So welcome Everybody to our discover longer doc Session With richard lane my name’s lydia Harrison mw i’m an educator at the wsg School in london And in charge of our events program Though We have been going virtual obviously This year Lots of webinars um online And richard lane is one of our current Diploma students I think he’s nervously awaiting his d3 Results so hopefully he will soon be Richard lane dip Wsed and he has lived in the bergerac Region but also visited the longer dock Several times when he was living in Bergerac in france so he is going to Present this evening and as i said i Will take I will keep an eye on the chat and if There’s any questions pop them in there And i will put them To richard a little bit later on um but Yes please uh you can find if you Enjoy this you can find all of our other Webinars um on our youtube channel or Via the wsg school website wstschool.com And yes without further ado i will hand Over to richard so Richard i shall just click onto your Castle slide now and
Take it away thank you Very much lydia and good evening Everyone All 250 whatever you plus of you Terrified Thought and a special bonsoir to uh Friends in france i know we’ve got at Least three or four people in the long Dark who Have joined this call which is slightly Terrifying because they’re clearly going To know far more about the longer doc With myself But as uh lydia says yeah i’m really Delighted To be doing this i cannot believe how Many wine webinars i’ve Attended this year they’ve kept me sane Or maybe Insane during this year um and but Actually to be Presenting one on behalf of wact To you lot internationally is really is A thrill actually so thank you all very Much For turning out and yeah so Longer dog i mean as as lydia says i i Was in france for a year with my wife Liz And our dog topper over the 2017-2018 And Although we weren’t based in longdoc we Certainly missed it a few times As we were traveling around and we have
Friends living down there and Immediately realized what an Extraordinary Uh interesting uh wine region not just Wine region but region it is and the Wine region itself Very much so but clearly wanted to know More about it so Here we are but to start this seminar I’m actually going to give you a quote Excuse me this quote comes from I’m sure you’ve all heard of oz clarke He is quite a character he’s lived his Life to the full He is a brilliant writer and if anyone Is out there studying Like i have been recently for wact exams And you want a break from your study Books You can do far worse than read his book That came out a year or two ago called Red and white it is basically a 650 page Romp around the world of wine with oz Clark And this is what he says when he gets To the south of france he’s just come Down the rhone valley Okay and this is what he says i’m i’m Quoting directly from the book I’m standing on a bridge in the middle Of all In provence facing south Bestriding the mighty road as it powers On
Should i turn left or right east Or west to the east is the glitter and Glamour of provence But what promise of wine not nearly Enough to my right Is the rough and tumble of the longer Dog where the sun seems harsher Where the wind seems keener where the Beach bars are few And where the restaurants are little More than cafes serving Fresh fish and salad but the promise of Special wine Is tantalizing So wow i mean only i can’t put it in Towards Like like allstate but i just think That’s it’s just a wonderful little Entree into into the world of longador It is um such an extraordinary place And in terms of its wine history It’s such an interesting history and i Realize i’m actually taking on the Impossible tonight because There’s no way that i can cover the wine Region of the long dock Uh in any great depth in one hour and so Apologies in advance that just some bits Of it are just not going to be possible But I hope you get a good overview the Longer dock It’s it’s it’s like france in many ways It’s a land of
Paradoxes it’s full of rules if you’re In the appalachian system for the wines But it’s all Also there are no rules if you don’t Want to be part of that system It’s in the south of france so you’re Thinking well we’re going to be talking About red wine because It’s a mediterranean climate well yeah But we’re also Talking about white wine pink wine Sparkling wine fortified wine the longer Dog has it all The long dog has a long history A checkered history which i’m going to Cover just a little bit because you Can’t really understand what the longer Dot Is doing and it is definitely going Through a revolution this Since the millennium the past 20 years You can’t really understand Where it’s going unless you know a Little bit about its past and to me That’s what makes Wine fascinating actually not getting Obsessed with the history books but just Knowing enough about it The cultural context which makes the Understanding of today more relevant So yeah it’s got to check it history but It’s got an exciting future i say i Think that future really Has already begun so
Where on earth are we while we’re in the South of france next slide please lydia Let’s look at the map I want to call the longer dock and Please no offense to those of you Tonight who live here in the long run I want to call it the wild west um and That’s that’s a That’s a compliment i think but it’s not I can’t use the word west because that Would be misleading it’s definitely South You can see from the map we’re in the Deep south it’s circled there on the map Um where in the western mediterranean France is a big country as you know if You can see bordeaux To the north west of the longer dark Bordeaux Is 300 kilometers northwest of the Longer dark so from bordeaux to Carcassonne’s about 200 miles 300 kilometers not that close And the climate Is very very different To the east you can see as old clark was Just Empty room that’s to the east of the Region And that’s clearly has had an influence As we’re going to discover On the shape of the longer dock over the Past 50 years or so But also to the south and this people
Often get confused here so we just need To sort this out Administratively long doc was often Cluttered together with Rusion and it was until quite recently The region was called Just generally in france longardot Russian Um the ruseong actually is except Certainly in terms of wine is a separate Region and we’re not talking about Rusion tonight Roosevelt clearly is to the south and Goes down to the spanish border And russian is in wine terms is a tenth Ten percent Of the size of the longer dog okay So let’s drilling down into a little bit More detail the Next slide please lydia So this is the regional map and Obviously you can see the sea Um and also you can see these colored Zones i mean i’ll just pick out a few of Them because as i said Can’t talk about every part of the Longer doc tonight i mean otherwise We’ll Really will be here till midnight um But just a couple of things starting From the left if you like top left and Then moving in sort of columns Uh to the right to the east cabarets And malapair around carcassonne the top
