I'm very pleased to once again introduce wines from the young maverick and friend, Fred Agneray.
Hooray! Fred's a cool guy. He got into wine the way a lot of us did: drinking! Born and raised in the dept. du Nord, Agneray soon found himself in Paris, studying literature by day and the labours of biodynamic agriculture by night. Not long after that, he swapped pleasure for business and started working at the très famous Clos Rougeard estate. Impressive! Still and all, it was his stint at the best domain in the world, La Grange aux Belles, that put a touch of genius in his heart and set him on his way to winemaking mastery.
His first couple of vintages have been truly stellar, but 2019 promises his best showing yet. Not just for the quality of fruit that season, but for the character of struggle the rookie vigneron finds himself in the past year. After dropping a pallet of wine from a forklift earlier in the year, Fred wasn't feeling so hot. Following the late frosts of this growing season, he's squarely embraced the spirit of surrender that all great winemakers carry with them. It's unclear what the 2021 harvest will bring (if much), but if the deftitude and prowess of his wines are any indication, we'll be pleasantly surprised. Until then, we are so proud to support this incredible guy and -- lucky for you -- you can too! For all those seekers of rare and allocated bottles from the Gare, here's a chance to start up with a young, promising winemaker whose wine has been nothing but honest, consistent, understated, and delicious.
So in light of Fred's bumpy year, we've re-upped on some of the 2018s along with 2 new cuvees from 2019. Here:
Vdf "Mitan" 2018
VARIETY : Grenache
TERROIR : 30-year-old vines from the two most beautiful plots of the estate. One is sloping, east-facing and very rocky, only the upper part of the plot has been selected. The other is a clearing of 30 acres in the middle of the woods. These are very poor soils, with low yields despite the young age of the vines.
Organic
HARVEST : hand picked
VINIFICATION :
50% grenache grapes with a 14-day maceration.
50% whole cluster grenache with a 12-day maceration.
Combined in spring with the addition of 1 gram of SO2 per hectoliter of wine
No filtration, no fining
Vdf "Larrons" 2018
VARIETY : Syrah
TERROIR :
40 year old vines, sandy limestone
Organic
HARVEST : hand picked
VINIFICATION :
50% whole clusters
50% de-stemmed 12-day maceration
Combined in the spring with the addition of 1 gram of so2 per hectoliter of wine.
No filtration nor fining
Vdf "Gare du Nord" 2019
VARIETY : 85% de Grenache / 20 % Syrah
TERROIR :
30/40 year old Grenache vines
Sand and Clay
Organic
HARVEST : hand picked
VINIFICATION :
All of the Grenache is macerated for 9 days
Whole cluster Syrah grapes in one vat
Slow press of 8 hours
No added sulphites, no filtration nor fining
Vdf "Kalamite" 2019
VARIETY : Grenache and a touch of Cinsault
TERROIR :
Sandy limestone, Sandy loam
Organic
HARVEST : hand picked
VINIFICATION :
50% whole clusters
50% de-stemmed with 11 days maceration.
8 hour press.
Élevage in stainless steel tanks.
1 gram of so2 per hectoliter of wine at spring racking.
No filtration, no fining