Domaine de la Rochelierre is a 15 hectare property in Fitou, right on the French south coast just north of Perpignan, run by Jean-Marie and Emilie Fabre. When I returned to the UK 25 years ago, you couldn’t walk into a supermarket, a high street wine shop or an indie merchant without finding an array of primarily red but also white Fitou wines. Somehow, in the clamour for big name Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone Valley wines, ancient quality wine producing regions like Fitou have been somewhat usurped by more fashionable, more marketed regions. But the promise of quality certainly remains.
At Domaine de la Rochelierre, they use the Cousinié method to care for their vines, a combination of organic and biodynamic principles without fully subscribing to either school, and their Cuvée Camille is a positively joyful blend of southern varieties, featuring 50% Vermentino, 30% Roussanne and 20% Grenache Blanc – which spends just a couple of months in barrel before bottling. Surely it’s time that value and quality seeking drinkers rediscover the magic of the Fitou region again?
Cuvée Camille 60 & XV, Domaine de la Rochelierre 2021, IGP Pays d’Oc, 13.5% Abv.
The 2021 is an excellent white wine vintage across France in what was a much cooler, fresher vintage. Accordingly, this classy white shows exuberantly pithy aromatics of yellow grapefruit, lime peel, fresh fennel root, green herbs and a wet Granite minerality. The palate is deliciously crisp and fresh with a fine supporting weight of yellow citrus fruits, wet stones, white peach, nutty nougat, garrigue herbs and a pithy phenolic grape skin grip on the finish. What a beautifully versatile, food friendly wine. Drink now on release and over the next 3 to 4 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines are available in the UK from Private Cellar for £98 per 6 inc. (£16.33pb)
This unique white wine is sourced from a tiny patch of Vermentino vines grown on orange sandy soils in Koekenaap planted in 2017, and which are located only 15 kilometres from the cold Atlantic Ocean up the barren West Coast. The unwaveringly maritime and saline characteristics of this dry coastal terroir up the West Coast has become almost synonymous as Sakkie Mouton’s signature style and these particular Vermentino grapes are located no more than 600 metres away from his old vine Crayfish Chenin Blanc vineyard with its decomposed sandstone soils with pockets of limestone which lend great minerality and low pH’s to the finished wines.
After tasting a few tank samples with Sakkie Mouton at the Cape Wine Trade Fair in Cape Town in October 2022, it was inevitable that the excitement would build until he released his second Vermentino vintage. More importantly, after Cape Wine, I made the five hour trek up the West Coast with Sakkie after the trade fair to go and visit not only his famous Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc vineyard, but also the two long rows of Vermentino that were planted originally as an experimental grape.
The experimental Vermentino rows planted in 2017 planted on Ramsey rootstocks to help against nematodes in the soils.
The 2022 Sand Erf was harvested in two separate parcels, with the first parcel getting 12 hours on the skins before pressing, and the second parcel getting whole brunch pressed. After pressing, both parcels were blended together. After a one month fermentation, the wine was racked into one 300 litre barrel for ageing for four months with regular stirring of the lees.
Sakkie Mouton surveying his two rows of experimental Vermentino along side wider plantings of Chenin Blanc.
The wine was bottled as Wine of Origin Koekenaap, unfiltered and unfined, with just the smallest addition of sulphur. While the one parcel only saw 12 hours of skin contact, Sakkie feels this factor has had a significantly positive influence on the finished wine, helping it to portray a slightly fuller, fleshier, more textural expression in the glass.
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Sand Erf Vermentino 2022, WO Koekenaap, 11.93% Abv.