Left Those are in the green areas there we’re Going to touch on those a bit in a Minute they’re quite interesting because Climatically they are different to the Rest of longada That’s where the atlantic influence Although the atlantic’s a long way away Does have a little bit of a of influence Carcassonne you can see that that’s just A place you’ve got to visit I mean you’ve got to go into carcassonne Just because it’s an extraordinary Historic city Wand around the inner walled city and You feel like you’re On the film set of gladiator or Something it’s amazing Um so near carcassonne of course you’ve Gotta said you can see the places there Um to the right in the pink here you’ve Got minevoir Tonight i know we’ve got some on the Call on the call Um meanwhile we’re going to talk about That that is a kind of Grand crew of the longer dog which is Exciting Um san juan de minavoir will touch on Briefly Famous for its fortified muscat Fortified wine But south of um mine avoir the yellow Region corbier
Again corbier seems to have been around Forever although as an appellation it’s Only been going since 1985. It’s the fourth largest um appellation In france actually uh after bordeaux And cote d’iron and champagne so it’s a Big odd region corbin And then coming and fe two you can see Sandwiched in between there as well Down there down there that’s right on The border of uh russians you’re heading Down Towards spain and then in the turquoise Colors In the middle of the long dot you’ve got These fantastic appellations Saint xinyon um coming down la clap Is quite new um famous particularly for Um because it’s a very warm area but Also Um the white wine variety that you also Get in the rain valley And then coming across east from there Foger again Project quite close to sanchinion really Interesting geology Soils terroir which they’re still really Exploring because As we’re going to discover tonight the Longer is still Actually even though it’s been going Been producing wine probably since the Greeks back in the 5th century bc In terms of getting a real grip on
Itself it’s still fairly early days Then as you come across you can see um To the right of fujia The terrace do lazarak up and coming Almost continental climate there quite Cool some marvelous wine be making uh Been being made there back down on the Coast i’m sure you’ve heard of pitbull De pine The white wine that the brits love so Much they’ve only that’s only been an Appellation since 2009 and the british Drink nearly all of it Either on a holiday or in the Restaurants back here And then you can see going to the right Again pixar lou Very trendy modern appalachian very Exciting and it’s very close to the city Of montpellier And i cannot um you cannot underestimate How important montpellier Is it’s a really large city um It’s um it’s got a lot of industry Pharmaceuticals etc but it’s also got a Fantastic university And a lot of research works going on in Viticulture and winemaking in the region Is influenced by the enology programs at The university of montpelier If you’re studying enology in france You’re probably going to study it in Montpellier Or in bordeaux or in dijon in burgundy
And then you can see to the east up Where the by all’s clark standing on the Road there You’ve got neem um which used to be Longerdog but is now considered part of Uh The roan the southern roanoke so that Shows you the region and just some Statistics While we’re still looking at this map And they are quite extraordinary Because the longwood is a huge region And of course just because it’s big Doesn’t mean it’s all Good or great but i mean just in terms Of numbers they are striking Area under vine longer dock 220 000 hectares okay that’s twice the size Of bordeaux Okay but unlike bordeaux Not all of the longer dock is under Appalachian controlling i’m gonna have To explain a bit about french Appalachian control in a bit Please don’t leave the meeting early Okay it does help understand The structure of the longer dog and In terms of its production the figures Vary that i’ve been looking at but You wouldn’t be surprised those of you In the know or studying diploma but with 220 000 hectares on the vine It produces a heck of a lot of wine We’re talking something like
Over a billion liters of wine a year We’re talking though 13 Million hectare liters a hectaliters i Hate to lead as a hundred So you know we’re talking about the long Dog Having the area under vine similar to A country like argentina more wine Produced or similar volumes produced to Australia Probably a bit more than chile depending On el nino in chile Gives you a sense of the size so if the Longer dot wasn’t part of france The long dot would be one of the largest Wine grain countries in the world It’s kind of extraordinary um And so the long dock is actually Responsible for five percent Of the world’s wine which i think again Is pretty remarkable Doesn’t mean all those wines are great But some of them Are very good and and a lot of them are Getting better as we will discover There are around um 25 appellations they Change a lot Um but some recent editions and some in The pipeline um Mainly dealing with once you’re in the Appellation system with red wines Dominating within the appalachian system At about 90 But when we start talking about wine
More broadly Outside the appalachians as well then The red wine Ratio drops to about 75 with rose and White coming in it’s all 15 10 Um who’s making the wine in the long Dock Um there are over 2 000 Individual producers making wine in the Longer dog i mean that’s A lot of producers some of those Producers have tiny plots Aren’t making much wine but um that’s a Lot of producers so therefore You can imagine quality is going to be Variable and certainly has been And still is these mentioned Cooperatives as well And if you’re thinking some of you are Thinking if you’re not studying wine What what’s young about about a Cooperative Really important part of the wine Culture in france it’s a bit like pubs In england Cooperative why producers in france i Mean they’re just everywhere And in france every village where you Make wine has a cooperative I mean historically it’s because often You’d have peasant farmers Growing grapes but not knowing how to Make wine and they would sell their Grates to a
Co-operative so cooperative may have Many members Collecting loads of grapes buying grapes And then doing the wine making And cooperatives are part of the longer Doc scene part of the french wine scene Although not so much in other wine areas But in a long dock definitely And although there are 220 co-operatives In the london That number is actually down from 550 40 Years ago Where 40 years ago as we’re going to Discover the priority Of the long distance producing as much Wine as possible High volume inexpensive wine into Supermarkets and elsewhere Was the priority and the co-operatives Were the kings and queens of that It has to be said some of the Cooperatives are absolutely brilliant And as we’ll see and i mentioned later On um To be a cooperative is not a negative or Pejorative term Yes they fulfill a function for high Volume turnover of wines Being sold to french supermarkets but Some of them are increasingly involved In quality wine production so they’re an Important part of 21st century longer dot right Enough of maps and figures if you’re
