Appellation: Vin de France.
Cuvée: Tourbillon de la Vie Rouge.
Colour: Red.
Grapes: Grenache Noir.
About: the Cuvée name means Roundabout of Life, and comes from a song by Jeanne Moreau in the celebrated film Jules et Jim by François Truffaut. The wine is a negociant wine from vineyards Jean-Philippe supervises and has made since 2014. Both red and white are totally in Jean-Philippe’s style with freshness, digestibility and gentle fruit purity.

From 2020 a new style, only grapes from an excellent vineyard in Oppoul, pure Grenache Noir or with a seasoning dash of Syrah.

Vines

Location: from several sites, around 2/3 from near Maury, west and up from Calce and 1/3 from the Corbières-Maritime, north and east of Calce.
Size ha: 5.
Age: vines planted between 1970 and 1990.
Soils: on schist and clay near Maury, on limestone in the Corbières-Maritime.
Exposition: various.
Altitude: at 200m near Maury, 50m in the Corbières-Maritime.
Training: gobelet.
Farming: organic.
Average yield hl/ha: 30.
Climate: Mediterranean.

Winemaking

Previously made and aged in concrete tank, using only natural yeasts and without sulfites or other additions, one third (from Corbières-Maritime) is whole bunch fermentation with no extraction whatsoever, two thirds (from Maury) are de-stemmed and subject to light remontages, both for 7 days on the skins. Then gently pressed and returned to concrete to age for 8 months. There’s a light filtration and addition of sulfites before bottling.
From 2020 it’s entirely whole bunch infusion.

Vintage Notes 2016
Yield hl/ha: 25
Harvested: mid September
Bottles produced: 10,000
Date bottled: 2017-05
Alcohol %: 14.31
SO2 Total: 11

Vintage Notes 2018
Yield hl/ha: 25
Harvested: mid September
Bottles produced: 10,000
Date bottled: 2017-05
Alcohol %: 14.62
SO2 Total: 31
Tasting: tons of sweet raspberry and blackberry fruit on the nose with a hint of soy sauce, easy, palate nicely poised between refreshing acidity, gentle tannins and rich, pure fruit. Beautifully straightforward pleasure. There is a nice whisper of smoke or chocolate on the finish, and a hint of grippy tannin on the finish, too.

Vintage Notes 2019
Not made

Vintage Notes 2020
After the hydric stress of 2019, the beginning of the season was particularly wet, a real challenge, with huge mildew pressure, which didn’t really end until late July, not so warm either, then a very early harvest end of August. The most challenging year since 2003, to which the best vignerons rise. As if mildew wasn’t enough, wild boar ate grapes with abandon. The hunters had been banned due to covid restrictions in one of the season’s many absurdities.
Yield hl/ha: 30
Harvested: August 18 and 25
Bottles produced: 10,000
Date bottled: 2021-04
Alcohol %: 12.5
SO2 Total: 0
Tasting: lively, primal and primary juicy cassis and raspberry fruit, savoury, cool, the tannins at first impercebtible have an attractive vegetal character that lends freshness.

Vintage Notes 2021
A cooler fresher year but again very dry. The region largely escaped the April frost but it wasn’t as hot as other years and was a reasonably abundant harvest, meaning lots of juiciness. The drought meant difficult slow ferments. But the wines have a lovely balance.
Yield hl/ha: 40
Harvested: end of August
Bottles produced: 12,000
Date bottled: 2022-04
Alcohol %: 13,3
SO2 Total: 29