1.4g/l RS | 6.9g/l TA | 3.4pH
This white wine is classic Wes Kus misfit Sakkie Mouton at his best. The nose is packed full of youthful cream soda and rock candy aromatics before notes of peach kernals, crunchy green pear, white blossom and lime peel emerge to spar with the ever-present layers of maritime salinity, dried kelp, nori seaweed and rock salt complexity. The extra time on the skins lends the palate just that little extra fleshy, glycerol weight and roundness in the mouth to balance the intense briney rock salt salinity. The palate remains rapier fresh and precise but just that little bit broader and more architecturally layered, revealing a delicious green apple freshness and white peach and dried herb nuances on the long, generous finish. This is a wine that speaks of a specific maritime terroir and its harsh corresponding wind-swept coastal environment. In Koekenaap, the people are as hardy as the vines, but both are equally generous and expressive when handled correctly. A beautiful follow-up release that grows in confidence like Sakkie’s very own winemaking prowess. Drink this wine on release with wild Wes Kus oysters or fresh line fish or else watch it unfurl extra layers of complexity over the coming 3 to 5+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Life imitating art… Sakkie is a keen musician like his grandfather, who is featured on the 2022 label.
I am a massive fan of Vermentino whether grown in the Italian regions of Liguria, the Maremma, Corsica and Sardinia or down in Provence in the sun-baked South of France where it is generally known as Rolle. This maiden Vermentino release from the hugely talented young gun Sakkie Mouton is certainly an unusual grape to find produced in South Africa but is also an inspired choice for his electric (and eclectic) style of winemaking.
A picture from the Mouton family album… shows his grandfather riding a bull on the beach up the Wes Kus (West Coast) in what looks like circa 1950s to me!? This wine is a celebration of eccentricity in a world of mass conformity.
Like Sakkie’s highly sought-after Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, this wine is sourced from a tiny patch of Vermentino vines grown on sandy soils in Koekenaap planted in 2017, located 15 kilometres from the cold Atlantic Ocean. For me, one of the most exciting aspects of Sakkie’s winemaking is that whatever grape variety he chooses to turn his hand to, you can be assured that the end result will reflect the regional terroir of Koekenaap almost more intensely than any individual expression of the grape variety. The unwaveringly maritime and saline characteristics of this barren coastal terroir up the West Coast has become almost synonymous as Sakkie Mouton’s signature style and these particular Vermentino grapes are located no more than 600 metres away from his Crayfish Chenin Blanc vineyard with its decomposed sandstone soils with pockets of limestone which lend great minerality and low pH’s to the finished wines.
The Vermentino grapes for this 2021 maiden release actually form part of a complex viticultural story with vines planted originally by Vinpro as part of a programme of small batch experimental vineyards developed around interesting viticultural areas to see if these experimental varieties might work on a more commercial scale. Similar projects today see Vinpro planting Assyrtiko vineyards to assess their future potential, but not to be confused with Gary Jordan who has pioneered this variety in South Africa and is already on his third tranche of vineyard plantings in Stellenbosch!
An animated story for sure but as Sakkie points out, Vermentino did not eventually crack the nod from Vinpro as growers immediately saw that the variety would not produce sufficient yields and the extraction process for Vermentino subsequently proved way too difficult for commercial purposes with lower than expected juice yields.
But with Sakkie ignoring adversity, the grapes from this micro vineyard were hand harvested early in the morning, then taken to a cold room facility for cooling. The grapes were foot trodden as whole bunches in an old basket press with the juice being transferred to cold settle for 12 hours in a stainless steel tank. The clear juice was then racked into 228 litre barrels to ferment naturally. The finished wine was aged on its gross lees for four months with regular stirring of the lees. After four months in the 228 litre barrels, the wine was racked into 500 litre barrels for a further two months of aging. Nothing was added to the wine except sulphur before bottling. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Sand Erf Vermentino 2021, WO Koekenaap, 12.5% Abv.