Still awake Next um slide please lydia Just want to talk a little bit about Climate not too much and And about soils and and terroir which We struggle a bit with the word tawa but I mean in france they talk about terroir All the time so i think we need to Talk about it but with this slide i want A few things here You can see vines here and you can see We’re on a hill So let’s talk about altitude first of All because what you couldn’t see from That From the map previously is that yes We’re in the mediterranean here but Actually only if you’re very close to The sea Say within 5-10 kilometers is the land Really flat As you head out towards the northern Part of those regions we’ve just looked At You’re heading towards the massive sun Trial and actually that means There’s altitude you up to maybe 500 pick san luis 650 meters something Like that Why is that important well it’s really Important Actually particularly in the 21st Century because As the longer doc’s been going through
Starting its revolution this millennium So has extreme weather and climate Change Uh you’ve only got a look at vintages And weather reports of this millennium The past 20 years And i mean just take the longer um golly Take last year 2019 when there were Those two european heat waves Temperatures in a longer dark and off Towards neem to the east of the region Hit 45 46 degrees um you know on a Couple of occasions And you know this is um this is Territory that we haven’t gone into Before it’s always be warm of course It’s a mediterranean climate But while temperature is one thing um as We’ll see in this tech Drought is another but just on the Temperatures the altitude Is really really important because if You are growing grapes And the temperatures are getting warmer And warmer the thing That you’re at risk of losing is Freshness from Your grapes when those temperatures get Too high so if you can plant your vines At altitude you are going to have Effects of cool winds and nighttime Temperatures And so if you’re in places like minevoir And
Terrace do larsak some of these places You just saw on the map The difference between daytime and night Time temperature can be 20 degrees Centigrade And we know so much difference Particularly to the uk where the Differences aren’t huge and the closer You get to the sea you could be down In the mediterranean and the difference Between night night and day might be Five degrees centigrade Go and land 50 kilometers and go up four Or 500 meters And you will get 20 degrees difference Why does that matter It matters because you can retain Acidity in your grapes and your wines Will be fresh And potentially be more age-worthy More interesting you’ll slow the Ripening of the grapes Which means you’ll get more subtle Aromas developing you’ll end up with Better wine You might even be able to make more White more money for selling that wine Too So actually ripening grapes is all very Well but actually it’s straightforward In the mediterranean climate These days it’s about slowing the Process and and the altitude is Important
So yet sunny there are 300 sunny-ish Days I mean i’m sure the others listening Tonight in a longer dog may well may Disagree with that but from my research That’s what i’ve come come up with it is Pretty sunny uh it’s pretty windy as Well actually It’s not quite as bad as my experience Um Of of being in in provence with that Mistrial blowing down the rhone valley Which is just insane But you often do get a prevailing Funnily enough a northwesterly wind And that’s that’s actually important too Because that keeps helps keep the yields The grapes quite low Because you get this kind of Evapotranspiration thing going on from The grapes And that keeps the yields low and Keeping grape yield low Is a good indicator of ensuring there’s Going to be some quality there So that’s important too The other thing just before we move on From this slide can you see These lovely rocks can you see the Limestone Outcrops on this i hope you can there’s Another thing that this this picture Shows And actually limestone is really
Important um I’m not going to go massively into soil And geology because i don’t know a great Deal about geology but What i do know is everywhere i’ve been In france Every wine region i’ve been to in france I’ve asked them about the soil and Terroir they Usually say the same thing the the the The experts the viticulturists the Vineyard owners They are archield car care plane lines Clay and limestone Here we’re looking at limestone these Limestone outcrops And they do again do two useful things Just to bear in mind Limestone is alkaline and actually That’s important because That helps retain freshness in fruit Because You want to retain acidity in your fruit And by having this kind of yim And yam thing between acidity and Alkalinity limestone is good for Keeping fruit fresh and acidic the other Thing limestone’s good at Is retaining water because as we’ll see From the next slide It’s the sea it’s not the slide i Thought but a quick mention Of the sea the opposite to the altitude Uh of course we’ve got the mediterranean
So you’re going to get some sea breezes Of course which can help Keep things cool and fresh and ripe and Think of those white wine appellations Like Pico de pine and maybe the white wines At la clap So the mediterraneans can have a little Bit of a breeze but generally You’re not going to have that dyno range You get up in the hills Okay but the next slide Thank you is where we’re looking at Gushing water i promise this is rain Water it’s not drain water it’s rain Water There’s a lovely uh lovely looking Gargoyle in Carcassonne when liz and i were there Two three years ago um it’s an Interesting one because When you look at right look at the rain Figures in the longer dog It’s about it again you can’t generalize Up in the terrace do larsak or so many Other places can be up to a thousand Millimeters like bordeaux But generally it’s about 550 600 Which is enough but it doesn’t rain on That many days In the long dark and i mean the most Extreme example of that If you can believe this uh in corbia and Um
Parts of the minervoir 20 years ago they Had their Annual rainfall 550 mils In 36 hours oh my goodness me so when it Rains as we found out in carcassonne When it rains oh my god it rains it’s Extraordinary the intensity of it But you do get a lot of drought and this Is the increasing problem With with um extreme weather and and Global warming And clearly that’s causing hydric stress And Some of you know a little little bit of Stress to the vines is no bad thing but A lot of stress is not good And this is gonna is representing a Problem particularly With a great variety like sarah which is Planted widely in the longer dog Cira does not like drought So looking ahead that could be a problem For the region As they start to look at well which have To start to look at other varieties and Which ones Are going to be most adapted and suited To this increasingly warm climate Right next slide please lydia um This is the port of set Why am i showing you a picture of a port Um This is set as i said it’s quite in Montpellier montpellier is not a port
