An arrival from Lori Haon is always cause for celebration, his juicy, dynamic expressions of the Gard are a joy to drink, particularly as the days brighten and spring approaches.

At Domaine du Petit Oratoire, nestled into the limestone at Valliguieres – ten minutes west of Tavel – Lori farms 19 hectares biodynamically across a cluster of parcels.

In talking with Lori about the new wines, it's apparent that the erratic nature of climate change is keeping him on his toes: the two recent vintages that we've received wines from (22 and 23) are years of stark contrast. 2023 was among the wettest on record, with many of his older friends and neighbours in the village admitting they had never seen such incessant thunderstorms and rainfall. With a deluge from spring through to summer, Lori and the team battled mildew with 13 sprays that season (twice as many as he would generally do) and only saved 50% of that year's yield. A completely different story to 2022 - a remarkably dry year, with one of the hottest summers on record. In a dramatic comparison to 2023, no sprays were required at all.

Lori's been keenly observing the region's varieties, and how they have fared in the climactic mood swings of recent years. A huge supporter of indigenous varieties – to the extent that he intended to stop working with his Syrah (a variety planted in the region after the war) – it has been these sodden conditions that have been most difficult for indigenous varieties like Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan. Indeed in 2023, they lost nearly all their Grenache. Syrah meanwhile, which struggles in the heat for Lori, proved to be remarkably resistant to mildew, and was one of the few varieties with a healthy yield in 2023. He now admits his appreciation for having plenty planted!

It has meant changing some of the vinifications for the 2023 reds - infusing what survived of his whole-bunch indigenous varieties in direct-press Syrah to disguise its dominant Syrah-ness.

Alongside new editions of the reds BOUCHON TROP and COPAINS, we're very pleased to have two special cuvees - OXYMORE is a Chardonnay aged oxidatively under flor. A wine he didn't make to sell, hoping just to have a nice little Chardonnay to drink with the team, but as the flor developed (much to Lori's surprise, it's a rare occurrence in the south of France) - he decided to leave the wine to age, and so pleased with the result, has released it as a one-off cuvée. For now at least... "_I do hope to be able to recreate the accident at least one more time in my lif_e".

HORS SERIE is another special wine, Lori's love letter to the high-acid wines of Alsace that changed his pallet for good: "Before I studied in Alsace, I couldn't drink wines with lots of acidity. Alsace, the Jura, Savoie, I couldn't enjoy these. But after my year in Alsace and tasting so many delicious wines, little by little, I developed this love of acidity. And now, I really love acidity. So when we got the domaine, I decided to plant a little parcel of Pinot Noir & Riesling and each year since 2020 we mix them together as a four-day infusion to have a very juicy wine, with great acidity - it's very different from the others."

With climate change tearing up the rulebook each time Lori has got to grasps with a new challenge, he's very thankful for the stability that the practices of biodynamics have brought him:

"What I love about biodynamics, is that to spray the preparations, we have to do this on foot. So that's me and the team, on foot through all the 19 hectares of vineyards, teaching us to really observe, learn, and understand what is happening with the plants. It can't be done from a tractor, so we gain much more of an insight from our time in the vines. I think it's a little bit like when a human talks with a psychologist: it helps with stress, internal traumas, the little things that we can't always see: it's very holistic, and we start to learn more of the vine's needs. We're in conversation."

"It has been really improving their defences against mildew - despite the losses - they are much more disease resistant. And more than this, in the cellar now our fermentations are so clean, and clear. We basically have no reduction, they always smell so beautiful. The plants are happier, and healthy, and it shows in the wines."

AVAILABLE NOW

WHITE

2020 - Oxymore - Chardonnay

RED

2022 - T'as poussé le bouchon trop loin! - Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan
2023 - Copains - Cinsault, Grenache, Carignan, Syrah
2023 - Hors-Série - Pinot Noir, Riesling