Maelys 2020 Magnum - Le Raisin et l'Ange

Gilles Azzoni left office life in the banlieue of Paris behind in the early 1980s and journeyed south, eventually settling in les Salelles, a remote hamlet in southern Ardèche, in 1983. He took the scenic route south, studying at the agricultural school in Mâcon, after which a spell with Gilbert Violot in Pommard and cellars further south in Bandol and Provence emboldened him to pursue winemaking as his métier. Setting out on his own at 29, Gilles took on a fermage from a retiring farmer, complete with six hectares or so of vines. In those early days, Gilles followed the prescriptions of conventional viticulture as it is taught in the formal schools, making vin de pays and Vivarais VDQS (an extinct level between vin de pays and AOC; Vivarais has since been promoted to AOC status). With the passing of time, the use of agricultural products in his vineyards diminished, and by 1997 he was fully organic. Impressed by how this affected his wines, Gilles extended his philosophy to his cellar work, and by 2007 his wines were made without filtration or sulphur. This would herald the dawn of a vital new chapter for the wines of the southern Ardèche, and Gilles' philosophical approach to making wine, alongside that of his good friend Gérald Oustric of le Mazel, would inspire generations of winemakers and sommeliers to come, none more so than his son Antonin.

Antonin, a trained chemist, succeeded his father in 2014, with Gilles continuing to mentor and advise up to 2023, when he finally retired. Having grown up in the cellar with his father, with a rotating cast of winemakers visiting at weekends, Antonin has a palate as sharp as a tack, and this is his primary guide in his work: he follows his intuitions in the cellar and only afterward applies his training in chemistry. More often than not, this confirms what he had expected. He wasted no time in stepping out of his father's shadow, focusing solely on winemaking and continuing to work as his father did in the cellar. Antonin refers to Gilles as his sulphur, with his almost prescient ability to detect problems in the wines before they have appeared. Building on his father's legacy, Antonin encouraged young growers around the region to move to organic viticulture, with the promise that he would buy their fruit to make his wines. And so le Raisin et l'Ange became primarily a négociant house. Gilles kept a couple of hectares for himself, as did Antonin, and the rest was taken over by Samuel Boulay, who had moved into the adjoining cellar from the Loire. This new approach opened windows for Antonin, who could now showcase the diverse terroirs of southern Ardèche and the talents of the region's growers, such as the Ozil brothers and Vincent Fargier of les Deux Terres.

The harvest is intense. Antonin works with a small team to harvest early in the mornings in small crates, and the sight of their iconic yellow Transit zipping through the bending gorges of the Vallée de l'Ibie provokes beeps and hollering as they pass neighbouring cellars. The fruit is sometimes chilled for a day or two at the cellar after harvesting, a technique that helps preserve the fruitiness Antonin cherishes in his wines and precipitates an early, almost pre-carbonic fermentation in the bunches. Conveniently, this also serves as a holding space while the cellar is at capacity! The whites go mainly to the press, sometimes seeing a little time on skins first, and the reds are primarily vatted as whole bunches before pressing in a 1960s Vaslin press from Burgundy. The idea is to make wines that they like to drink themselves: soft and supple in the fruit, digestible, and full of character. Somehow, the languid charms of the region and the winemaker have found a voice in these wines, and the soulful, spirited quality of wines made from well farmed fruit has become their calling card. Antonin always makes the assemblages post fermentation, each year recreating the estate's iconic cuvées like Nedjma from a new configuration of varieties, capturing the typicity of the fruit and the intricacies of the vintage while somehow staying true to the recognisable personality of each wine year after year. Antonin has now taken over Gilles' smallholding of Roussanne, Muscat, and Syrah, along with his tiny cellar below the house, so we're entering a new chapter for this storied estate. With their succulent fruit, effortless drinkability, and irresistible personality, these are wines we always keep close to hand, offering value that has become all too rare these days.

This parcel sits below the cellar, across the Gardon riverbed. The open, rocky urgonian limestone makes it tricky to manoeuvre, even by foot, and the vines have to reach deep down into the earth to reach the water and nutrients they need. These tough conditions significantly limit yields, and result in intensely concentrated berries that give deeply coloured must, even with light maceration. Antonin chooses neutral vessels when vinifying this wine, as not to distract from the particularly pure expression of Syrah on limestone this special parcel of vines gives.

Grapes: Syrah

Region: Les Salelles, Ardèche, France

ABV: 13%