New 2020 cuvees are good to go from our young-gun of the Gard, Lori Haon at Domaine de Petit Oratoire.
2020 was one of the first bumper years for Lori, his only free from disaster since he started. Wild boar, frost, and mildew put-paid to his first few vintages almost in their entirety.
"2020 was my first very, very good vintage since I started. We managed to pick twice as much as the other years, and the quality was twice as good as the other years, My other years have been less successful!"
His second vintage in 2017 was particularly bad: losing 70% of his entire crop to massive frosts.
Fortunately our mutual pal Thierry Forestier introduced Lori to Olivier Salom, with excess fruit to sell from the 5 hectares he farms organically in Souvignargues. With a mix of varieties on the unique Grés soils of Souvignargues, Lori's vintage was saved.
Lori has continued to work closely with Olivier, purchasing all the fruit from the 2020 vintage, creating two new cuvees celebrating these parcels and the rest being blended for Babar Is The Colour.
Vivant A Souvi is an 80/20 Grenache Blanc/Viognier blend, with 24 hours maceration before pressing and fermentation in concrete. Fleshy, tropical fruit with a refreshing, tangy acidity.
Saturday Night At Souvi is a precise and pretty blend of Grenache and Cinsault with crystalline freshness. As is Lori's practice with most of his reds these days, whole bunches in concrete are topped up with a few litres of direct-press juice for a gentle 2 week infusion.
Mènage á Treize
Every year as harvest progresses, Lori selects a few cases of grapes from each of his vineyards on the day they're picked to join the party in one big tank dedicated to a single cuvee: La Partouze (mind how you go looking up the translation of that one).
Sometimes added in as whole bunches, sometimes pressed directly to top up the juice in the tank- Lori makes the call on the day.
The tank ferments slowly at a low temperature for 6 weeks, before the mélange is pressed back to concrete for ageing. The finished wine- a dizzying blend of all 13 of Lori's varieties* is light, juicy, neon-bright and bags of fun. Bottled with no additions, available now - and probably the only Partouze we'll be inviting you to this year.
Among our recent arrivals from Lori are his new vintages of En Attendant Les Copains Blanc and T'as Poussé Le Bouchon Trop Loin!
Copains Blanc is sourced from one plot close to Lori's cellar on sandy loam soils, co-planted with a mix of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Rose and Roussane - picked together, with a three day cold maceration before being pressed to tank for fermentation and bottled with no additions. This year is round and waxy with lingering, balanced acidity.
Poussé Le Bouchon is a blend of Syrah, Cinsault and Grenache - whole bunches topped up with a couple thousand litres of direct press juice for an 8-10 day infusion, and bottled with no additions. Dark-fruited, juicy and clean.
*What's in La Partouze?
Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Pinot Noir, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Riesling, Roussanne and Viognier
Now Available
WHITE
2020 - Vivant à Souvi - Grenache Blanc, Viognier
2020 - En attendant les copains blanc - Viognier, Roussanne, Clairette, Grenache Blanc
RED
2020 - T'as poussé le bouchon trop loin! - Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan
2020 - Saturday Night At Souvi - Grenache, Cinsault
2020 - La Partouze - Blend of 13 Varietals
For wholesale enquiries please email hello@winesutb.com
Lori’s winery, as shot by Aaron Ayscough in the summer of 2021