Une Songe d'Iris 2019/20 - Les Bories Jefferies

Joe’s introduction to wine came via legendary vigneron Bernard Bellahsen, from whom Joe bought bread at a local market. When the opportunity to take charge of 3 hectares of vines from his father-in-law presented itself, encouragement from Bernard, along with Julien Peyras and Antony Tortul of la Sorga, emboldened Joe to accept.

He went back to study winemaking in Montpellier, and despite the guidance of his well-seasoned mentors, initially worked with an oenologist and made wines to ‘the Languedoc recipe’. Robust, bold, reds with big tannins and high alcohol conformed to the status quo, and whites that received filtration and generous sulfitage. Growing frustrated with his inability to find the unique terroir of Caux in his wines, and endless arguments with the oenologue on his books, Joe began to practice the methods of his early mentors, ceasing debourbage post press, filtration, sulfitage, and, scandalously, began vinifying the reds with carbonic maceration. In the vines, the work is far beyond the requirements of organic, and his treatments in the vines are minimal and preventative rather than responsive.

After 12 years, Joe’s wines have become definitive of the new Languedoc, utterly elegant and vital while retaining the Mediterranean soul and ripe fruit of southern France. They are remarkable wines that detail the breadth of possibilities one can uncover in the Languedoc.

In the spirit of his mentors Bernhard Bellahsen and Antony Tortul, Joe showcases here the dynamic potential of these varieties when they are not subdued by the prescriptions of conventional winemaking in the South, and their capacity for greatness on the right sites. Where lava once flowed from the Volcan de Beaume into limestone valleys, these hardened flows today form the hills on which Joe's vines grow, outlasting the limestone that is now dispersed in chunks around them as they grow.

Grapes: Grenache Noir/Gris/Blanc, Marsanne

Region: Caux, Languedoc, France

ABV: 13.5%