“We are defined not by our borders but by our bonds.” This remark by Barack Obama, spoken in a decidedly non-wine context, could well serve as a leitmotiv for the organisers of Be Ranci!, a show held in Perpignan since 2014 that seeks to rekindle interest in dry rancio wines, especially those from the Roussillon, but also wines from its Catalan neighbours and, by extension, oxidative wines from other European regions.
Besides a sea and a common history —Roussillon belonged to the Crown of Aragon until the 17th century— this area in the south of France shares many varieties, soil types and climate with Catalonia. It also shares a style of wine such as rancio, shaped by time, patience and long oxidative ageing periods, generally in the family sphere, and witness to a past in which spicy, toasty and nutty aromas were particularly appreciated.
Despite being rather marginal nowadays —neither rancio nor oxidative are particularly sexy words for today's mainstream consumers— and playing second fiddle to the red and whites widely produced on both sides of the border, Be Ranci! co-organiser and sommelier Marie-Louise Banyols, believes there is a renewed appreciation for these wines. "Although they are produced in small amounts, oxidative styles are very interesting for restaurants because they don't go off, they have a persistent flavour and they go well with a wide array of cuisines.”
This is more prevalent on the Spanish side, says Banyuls, who praises the commitment of restaurants such as El Celler de Can Roca to include rancios in its wine pairings. "With a few exceptions, neither French chefs nor the trade media have yet discovered the potential of these wines, despite the fact that in the last decade the number of dry rancio producers in Roussillon has risen from 10 to 45.”
Hence, since joining the Association for the Promotion of Dry Rancios, Banyols, who ran the Lavinia wine shop in Barcelona for several years, encouraged the opening of the Be Ranci! Salon in Perpignan to other better-known, trendy areas. "We can exist if we get close to the family of oxidative wines from Jura, Italy, Priorat or Andalusia. The tasting experience and the ageing process are similar and all the wines have tremendous complexity.”
In this international mindset, since 2018 the show is called Be Ranci! Rencontres Europeéens des Vins Oxydatifs Secs. Amaya Cervera and myself took part in this year's edition, held in Perpignan in November —it was a fleeting but fascinating trip where we witnessed the broad diversity of oxidative wines in Europe, including Spain's. As Amaya remarked, "they are method-based wines, but tasting them next to each other reveals important regional differences, raises awareness of the uniqueness of Spanish winemaking and helps one to discover that the diversity of wines is much greater than what might seem at first glance.”
As with many other indie wine fairs in France, the venue chosen for Be Ranci! was rather unconventional —no stately buildings or trade fair pavilions. Amidst the colourful paintings of artist Bernard Michel, on display at a contemporary art gallery in Perpignan, 74 producers from France and Spain, plus a handful from Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Greece and Germany, presented their wines on humble barrels or wooden tables to some 650 attendees. Many of them travelled from Barcelona and other parts of Catalonia, taking advantage of the good connections with the capital of the Roussillon. The atmosphere was so relaxed that even dogs were allowed inside the Salon —all very calm and patient with their owners, of course— something unheard of in Spain.
Although SWL is firmly focused on Spanish wine, we could not miss the opportunity to taste and write about the diversity of oxidative wines beyond our borders so, following the recommendations of Marie-Louise, author of the central part of the book La Nouvelle Épopée des Vins Oxidatifs Secs which was presented at the fair, we started with the Jura.
Despite being the quintessential wine of this historic area spanning a mere 40km from north to south, vin jaune represents just 4% of its total production. Made from the ripest grapes of the Savagnin variety, vin jaune is aged for at least six years under a thin veil of flor and always untopped-up (non-ouillé). The Château-Chalon appellation, the most prestigious, is limited to these wines, but they can also be made in other parts of the Jura. If a producer does not want to wait so long to release his wine on the market or if it is blended with Chardonnay, the most planted white variety in Jura, it can be labelled as Côtes du Jura.