Set is the nearest port um And this is why i just have to give you A tiny tiny bit of history before we Then really crack on with moving forward Um as i’ve mentioned um wine started Appearing in the long dock probably Fifth century bc with the greeks they Found various Pottery pots and fossils and things and To kind of Prove that picked up continued by the Romans of course Who were around these parts and then Um jumping forward a thousand years Medieval period very important Lots of um lots of lots of monastery Lots of monasteries lots of abbeys Catholic church Um requiring wine for the for the Sacrament that’s all part of the Catholic church culture which of course Is so strong in france particularly Wine region wine region parts of france Absolutely But um ford talk about sets just need to Mention a couple of other things In the 17th century something called the Canal du midi Was created because the longer dock i Mean we take it for granted now with Motorways and trains and planes and Everything but can you imagine before Any transportation how cut off these Regions were
They could produce lots of wine but Could they export it or get it anywhere But the canal du midi connected the Mediterranean coast with the atlantic Coast If you want to take a very slow holiday I haven’t done it if you want to go One mile an hour on a boat that’s the Canal humidity is for you Um so that opened up trade at least to The rest of france and Paris from the 17th century onwards i Can’t believe that the borderlay were Overly keen to um deal with the wines From from the midi Down here in the long dock but i mean What was more important In the 19th century two really Significant things happened First was the coming of the railways all The way down To um you know perpignan montpelier Marseille and up to paris 1850s onwards That meant that the vast mine Productions going on in long block could Be Moved around france and that became Increasingly important With industrialization that was Happening in the north of france in the Late 19th century Then you had world war one and of course Later world war Ii and wine became a very important
Daily ration of french soldiers they had To have some cheap wine and it all came From the longer dog It was called le gro rouge it was Probably Seven or eight percent alcohol pale red And was it probably in terms of our Palettes today pretty Undrinkable what has this got to do with The port of set Well the grow rouge that was being Produced with Just unbelievable industrial scale Viticulture All along the sandy plains of um The long dock close to the sea why the Sandy plains Because the other thing that happened in The second half of the 19th century A bug a laos called phylloxera an aphid Arrived in europe unwittingly from America where it Didn’t affect their vines but it Affected european vines And it chomped its way around the vine World and Was an absolute disaster so by the early 20th century Replanting of vines had to be done and In longer dot they found that if they Planted vines Close to the sea in the sandy fertile Plain the very hot Area of the plain the phylloxera laos
Did not Like those sandy soils so you ended up With a Huge outdoor factory of vines being Produced To produce legroom rouge pearlish red Wine For workers in the industrial north and The soldiers of the first And second world war but it was so bad And weak seven or eight percent and i’ll Tell you the great varieties in the Second that were responsible They had to fortify it not with Alcoholic spirits but with slightly Stronger wine And in those days algeria was a french Colony it was a french Colony right up until 1962 so set The port of set received all the boats From algeria where the wine was stronger And they they added they topped up the Grow rouge from the longer dock With a slightly stronger wine of algeria Which is called the van der medson One of the doctors uh to make it just About bearable before they put it onto The trains and got it up to paris in the North And obviously the troops during those Wars really Interesting history that but it meant As a result of all that that the longer Dock france generally and long dock
Because long block was producing most of France’s wine Had a massive overproduction problem in The 19 Kind of tens 1920s Um france was producing something Unbelievable like 200 million hectares Of wine a year i mean just can hardly Believe it That’s when the average consumption was Something like 130 liters of wine per Capita It’s probably now about you know 30 or 40 or something Well admittedly it was weaker stuff but Anyway Um they had a huge overproduction Problem And because the vines they’d been Planting made from Carignon and arimon were Producing 200 hectare liters per hectare For those students out there who like Statistics when you consider that today Under the appellation rules longer dots Producing on average around 35 to 40 Hectares per hectare You can see how things have changed so It’s a massive overproduction problem When you’ve got too much wine that you Can’t sell the price plummets of course Um the cooperative system i mentioned Earlier was created to help deal To help produce this massive production
But it was but We ended up the result was lots and lots Of Really appalling wine and something had To be done about it so what did the French authorities do They created the appalachian controller System in the 1930s And this overproduction problem across France but longerdoc in particular was Really really responsible For that very important to know that in Terms of General wine history so Even today at 220 hectares on divine Which is an awful lot actually it’s half What it was only 50 years ago so within My lifetime The long dot was twice the size it is Now in terms of aries on divine And that’s why as recently as the 1970s And nineteen eighties a guy called Jacques shirak Remember him he became president of France he was the agricultural minister And this is when this is when the vine Call scheme happened because of what Happened we ended up with Sure you all heard of it the european Wine lake wasn’t just france’s problem Happened in southern italy as well Overproduction of really Not very good quality wine so farmers or Owners of land or vineyards
Were paid by the government um and European union To pull up vines uh to pull up these High-yielding Carry on and arimon red white black Variety wines that had caused the Problem way back then Okay end of history lesson for the Moment Next slide please lydia This is just some vines down by the sea And i just wanted Actually to talk about white wine uh for A little bit Mainly sort of i guess within the Appalachian structure first but i am Going to talk a bit later about igp Wines And the broader wine scene Okay so this is um pig pool This is a view close to peak pool There’s a little place called pine peak Pool is the grape I’ve already mentioned it so i don’t Need to light it too long it’s a lovely Refreshing they call it the lip stinger And it’s great because it retains its Acidity even down there by the very warm Sea by the eton du toe Which is a big kind of lake next to the Mediterranean And most of the white wines of the Longer dog have really started occurring In the 21st century
