This is a great example of what happens when a winemaker who is used to having the best – in vineyards, equipment, and grapes – falls in love with a relatively humble place.  Picpoul is, by all accounts, a non-descript grape that makes thin, pleasant wines from all over the Languedoc, but is slightly more interesting in Pinet.  Truth is, Picpoul just needed someone to love it, and, as in this example, it was waiting to come out of its caccoon and turn into a beautiful butterfly, recognizable only because it kept its name.

Jean Louis Fougeray is a Burgundian with a passion for terroir.  His family estate, which he was deeply involved in running for years, is Domaine de Fougeray de Beauclair, and has been producing some of the most delightful, and delightfully under the radar, Burgundies for the last 15 or so years.   Having purchased some vineyard land in 1999 around the commune of Pinet, near the Bassin de Thau, in Languedoc, he spent much of his time then commuting weekly between Burgundy and the Languedoc. In the early 2000s he constructed cellars and a house while he produced experimental cuvées to select the best slopes and soil types for his Languedoc wines. He now resides in the Languedoc full time while his daughter Laurence and her husband Patrice Olliver oversee the operations in Burgundy.

The Picpoul de Pinet is vinified in demi-muids, large wood barrels, to give a more “burgundian” feel to the wine. As a result, it’s unlike any other wine from the region, benefitting from a creamy, honeyed and buttery texture, with dry, floral, and fruity flavors and perfect balancing acidity.  Try it with rabbit, artichokes, sea breem (loup de mer), or a host of other spring and summer delights: it’s hard to go wrong.  Drink now – 2010