François Rousset-Martin, who vinifies many of his wines by plots under flor for a few months and then tops them up and ages them as ouillé until they are bottled. The four wines we tasted —two Chardonnays and a Savagnin under veil, and the fabulous and concentrated Savagnin Sous Roche, from one of the most famous parcels in Château-Chalon— are tremendously pure and fresh, with marked acidity and light notes of flor.
It was also a pleasure to taste a mini vertical (2013, 2004 and 1998) of the vin jaune Château d'Arlay by Alain et Anne de Laguiche, members of the family that has owned this domaine since the Middle Ages. The vineyard, next to the ruins of a 16th century castle, is planted on grey marl and clay soils and grown organically but without certification. The fine, subtle wines are aged for six years in 228-litre barrels under a veil of flor. We were surprised by the incredible freshness of the 1998, with characteristic oxidative notes of nuts and spices, but still very round and full of nuances. For the last decade, Alain told us, they have been stimulating the wines with "music frequencies" to help the flor develop and reduce the risk of volatile acidity.
As in so many other areas of France, there is no tradition of oxidative wines in the Loire, but from time to time a producer emerges who is keen to experiment with long fermentations, letting nature take its course. This is the case of Anne and Bruno Paillocher (Domaine de la Grézille), who grow 23 hectares in various DOs in the Loire. We were struck by the freshness and balance of their wine La Galopinière 2003, a late harvest dry white Chenin aged for 12 years in oak barrels with its lees and without sulphites. Iodised and caramel notes, alternating bitter and sweet sensations and an unctuous and very fresh texture on the palate. This producer also makes oxidative wines with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dry rancios from Roussillon, classed since 2011 as PGI Côte Vermeille and Côte Catalanes, are made from overripe grapes, generally white, grey or red Grenache, Macabeo or Carignan, contain no residual sugar and must be aged in an oxidative environment —in partially filled barrels, foudres, amphorae, demijohns, etc.— for at least five years. During the first year, and in order to facilitate oxidation, they are sometimes left out in the open (sol i serena), and then brought back to the cellar where they continue to age and concentrate, as has always been done by Danjou-Banessy family, producers in Espira d'Agly since 1850. Brothers Benoit and Sébastien inherited the winery and the vineyards from their grandfather, and in addition to a wide range of red and white wines, they maintain the family tradition of rancios, of which they usually produce three vintages every 10 years and always in very limited amounts. They brought two dry rancios to Perpignan, one from 1965 and the other from 1952, born long before the brothers. Complex, concentrated and infinite wines that are difficult to taste outside niche fairs like this.
Guido Hube used to be in the wine trade in Germany but in 2014 he moved to the Roussillon with his wife Melanie and children to grow vines and make his own organic terroir-driven wines under the Oiseau Rebelle brand. Packaged in frosted black bottles and featuring minimalist labels, he brought to the show a handful of wines with curious names such as XRS, a tribute to Jerez, as the wine is aged under a veil of flor; Clangrenunscatino, with Grenache Gris, Muscat and Vermentino, also with flor, which Hube originally brought from the Jura; or BRMTH, a blanc de noir made from overripe red Grenache. A daring and original cross between styles, varieties and vinifications that work well in the glass.
If Huber moved to the Mediterranean to make his wines, Sauternes winemaker Samuel Tinon went to Hungary in search of the minerality of the volcanic Tokaj terroir. In addition to the famous botrytis wines, dry wines have traditionally also been made from botrytised Furmint grapes, generically called Szamorodni. In the case of Tinon, the 2011 we tasted spends five years under flor and combines finesse and fragility with bitter, toasted and botrytis notes.
We were also surprised by the rarity of Bianchdùdùi, a wine from Piedmont that was born by accident in 2000, when after a very slow fermentation, this dry white, meant to be a Moscato d'Asti, developed a veil of flor and remained like that for 16 years at the Azienda Agricola Bera. Or the two wines aged under veil for six years made by Domaine Mercati, on the Greek island of Zakintos with old vines of the Goustolidi and Pavlos varieties grown at 500m and exposed to the sea's humidity and winds. Undoubtedly Mediterranean in character, it also displays saline and toasted notes with mineral tension and depth.