And that’s really again mainly because It In the last part of the 20th century Wine making practices got so much better Temperature control and fermentation Obviously being the main thing because You’ve got to Keep that those temperatures cool when You’re making white wine Okay but when we’re also talking about White wine just to mention The other key varieties they do crop up Elsewhere grenache blanc Can you find it in southern rome is Important Again from the southern rome but also in The longer dark And macabao particularly you head down Towards corbier Macabeo is vieura in rioja so you can Already see actually can’t you Just looking at white wine you’ve got Grenache blanc and you’ve got macabre Which is viewer those are the varieties That make up white rioja In northern spain northeastern spain so You can see although in france But it’s sort of already overlapping Into some spanish territory here Right next time please lydia this is the Pretty Town of limu which wasn’t on the map Earlier but it’s up near It’s pretty close to carcassonne so in
That upper left region It’s quite cool here um and they make Really fat white wine as well But i really wanted to mention it very Briefly because this is why the longer Dock is so fantastic They make some really brilliant Sparkling wine here okay If you want to change from champagne This christmas or perhaps your budget Isn’t quite going into champagne Territory Then get yourself get yourself from Blanca de limoux Or some tremolo you can put in uk prices We’re talking about 12 13 pounds bottle And they are really good Traditional method sparkling wine okay The um blanquette is made from the Blonde cat great which is also Um uh which is lovely also called mozak Whereas the crema is a slightly more Modern version And that’s made from chardonnay shannon Blanc and a bit of pinot noir so there You go Not quite the champagne varieties with Chenin in there but um it’s really Really good Um they also in limu Again this is another example of why the Longer dock is so kind of a bit of a Paradox sometimes So it’s a cool area as i’ve mentioned um
It’s quite windy with that and they get A cool wind that’s called the tram on Town wind up there in in limu And yet they’re allowed to make red wine Under the appalachian rules good Thank you appalachian rules the the red Appellation from the movie came in 2003 The great varieties allowed for limu ah Okay melo no problem malbec cabernet Sauvignon Okay cabernet franc bordeaux varieties There interesting The one variety that’s not allowed in Lumu Is pinot noir and yet the area makes Amazing pinot noir i mean you don’t get Pinot noir Many parts of longer dog it’s a Difficult great variety you need a Cooler climate generally of course Burgundy is its spiritual home But if you do get a chance try some Try stand pinot noir from the longer Dock it will be from it won’t be It can’t be so it cannot be classified Aplastic on controller Which to me is crazy it’s something Called an igp oat valet de lode Which means the high valley of the old Valley which is the area where it’s Produced Talk about igp in a bit so fabulous wine Not under the appellation system i think That’s nuts
Okay by the way talking burgundy alfred Biche knows a Major name in burgundy he’s got some He’s doing some Wine making down in the moon oh the Other funny thing about lumu just a Little anorak fact French appalachian rules do you love Them If you make a still white wine in lumu Okay it’s probably gonna make made from Chardonnay or shannon It has to be oat until may of the Following year Of the following year after harvest it’s The only white wine appalachian in France That insists that you have to open the Wines okay until May of the following year okay next Slide Please again just quickly here this is Malpair and you may have caught it on This map earlier Because i uh i think i probably Indicated Just at the very top left region the Climate is different it’s cooler and Even though we’re a long way from the Longer dog You do get believe it or not some Atlantic Influence what do i mean by atlantic Influence rain um
And cool winds mainly because there’s Some hills um That actually block the mediterranean When you get to malpair And also this other one cabardes which Is very close to carcassonne And so in malpair uh and here’s an Estate that we featured one of our Tastings we did At the school last year you can see that Mellow Which of course is the bordeaux variety Has to be fifty percent Of the it has to be fifty percent of the Blend okay And as we’ll be coming to when we’re Talking about appalachian wines And longer dock we are talking um for Red wines particularly we’re talking About blends So they have bordeaux variety like Merlot influencing male pair and cavades Which is the neighboring appellation Again very cool part of longadoc The great varieties there that feature Cabernet sauvignon Cabernet franc bordeaux varieties but You can also blend in but you can also Use grenache as well Talk about grenache in a moment because It’s it’s the backbone of appalachian Red wine In the long girl but it’s definitely a Transitional climate here
You really are a little bit of Mediterranean and a little bit of Atlantic okay Next slide please lydia G s m r this is my cue to have a sip of Wine So um let’s just take a tiny breather Before we talk about grenache syrah um Is it worth um seeing through any Questions now lydia or chat or should we Carry on i can put to you a couple of Questions If you think you’re okay for time Yeah um so there’s not been times but Just a couple And first two kind of focused on Irrigation when you’re talking about Obviously it being warm and Increasingly dry and heat spikes at the Moment so quite typical Um the first one was our wineries Looking at Irrigation to deal with drought and the Second one was linked to that was Are there any specific vineyard Management techniques to overcome Drought And i know you mentioned the the souls But perhaps if there’s if you have any Other Yeah yeah no good points no good one And thank you there’s something i always Forget rose is one and irrigation is Another
And you can do and irrigation yes you Can and it’s a bit like southern rome Um it’s you know if you can make a case Or a need you know There is a problem you can make a case To irrigate and you will be granted the Chance to irrigate It’s just a reality now it’s getting so Warm and so dry That how can you not irrigate down here It would just be madness The reason there’s been opposition to Irrigation is because in the past it was Associated with bulking yields In the bad old days because if you Irrigated vines you could produce more Wine and that was the bad old days so That’s why the Historic well more recently there’s been A slight nervousness about irrigation But it’s definitely okay to do so And in terms of vineyard techniques i Mean golly anywhere now that you know Where Climate change is having an effect so That could be the way you manage the Canopy the vine canopy Maybe hanging on to more green growth Shading your grapes possibly Orientating your vines in a northerly Direction so you don’t get so much sun Or sunburn All the things that we know are Happening in other parts of the world
