Winery cultivates success on path less traveled

Jean-Marie Amadieu was a driving force behind Gigondas white wine being granted appellation d’origine contrôlée status.

After a decade-plus odyssey for classification, white wines from Gigondas domaines are elevated from being part of the larger Cotes du Rhone appellation. Domaines now can identify their white wines, which must contain at least 70% of the claret grape, as Gigondas.

It’s a serendipitous moment for the affable French vintner. Back in 1930, his grandfather was the mayor of the village and an influential presence among winemakers in the region. His grandmother was a schoolteacher, and at night would write letters to petition the French government for Gigondas to receive status.

That process started in 1930, and lasted almost 30 years before red and rosé wines received “cru” status.

“When the cru was declared in 1971, it was only for red and rosé,” Amadieu said. “There was not enough demand for the whites from the Rhone Valley, which was known mainly for red and rosé wines. There was Chateauneuf-du-Pape as an appellation, but the younger cru were not in existence.”

Once the INAO, or Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité, decided the Gigondas would only produce AOC-certified red and rosé wines, it was a death knell for most white vineyards.

“There was a lot of white in the area at the time, since the terroir is very favorable,” Amadieu said. “When red wines were the only ones to achieve cru status, people removed all the white vines. White was just basic Cotes du Rhone.”

However, his grandfather’s was one of the few domaines that held onto a small plot of white grape vines. Based on the delicious Pierre Amadieu Gigondas White Romane Machotte 2023 ($35), the move to keep white vines planted looks like a stroke of genius.

The wine had a nose with floral notes, wild fennel and anise aromas. There were grapefruit, lime, acacia – and even a flinty note on the finish.

“My grandfather decided to keep the vineyards for white wine,” Amadieu said. “He kept six hectares, 12 acres, of white vines. We had a big vineyard: 300 acres. He was OK keeping 12 of them white to make a quality Cotes du Rhone white.”

Which means the Amadieu family has decades of experience making white wine. Something Jean-Marie noted when he rattled off a variety of techniques to yield the best results.

The family knows that Cotes du Rhone whites are very fragile when it comes to oxidation, and don’t need multiple pump-overs. They’ll bottle straight from the tank. It’s an example of the experience the family has developed over years of trials, and is something they’ve also shared with neighbors.

In order to secure AOC status, Gigondas wineries had to prove to the INAO that they were a unique growing region of quality white wines. The achievement is the culmination of a 13-year period, in which the remaining vineyards with white grapes still planted were tallied, vinified and a case made for each having unique characteristics.

“The 2023 vintage isn’t the beginning of a new process,” Amadieu said. “We’ve been working on it since 1996. We had a wide range of vintages and knowledge of how to make a white wine here in Gigondas.”

Now that AOC status has been granted, Amadieu’s next task is to educate wine consumers about the claret grape. A blend must contain at least 70% claret. Most of the sites have soils that contain a lot of limestone because they are in a mountain range, while clay is found in the foothill vineyards.

The domaine’s vineyards face north and get a little less sun than other sites, while they also benefit from the strong northern wind, the mistral, that joins the 1,600-foot elevation in temperature regulation to keep things cool.

“We have to work together to have this Gigondas brand,” Amadieu said. “We have been doing that since the 1930s, this is just a continuation of what we were doing. It was exciting because we put a lot of effort and energy into increasing the quality of the whites. We might have lost money, but we invested a lot of effort. We’re happy to share our knowledge and results with all our white wine-making friends in Gigondas. It’s not a competition, just the beginning of working together to talk about Gigondas white wines.”

The rules are written, the vineyards planted, the wine is on the shelves and ready to be showcased around the world.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

WINE MARKET TASTING NOTES

For 5 o’clock on the patio: C.L. Butaud Blanc de Noir 2022 ($48): Winemaker/co-owner Randy Hester spent a decade working at top Napa Valley wineries; his wife, Brooke, worked for pinot powerhouse Patz & Hall. They started this Texas winery in 2014, and the results are shocking, dazzling and spectacular. They’ll get a feature story in the future, but this gem is crispy, refreshing and has tart grapefruit and watermelon flavors. It’s meant for the golden hour with soft tones from the sun settling over a patio.

For Sunday morning brunch: Piper Sonoma Brut Rosé ($23): A bargain for a wine made in the time-consuming and labor-intensive traditional method. A light pink color in the glass, an effervescence that lifts the citrus, apricot and nectarine flavors before mingling with the doughy, yeasty undertones. It’s lively, fresh, crispy and versatile; enjoy it with a salad or eggs Benedict on a late summer morning.

For something from Virginia: Early Mountain “Rise,” Virginia 2019 ($150): Wine history dates to 1609 in Virginia. It might not be the state that jumps to mind when talking about modern American wine, but this blend of merlot, cabernet Franc, petit verdot and tannat was aged 20 months in French oak barrels and 18 months in bottle prior to being released. It’s a serious wine built in the vein of the top red wines of Bordeaux or Napa Valley. Concentrated dark fruit, currant, black cherry, loamy earth, garden herbs, dark chocolate, semi-sweet baking nibs, espresso, well-integrated tannins and a little snap of pomegranate on the finish. Another wine that will get a deeper examination in a future story.