‘The 2015 harvest, my second at Les Vignobles Foncalieu, is the heart of my year,’ says Isabelle Pangault (pictured), Head Winemaker of the union of cooperatives which oversees 5,100 hectares of vines throughout France’s ‘Grand Sud’ – the Languedoc, Gascony, Rhône and Provence. ‘Compared to last year’s, which saw hail and drought, this vintage feels more ‘classical’…
Things started extremely well, says Pangault, ‘from good precipitation during winter and into spring, which allowed a good build-up of water reserves in the soil which meant, come July’s heatwave, vines didn’t get too heat-stressed. And by the end of July, when heat did begin to threaten things, the storms so typical of summer in the South of France quenched the vines so they could get on with their healthy maturation cycle.’
The harvest began on Monday 10th of August at Puisserguier. ‘There, we produce Sauvignon Blanc and a very specific Muscat Sec. Normally, we try to retain “pyrazines” or vegetal notes in these wines, but because of July’s heatwave, the wines have developed an attractive, tropical tangent, proving immediately accessible.’
Pangault, who admits to checking the weather every two hours, day-and-night, finished bringing home remaining Sauvignon Blanc grapes last week and is set to complete the Chardonnay this week. ‘As regards the rest of the harvest, we’ve encountered something of a “false rhythm” in that not everything that ought be ready to harvest is ready to harvest! So we’ve slowed down until everything is completely ripe.’
Although Pangault finished last year’s harvest by mid-October, she anticipates this year’s may continue until end of October. She explains: ‘a rainstorm, as that which occurred beginning of September (30mm, no less) can seriously dilute a thirsty grape’s sugars, meaning you have to wait another week to get to the same concentration, aided by a good, drying Tramontane wind from the north-west.’
Drought in the East of the Languedoc last year, and hail in Minervois saw almost 15,000 hectares of vineyards destroyed as at Romain Torrecilla’s Minervois icon site, ‘Le Lien’. ‘You can still see the scars on the trunks of vines and tree windbreaks,’ says Pangault. ‘The problem is that buds for the next year are already in the wood, so when hail hit the plants in July 2014, it also damaged the 2015 buds, leading to only 20-30% of the yields compared to a “normal” year.’ While this nature-enforced heavy curb on yield can lead to high quality, concentrated wine, Pangault acknowledges a ‘big loss’ in terms of remuneration for effected growers. ‘However, compensating to some degree for that loss, the volumes expected in other parts of our vineyard are much higher. Fortunately, our mosaic of terroirs is a huge advantage for Foncalieu.’
Pangault singles out several styles she is particularly pleased with on the basis of the harvest thus far. ‘Our Sauvignon Gris is really good, with big grapefruit character and a rich palate – part of our experimentation with “new” varieties for us, which also includes Albariño. We will continue to focus on understanding how these plants adapt in our terroirs, results of which are only truly discernible after three years!’
The patience and commitment of Les Vignobles Foncalieu’s producers and all the technical team promise an exclusive 2015 vintage. ‘The high quality wines already produced have inspired me to work, post-harvest, on a new range of wines, possibly blending a white wine comprising Chardonnay and Viognier, or a Pinot Noir and Syrah rosé.’