The Catalan presence was strong with a dozen dry rancio producers such as La Vinyeta from Empordà, the cooperative Sant Josep de la Terra Alta and Orto Vins de Montsant (their Garnacha Blanca Vi Ranci Classic was delicate, nutty and glyceric with good acidity). From Priorat came La Conreria de Scala Dei, Vall-Llach or Sara Pérez (Mas Martinet), with whom we tasted her powerful Cal Pepo. Drawn from a butt that remained untopped-up for 30 years, it is proof of the extreme concentration that a wine can achieve with time. As Amaya remembered, Sara Pérez, who keeps a separate space for rancios in her cellar, had her first wine epiphany at the age of 10 when she tasted a 1964 rancio from Priorat.
The case of Gramona, also represented at the show, is quite special as it has traditionally used rancio wines, whose old lees were kept in chestnut barrels from 1910, as part of the dosage for its cavas. Now, the youngest generation, cousins Leo and Roc Gramona, plans to release some 2,000 bottles to share this little treasure. It is a powerful rancio, with high alcohol content (20% vol.); originally with 12 g/l of sugar, it was reduced to four to ensure a drier style.
There were also a handful of representatives of all the current styles being made in Jerez, such as Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez with their De La Riva wines (they ran out of bottles in a few hours), Mario Rovira or heavyweights such as Emilio Hidalgo (it is always a pleasure to taste the imposing, serious and very long Amontillado El Tresillo 1874) and Barbadillo. From Montilla-Moriles came Bodegas Robles and Alvear, which presented the new Catón, a creamy, powerful Oloroso with 20 years of ageing and a slight touch of PX.
Navarra was represented with La Calandria and its Niños Perdidos, a project to recover the old rancio wines made by families in the southeast of the province; and Alicante with MG Wines and the eternal and deep fondillones of Bodegas Monóvar served by Rafael Poveda, the winemaker behind a persistent 1996 that rivalled the more concentrated 50 Años. The current strategy, he told us, is to reduce the extraction of the mother wine to 10%, as opposed to 33% in the past.
The natural touch was provided by Toledo producers Uva de Vida and Julián Ruiz (Esencia Rural), accompanied by his wife and teenage children, both very skilled at explaining the rusticity and radical nature of their Sol a Sol Cencibel and Airén wines with clarity.
From Castilla y León we tasted the fabulous Menade Adorado and La Oxidativa by Vidal Soblechero, a family winery that is unjustly not very well known. In addition to making single-vineyard whites, they also make an 80+ year old balanced and vibrant Verdejo in demijohns. For Marie-Louise Banyols, these wines that connect with tradition help to improve the image of somewhat reviled appellations such as Rueda. "We all need roots and these dorado styles are firmly rooted in tradition. Moreover, they enhance the perception of quality and differentiation and can therefore be sold at prices more in line with their small production and characteristics.”
On the other hand, the terroir-oriented approach of many young winemakers fits in perfectly with the pursuit of tradition that rancio wines represent so well. This is why, explains Marie-Louise Banyols, a movement around these wines has sprung up spontaneously in the Roussillon. "Many people come to the Roussillon not knowing about rancio but wanting to learn about it, and they connect with local producers who have preserved the tradition so that they can learn from them. In Calce, a very dynamic village, they offer them the first barrel and help them vinify to boost this movement of rancio wines, which is small but it exists.”
Salón Be Ranci! undoubtedly helps to ensure that this tradition is not lost. The next edition will be held in November 2023 with one goal in mind: to preserve the relaxed, family atmosphere of this event, but with more resources to take a turn towards professionalisation, opening up the space to any wineries making rancio and oxidative wines that want to take part. A challenge that Banyols and the rest of the association have already embarked on.
