2022 Léon Barral Vin de Pays de l’Herault Blanc
WINEMAKER: Didier Barral
REGION: Languedoc, FR
VARIETY: Terret Blanc, Gris, Viognier, Roussanne
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic
This amazing wine is produced almost entirely from Terret Blanc and Gris with a little Viognier and Roussanne. Terret is an ancient grape to the Languedoc that retains all important acidity at ripeness unlike. This is somewhat a cult wine and it's production goes against every conventional grain. The grapes are first pressed in the same century-old, vertical, wooden basket press that Barral uses for his red wines. This gentle pressing goes on for the better part of a day, during which time the wine is left exposed to the air with nothing to protect it. After six or eight months in a concrete tank, the wine is aged on the fine lees for 10-12 months in well-used barrels. The result is an extraordinary white wine that has a delicious citrus-fruit, almond and peach-skin nose, a harmonious mouth of peaches, apricots, herbs, and an electric minerality. Gorgeous.
Barral is the ultimate biodynamic farmer. He allows his cows and sheep to graze amongst his old bush-vines during the winter months as this provides them with the most natural form of fertiliser! In the winery, everything is natural, from the wild yeasts which ferment his grapes to the absence of sulphur or filtration. The resulting wines are pure, unadulterated expressions of the rugged, scrub-covered hills of this part of Mediterranean France and the perfect cold weather reds.
In his words, "Nowadays, farmers feed the planet but destroy it at the same time. Sometimes they think they are doing the right thing by ploughing too often for example, which eventually damages the soil structure. We have to observe nature and to understand how micro-organisms operate. Then we see that tools and machinery can never replace the natural, gentle work of earthworms, insects and other creatures that travel through a maze of tunnels, creating porosity and aerating the soil, making it permeable and alive. There‘s grass in our vineyards and amongst the grass, there are cows and horses: a whole living world that lives together, each dependent on the other and each being vital to the balance of the biotope".