Absolutely really important Perfect thank you richard and the last One wasn’t quite so much well sort of a Sort of question that’s then having a Bit debate um because you mentioned limu And sparkling wines and Someone queried whether that was where Sparkling wine was first created And and there’s now a debate going on Between dom perignon champagne And limu i like to throw england out There as well because of christopher Merritt so But i wouldn’t i wouldn’t worry too much About that unless you had any particular Insight from any Producer or anywhere in limu that Claimed to be Only that i know as other people know That limu claimed to have got there 100 Years before the dawn That’s all i know i think more Importantly is it tastes nice okay and It’s a good value option for a sparkling Wine Yeah it’s just gone twenty two seven so We’ll crack on a bit head so Greenish serum or vedro gsm this is the Backbone Uh as many of you all know of the red Wines of the appalachian system of Of the longer dog grenache sierra or More it’s not unique of course the Longer dock
The idea came no doubt from the southern Rome which borders to the east And where where the the blend was much More firmly established Basically it was because karina and Arimon were Kind of thrown out of course from the Bad old days They wanted to create something that was Just more palatable sustainable could Have lower yields and produce good wine And that’s why it came along Grenache as you know is lovely and Fruity and red And red fruits thin skin Um sugars gets alcohol quite quickly Where but it’s a brilliant blend Obviously with sarah because sarah Has a bit more structure more acidity More tannin slightly darker fruit Profile More vedra again really late whitening Lights the Lights the really warm areas but add Structure so this blend really is Is the kind of backbone of the blends And in the red wine appellation blends In the longer dock Um the rules are similar if you if People are familiar with With the the code array in other words You’ve got You’re allowed you you have to blend uh You have the option of
Primary varieties and secondary Varieties grenache syrup Are always primary and then secondary Varieties would be Sasso which also makes great rose and Carignon bad old caring Is allowed as a secondary variety but um With a second variety you can You have to use much less of it in the Blend so Any appalachian red wine in the long Dark is going to be a blend You can’t have more than eighty percent Of a prior of a principal variety You have to have obviously more than one Variety that could be both principal Varieties And you’ll have a ceiling on the amount Of um Secondary varieties that you’re allowed So poor old carano um Would maybe not be more than 30 or Something Okay and all the red wine and all the Appalachians with the long dark that Don’t have red wine applications Use this principle but they do vary Within appellation okay And when you get down to corbier this is Important Um carrying on is actually a principal Variety Which is interesting um particularly as You’re getting down towards russian
Where cat where carrion is also Popular and spain uh where karen yana is An important great variety particularly In aragon in northeastern spain So there we go we see this french wine Situation moving slightly into a catalan Into a spanish theme It’s interesting okay Let’s next slide please karen young Already mentioned it Just a quick example there you go it’s Often it’s often historically A bush fine stands on its own like Little tree sulking It’s quite harsh it’s heights everyone Says it’s high in everything except Charm high in acid high in alcohol high In tannins And carbonyl is actually also trending Isn’t it now If you think of other places where carry On invade chile um down in malay in Chile Carry on is a really trendy variety Particularly old vine carrion And you do find this in a longer dock You’ll often find the best Caramel is from 100 110 year old vines But often the way it’s used and vinified Is by using this process called carbonic Maceration I won’t explain that and other to say It’s something you can do in the winery To extract the fruit of the grape but
Without extracting the tannins It’s a technique used in in beaujolais And other regions of the world as well Carbonic maceration is important with Caribbean Next slide please uh lydia this Is uh minevoir le vigner this is one of The Grand cruz if you like of the longer Dock and Um mine of what you saw on the map it’s A sort of north of corbier It’s tucked under the black mountains It’s part of the massive central Uh yeah the montana and again they have A fantastic Location here they’re about 300 meters Above sea level Nice as you see in the grapes they’re Facing there’s the vines Face south they’re protected from the Cold northerly winds by the hills So they’ve got amazing terroir there and La liga Appalachian this crew appellation was Formed In 1999 and they produced some of the Best Wines i’m a bit biased towards century Because they’re available from the wine Society and i’m drinking one tonight But um there are about 30 producers in La la vignette From six communes around the village of
The same name la vigna Absolutely fantastic Okay and so with la vinaire as an Example of grand cru i mean Not always but you don’t have to hand Harvest it’s up to the producer but a Lot of hand harvesting going on rather Than machine harvesting To guarantee the quality of the fruit And with lala vineyard you cannot Release the wines until january a year And a bit after the harvest Whether you choose to use oak or not is Up to the producer in fact the one i’m Sipping tonight the grand valley From uh chateau santiago the elevator if You like the aging the maturation is Done in the bottle The producer the lead producer believes That oak Actually masks the flavors and you know We see this with red wine generally in The and in the longer dark Also that’s 20 years ago when wines were Quite heavily oats when everyone was Chasing robert parker’s scores There was a very heavy style um still Around and don’t get me wrong Smoking is fantastic but generally Speaking Wines now are being made a bit with a Bit more subtlety Oak is used but it’s probably older oak To help soften the tannins but without
Imparting those oak flavors that you get From europe Okay i think the point of the grand cru Is you get so much power with grenache And syrup more vedra the sunny climate Alcohol often fourteen fourteen and a Half fifteen Fifteen and a half percent alcohol Blimey How can you get finesse into these wines But believe me the producers Can produce wines of 15 and a half Percent and you don’t even know the Alcohol is there Because there’s such elegance in the Wines and that is the trick because the Reality is If you’re making wine in this part of The world if you’re just looking at Alcohol then you may not have Full phenolic maturity and that’s a Problem what you want is Delicious wines and they have to be in Balance if you get it wrong And the alcohol sticks out then of Course that’s the problem Okay next slide please just need to Mention him briefly This is uh I’m sure many of you have heard of Gerard bertrong I mean he’s just an amazing guy he’s Biodynamic okay he’s been biodynamic Since 2002.
