particularly keen to acquire: Heinrich's Roter Traminer 'Traminer Freyheit' an Orange wine from the Burgenland, Austria which we had throughly enjoyed previously and a true rarity of all rarities, a Mallorquin wine made by Mesquida Mora from a grape called Gorgollasa near Porreres, Mallorca.

 

It says 12.5%.

 

Apparently at the turn of the 21st century there were only 4 vines left of Gorgollasa. These were cultivated by a group of passionare winemakers  and in 2011 it became authorised in the Balearic islands. Today there are aroung 5 ha. and winemakers including Can Ribas, Oliver Moragues, Can Majoral, Selva Vins and our friend Galmes i Ribot (Cati Ribot) as well as Mesquida Mora are making wines with Gorgollasa.

Due to our impractical schedule we asked Craig Thorrold if we could pick up these two bottles from his restaurant in Basel since it lies alonside the very station we were useing to get to and from Freiburg. Not only did he agree to meet us there and hand over the bottles we had bought from Wein Werte online but he very kindly led us to the exact station platform for our train to Freiburg which thanks to him we caught with minutes to spare. You sometimes meet the most wonderful people in the wine world.

At the end of the day having checked in our 11 bottles, we took a look at Basel EuroAirport Duty Free. As in the city, things there had gone downhill over the years we were last there. In those days you could get a Gamaret/Garanoir among other Swiss wines there. Nowadays, nothing so interesting. 

 

 

 

The filling of the gaps, 2025.

 

 

Filling the gaps, 2025

Vine-Works 12.5                  31 x Divico (Gamaret and Bronner)

                                             25 x Pinot Iskra (Pinot Blanc)

                    21.5                  25 x Souvignier Gris (from Rebschule Freytag)

Ryedale Vineyard 29.5         31 x Divico

                                             13 x Muscaris

Rebschule Freytag 8.6           2 x Cabaret Noir

                                              10 x Souvignier Gris

                                              15 x Calardis Blanc

                                              16 x Cabernet Jura

The Gardening Club.            2 x Regent

Toad Hall Garden Centre      1 x Black Hamburgh

Total 171 vines.

 

We presume every vineyard has 'casualties' year upon year. Vines don't live for ever and when the vineyard comes to life in the spring, casualties become apparent. By then many vine nurseries are sold out so ordering small quantities to fill the gaps is tricky to say the least. 

 

As in previous years Will Mower of Vine-Works/The Vinehouse UK has come to the rescue. Being an 'experimental vineyard' we chose two new varieties to plant. At the Vineyard and Winery Show in November last year we were very impressed by the many English wines now made from the Divico grape. We had tried Divico before with 6 vines procured at great expense from Switzerland. They all died. Now Divico is being propagated by vine nurseries elsewhere. Our 31vines from The Vine-House UK came from a French 'pepiniere.' 

 

Another standout at the Vineyard and Winery Show was VCR's Pinot Iskra - a hybrid of Pinot Blanc with a resistance partner. 

 

We were especially delighted that Will managed to secure a bundle of 25 Pinot Iskra from VCR France. VCR is 'Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo,' the world's biggest vine nursery. 

Will was able to offer us 13 Muscaris vines as well, so we were well on our way to getting a full house, or so we thought.

 

While planting these 71 beauties, we discovered further gaps so the hunt was on to seek out more vines. After some intense googling we came across the most unlikely supply source: a vineyard in Yorkshire.

At Ryedale Vineyard just outside York, there is a wonderful man called Jon Fletcher who has set up his own extensive vineyard as well as helping others to do so in his area and as far north as Scotland. Jon doesn't seem bothered with what goes on down South such is his independence in concentrating on northerly opportunities. 

 

He has become an official importer with his own EORI import license and was happy to sell us more Divico and some Souvignier Gris. Souvignier Gris and Muscaris have become a recognised blending partnership so we were very happy indeed to add more of this to the vineyard

. 

Rather than have Jon send us the vines by Parcel Force, we decided to go and fetch them from him personally and take a peek at his Yorkshire vineyard and maybe buy some of his wine.

Pinot Meunier

Madeleine Angevine

Fruehburgunder

Pinot Noir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

York is only 2 hours from London these days and hiring a car from York Station for the day could be done for as little as £40. 

We bought Jon's Rose and two reds

The labels say 'From God's own country'

 

Originally we planned to visit two other vineyards while up there but massive traffic jams in the York area put a stop to that. Yorkshire Heart Vineyard at Nun Monkton (very near York) and Dunesforde Vineyard at Upper Dunsforth just a bit further out from the city. 

Now we had the bit firmly between our teeth as it were. There's nothing like close contact with the ground to reveal yet further planting opportunities and indeed, we spotted further gaps and spots to the unexpected total of 31. Where to get this final batch of vines? 

 

Sourcing from Yorkshire gave us confidence nothing was impossible so spreading our net further we found a further 10 Souvignier Gris remaining in the bins of a German 'Rebschule' plus 15 Calardis Blanc to supplement our existing stock of 25 vines and 2 Cabernet Noir which went neatly to filling remaining gaps in our planting of that grape. 

 

Furthermore, we were offered 16 Cabernet Jura. There were one or two Cabernet Jura vines in our vineyard planted after our visit to Valentin Blattner, the private Swiss grape breeder who had also bred Cabernet Noir and others we had  from him (see our post of 20.5.17). Of course we accepted these despite the fact our experience of wine made from Cabernet Jura had not been very promising.

 

Getting these German vines to us was tricky but we finagled a hand-over at Toddington service station on the M1 while some other vines were out for distribution elsewhere in the UK. This was becoming fun. 

The many of the holes for these vines had been dug previously  but many had not. Our soil is heavy clay with some shingle so help was sought. Unfortunately we were let down at the last moment so a great deal of frenetic digging had to be done. 

Less fun. At first it seemed maybe an Auger would help dig the holes. We had used this method in the past when a team from Romania had come to do planting. That was earlier when the ground was friable but now in June the earth was hard as nails. It didn't matter that we couldn't even get the Auger we had hires to fire up it wouldn't have helped anyway. 

Faithfull Pole Axe with spike and chisel ends

Taking it back to the hire company we saw some pole axes for sale. Remembering someone had used one previously on our land we bought one and it turned out to be just what we needed. Fun restored.

So with all the new vines put to bed we had to start placing rabbit guards on the first vines which were already starting to sprout. Again getting down and dirty, we spotted some yet further planting opportunities but only very few. In a fit of ultimate madness we bought a handsome Black Hamburgh vine from the local garden centre. That was an impulse buy to be sure but we had had a Black Hamburgh, aka Trollinger, aka Schiava before and had observed how the wasps went crazy for it. It will be interesting to see if they are still interested. It might keep them off the other vines. We also spotted little Regent vines for £7,99 at another garden centre and bought 2 of those. Very reasonable.