8.2 TA | 1.0 RS | 3.12 pH
This delicious Vermentino expression, like many of the best premium old-world styles offers up an intense, complex aromatic array of crunchy white pears, green apples and white peaches all underpinned by a pronounced stony crushed rock minerality. Give the glass another swirl and yet more aromas of lime peel, honeydew melon and tangerine waft out the bowl. With Vermentino’s higher than usual phenols, the palate shows a delicious green almond bitterness that melts into a mouth-watering melange of glycerol pink grapefruit, pear pastille and freshly cut fennel which bears pronounced maritime notes of rock salt and tangy citric acids. Medium bodied but displaying an almost creamy texture, this wine is both generous and bracing all at the same time, confounding the palate with its profound salinity. If there is one thing that Sakkie Mouton is good at, it is making articulate white wines that challenge the senses before ultimately seducing them with effortless harmony, freshness and balance. Simply delightful to drink now, but with several more years of ageing, this wine will undoubtedly start to show more of its true Vermentino DNA with notes of floral-infused honey, chamomile and toasted almonds. The question is however … can you resist the temptation of the wine’s current youthful allure!? (Total production 620 bottles)
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Postscript: I opened this bottle at fridge chilled temperature and tasted continuously over 4 hours without returning the bottle back to the fridge. The gradual release of additional flavours, sensations of concentration and an amplified salinity with a searing acidity were very impressive. In the same way a serious white Burgundy does not need to be returned to ice, this wine just unfurled continuously, and I encourage drinkers of this wine to serve it chilled but also to allow it to warm up a little so that it can fan its peacock tail!
Dublin based wine merchant and Master of Wine Mick O’Connell has finally released his new vinous creations from Sardinia. Not only do we get a 5th vintage of his Garnacha this year but also a mighty quaffable Vermentino white just in time for the European summer.
Loyal followers of the Cancedda O’Connell project will want to watch out closely for these two new release micro vinifications that look set to hit European wine shelves in the coming months.
Buccia not Battles V1 Vermentino, Vino Bianco, Sardinia, 11% Abv.
Pithy and expressive, this exciting white boasts aromatic notes of dry summer grass, dried herbs, roasted nuts, peach stones and pithy pear drop. The palate has definition and balance with a tangy freshness, juicy pear pastille, green apple purée and candied yellow orchard fruit notes. A fine maiden Vino Bianco release from this winery.
(Wine Safari Score: 90+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Garnacha not Guerra V5 (2019) Vino Rosso, Sardinia, 11.5% Abv.
This shows all the fabulous lift and aromatic perfume of a Sardinian garden in full bloom boasting notes of violets, lavender, crushed raspberries, sun ripened cranberry and subtle hints of red liquorice stick. The palate is light, pure and ethereal with a deliciously moreish acidity, fine powdery mineral tannins and mouthwatering nuances of blood orange, sour red plum, wild strawberry and a delicious melange of vermouth herbs and pithy bramble berry spice. The perfect light touch red for summer quaffing.
It is not very often that a new winery just drops in for an impromptu visit to introduce their wines and you fall completely in love with the entire range. Well that’s what happened when I first tasted Hugh and Anna’s wines from their Maremma winery Podere Val di Toro, situated between Grosseto and Scansano near the Tuscan coast.
Fast forward 7 or 8 years and the range has grown to include one of the most delicious up and coming cult Rose wines made in the mould of Whispering Angel but utilising Sangiovese grapes, as well as one of the very finest Vermentino whites in the Maremma where conditions are perfect for this aromatic variety.
With the close proximity to the sea, a soil rich in minerals and ample sunshine, the Auramaris Vermentino has garnered awards thick and fast including several 90-plus ratings and a 5 star award from Decanter Magazine.
Anna Maria Cruciata and husband Hugh Maxwell
Podere Val di Toro Auramaris Vermentino 2017, DOC Maremma Toscana, 13.5 Abv.
Primary, taut, vibrant and fresh, this young Vermentino positively bristles with new vintage energy. The aromatics are correspondingly fresh, pure and primary packed full of waxy green apples, creme soda, lemon grass, dried straw, honeydew melon and dusty crushed gravel minerality. The palate entry is also ultra mineral, reminiscent of sucking on wet river pebbles, classically dry and restrained showing a seamlessly balanced mouthfeel. The addition of 15% Grechetto increases the harmony and complexity of this wine and there is no shortage of green apple pastille and crunchy white peach fruit laced with subtle rock candy bon bon length. Sleek, classical and quite grown up, the Auramaris is one of the finest Vermentino examples in Tuscany. Drink now to 2024+.