That means he’s not just organic in his Vineyard He you know he’s planting manure in cow Horns He’s avoiding doing anything on good Friday i’m not Taking the mickey by saying this this is Just the reality of the biodynamic Movement He believes in it passionately he’s a Hugely successful businessman He owns 16 states in the longer dock He’s got wide tourism going with the Hotel and restaurants all the rest of it He employs 350 staff not just in the Longer doc but in the states and in China he exports massively Us china um he also used to play rugby For france I really ought not to like this guy but I haven’t met him i have tasted his Wines and they are Absolutely fantastic and his claudora Made in la la vignette okay it retails At an Eye-watering 170 pounds okay And which who can afford that these are Kind of poured at bordeaux prices Or you know absolute crew class a super Premium prices but actually Arguably you need someone like that in The long run not too many of them but You need someone like that Because it helps raise the level of of
The quality of production And that’s what he’s doing Okay next slide please Just to mention something you’ll see a Lot in the longer doc van der fras We talked about appalachians appalachian Control a we’re about to talk about igp Very briefly But you’ll also see a third layer called Van der frost and vande france used to Be called table wine Used to be that really cheap stuff you Get in a plastic bottle for about 50 Cents or Whatever it used to be but vander france Actually Is a good option in the longer dog Because it means If you’re a young producer and you’re Setting off and you want to produce i Don’t know An albarino it’s allowed i believe it or Not Um or with a van der france you can do Anything that’s the point there are no Rules if you want to make One from any variety or a blend you can Call it Vander france and you can uh Then sell that wine you don’t have to Comply with any regulations or rules And the violente uh mentioned on that Label Vionier is really on the best ones you
Find it Either the vander france sometimes the White blend with one of the white Appellations or as an igp wine Next slide please Okay and this is probably another sign Use another Kite mark or label you’ve seen a lot the Pay doc 50 of half of longer dot wines are paid Off And they came about because what Happened in the 1980s Oh my goodness me the new world Australia New zealand totally hit us with that Amazing Varietal single varieties brilliant wine Making Clear labeling telling us what we were Drinking it took the world by storm And the old world could do nothing about It well paydoc Was part of the answer to how you could Make new world Style wine in the old world the paydoc Was formed in 1987 And it’s just massively important so if You want to make 100 cavities sauvignon The longer dock which you can’t do with The appalachian rules You can make it as a paid off Okay next slide please Okay i have to mention this guys very
Briefly if we’re getting a bit short of Time but This is just the most unbelievable Example of of An igpy igp used to be called Uh van de pe is now called igp Indication geographic protege it means It’s not as strict as appalachian Control a but it has a geographical Indication the rules aren’t as strict But there are still rules For example the maximum yield might be 90 hectares per hectare rather than 45 or 50 hectares per hectare under Appalachian control a 58 varieties are allowed that’s a lot of Varieties So yes you can actually you can you you Can actually Have barbara in the longer dock you can Have Albarino there’s a guy making there’s a Guy called um Mikhail down in corbier he’s making Albree Albarino abuelina comes from north west Spain and galicia But it’s it’s allowed under igp but These guys matador ma Master doma gassec they hit the scene in The 1980s because These guys they bought a holiday Property didn’t realize That they had some extraordinary
Microclimate and terroir A kind of pink sandstone and some wine Analogies friends of them said you’ve Got to do something about this I’ll keep the story very short because We’re running short of time but in the 1970s They got some they granted they took Some cuttings From cabernet sauvignon in bordeaux Planted them In two hectares in their holiday Property here in the era which is you Know not too far from montpellier In 1978 they had their first their first Vintage Of cabernet sauvignon which was bottled In 90 Sorry yeah which was bottled in 1980 and By 1982 Matador master doma gassack has been Heralded As the chateau la feat of the longer dog And guess what they They started selling it for shadow not Quite chateau lafitte prices and they Succeeded And again it’s such an outlier that’s That’s the longer dock in the 1980s That’s unbelievable You know cabernet sauvignon that’s That’s bordeaux territory you can’t do That they said yes we can and they did They had they couldn’t sell it because
No one would take it seriously They distributed it through their Friends and family connections But once people started tasting the wine And the journalists and the Other people started noticing that got The longer dock on the map and as i said Earlier you need these people to get Logged off on the map Right let’s move on We’re looking at black sheep just very Briefly it’s just another good example Of 21st century longerdog There are three guys um robert joseph I’m sure many of you Have heard of him he used to be wine Writer for the sunday telegraph He set up the international wine Challenge many years ago He robert joseph got together with a guy Called hugh ryman who’s a Who’s a winemaker in berger very close To where liz and topper And i were and a guy called kevin and um The three of them created black sheep Basically a brand you see the black Sheep there in in the In the vineyard they’re not the only Black sheep logo But what they did was something rather Brilliant they wanted to make New world wine uh in the long log With very little facilities what they Did is they cut a deal with a cop with a
Super cooperative i.e a grand Cooperative that looks after many Cooperatives Dealing with hundreds if not thousands Of acres of vineyard And basically they bought wine from the Super cooperative Hugh ryman was a genius winemaker like He’s like a flying wine You know like a flying winemaker it just Flies into places and does wine making In the off season elsewhere Southern hemisphere stuff blended it Made different blends the kevin the Designer made Some incredible labels they got this Black cheap brand they got a distributor In the states And they now sell 3.8 million bottles of Longer dot wine A year in 57 countries Some some of the wines they sell they’ll Make a minifire Using gsm um but they won’t sell it as Ac minivoir they want to sell it with The ac longer dot the generic Appellation label because they tell me That mine of what in some countries is Seen as bulk cheap wine and they’d Rather have the branding linked with Longer dot Rather than mine other ones like 100 Percent Mellow or their white wine which is
Fantastic it’s a blend of chardonnay and Violet Is paydoc okay black sheep very Successful And by the way if you’re in the uk the Wines really are lovely you can get them Through robeson Wines right It’s coming up seven o’clock so we’ll Really skip over the next flight so just To say Fosger amazing tawa lovely windmill i Just like windmills that’s why i put This one on i’ve talked about the wind It is a windy Windy place but also just to emphasize Um Forty percent of foger which is a red Wine appalachian in the middle Central of the longadoc 40 producers are Organic Which shows how important organic is They’ll come a day quite soon where People won’t say are you organic It’s like you’re not organic or Biodynamic Or the next level down which is hve Which is Valer which Is another way of showing that you’re Committed to Uh you know responsible viticulture Without paying the fees to be organic it Is important
Okay and the next slide would nearly Finish now just a couple of fun Slides at the end this is uh myself and Uh friends i think allen’s in that Picture i think he might be on On tonight hi ellen if you’re there this Isn’t this is up at pixar move Um about 300 meters above sea level Quite near Um montpellier see see what See what the soil is so dry it’s like a It’s like a moonscape you can’t believe That anything can grow at all really But there we are feeling the vines which Is uh Sunliu was only established as a red Wine appellation in 2016 so it’s very trendy lots of new uh Young wine makers are moving in and the Land prices are going up accordingly but The wines are very good Um nice cool winds lots of vicinity in The grapes there Um it’s very it’s kind of closest in Character to To the raincira is really important part Of the blend here Because it’s a bit cooler cyril likes it There and the next slide please Just our little tasting table there uh In the vineyard In the gary you’ll hear people talk About gary It’s this lovely sort of um
Smell of rosemary and thyme you get from The vegetation Up there sort of in the hinterland as You’re getting up into the mountains and Stuff you get this Natural sauvage kind of herby stuff Going on and it’s called the gary And it’s fantastic you hear lacos the Course as well It just gives us this real sort of Herbal character and i’m sure I’m not allowed to say this but i’m sure You can sometimes pick it up in the ways Things like grenache blonde Can be really kind of herby and Delicious sometimes i’m sure that’s Going in the way And you can see the sea in the distance There i think it’s about 30 kilometers Away from pick somebody You’re never too far from the sea Remember So just to wrap up the longer dog pros And cons as mediterranean climates Environmentally friendly practices on The increase it’s Innovative it’s dynamic lots of young People young winemakers are there The diversity we’ve covered this you Know you don’t have to be Just stuck in the appalachian system got Great flexibility Land prices are well certainly compared To porto and burgundy
They’re affordable so young dynamic wine Makers can afford to start up there If you’re in bordeaux or burgundy you’d Have to inherit the land you could Couldn’t afford to set out it’d be too Difficult But on the downside it’s a confusing Area you’ve got appalachian versus Igp versus van der frost marketing How do you market a region like the Longer dog i mean I attended a webinar last week which was Talking just about sanshini or one Appellation And they were just talking about two Different parts of that appellation and How they’re going to market it I got a press release today about it so How how are consumers supposed to know What Sanchinion means or what minervoir means The crew the grand cru that we talked About la la vignette want to separate From minavoir To be called la la vigne but are Consumers going to know what la la Vinnier is or where it is I think it’s tricky and the price of Wine Of course wine needs to be accessible to All but Also whilst longer dock Still produces i i think it’s fair to Say probably over
Still overproduced in bulk to Supermarkets Who will pay a really low price for the Wine that is keeping The price of wine down now some people Say well that’s a good thing who wants To be playing Silly silly prices for the wine but it Also makes it difficult If you’re making wine in the mean of one You’re not la la vigne Actually to get a really good price for Your wine so I i would hesitate to say that over Production even in 21st century Is still a bit of a problem Okay it’s the other thing one says well It’s it’s still as i said early it’s Still early days Um this revolution really i suppose it Started in the mid 80s With the new world onslaught and the old World response to it but what’s going on Now is happening in the past 20 years So when you consider that corbie and Minovoid have only been appellation Since 1985 And the new igp system only came in 2009 It’s still early days it’s a fantastic Wine region If you can navigate it you’ve got to Know your producers but you hear that Everywhere whether it’s bordeaux or Burgundy or anywhere else
Knowing your producers is important but They are producing some fantastic wine And wine tourism is also increasing Particularly thanks to people like museo Bertrong And others with their wine tourism Hotels and restaurants Last two slides very quickly Further reading this book is fantastic And has helped me very much my Understanding of the longer doc But having obviously visited visited There a few times too Um published a couple of years ago Rosemary george master of wine lovely Lady too If you’re if you want to find out more Read this book And finally i think we should just say That five past seven sorry for over Running a little sante Little cheers you’re looking at Most importantly you’re looking at Topper the black dog Who although he’s an old boy now 12 and A bit um it’s still very well those of You who know him those of you don’t He says hi the lady in the picture on The left that is Isabel cousteau who is one half of Chateau’s santulali She and her husband lauren have been There since 1996 And um they are without doubt one of the
Best producers in the longer dog And i’m afraid i’m in that picture too As you can see but anyway i would just Like to say thank you for listening Sorry i had to rattle through quite a Lot of stuff there slightly over Over time but i hope you agree wow what An interesting wine region it’s got to Be It’s got to be the most interesting wine Region in france at the moment If not in the world wow there’s a big Statement time for a drink Thank you Thank you so much richard uh it was So informative i think as you said in The beginning You know it’s hard to do the longer dog Justice in an hour and I learned so much yet i’m still now just Intrigued i feel like you just scratched A niche and i wanted one to dive in even Even more but thank you for um Taking us on that whistle stop tour and I’ve just put up a final slide which Obviously if anyone wants to get in Touch or do Any more events you can sign up to our Newsletter through our website or any Online courses that we’re still doing at The moment despite lockdown you can Still do your white studies And just yeah just um there’s been far Too many comments whizzing past in the
Chat now thanking you for an excellent Presentation so just to Just to reiterate those those thanks Obviously give my love to topper you Know what a fan And yeah enjoy your well-earned glass of Minibar thank you Thank you so much for such an insightful Look at the longer dock any any final uh Closing comments i don’t think so I just encourage everyone to go there And you probably want to close up the Shop now are we taking any questions or We are we happy the ones we did in the Middle There were just a couple so i’ll pop Those to you very quickly now so uh one Was about Um the ground being reasonably stoney Uh did that help control diurnal range At all for the root stock I’m not sure if that’s something good Question i need to get back Decide was there any push to go by a Dynamic sustainable but i think you then Later answered That and that the weather is very Suitable for for that the weather is Really really suitable and i just Very quickly mentioned again in in Minavoir bertie eden He’s an english guy he’s binging Biodynamics nearly as long as gerard Bertrand
They call him the english professor of The minevoir and His winery is made of hemp that’s how How biodynamic he is He gets building planning regulations Because his Wife is made out of hemp so i mean Sometimes we title a bit with Biodynamics and organic but you know It’s it’s here to stay it’s increasing And quite right too perfect well thank You again And yes let’s let’s all go visit the Longer dogs Thank you very much lydia mercier Bonsoir thank you very much everyone for Your time Sorry to everyone just uh lovely to Speak to you and i hope to see some of You again before too long