Blog #9 Michel Gassier

Michel Gassier 'Les Piliers' Viognier 2008 Vin de Pays D'Oc

I really, really like Michel Gassier's wines. Not only because they are very good (which they are), but also his approach and philosophy to grape growing and wine making. Gassier comes from a long line of winemakers from the south of France near the city of Nimes. He obtained degree in Agricultural Engineering and moved to the United States to live and work for 10 years. Thankfully for all of us wine fans out there he returned to Nimes in the mid 1990s to make wine or as he puts it; "my return to the vineyard was inevitable. My wife Cristina, and I longingly prepared for it. Not to go back to the cocoon of family comfort, but rather to create our own path making truly unique wines."

Gassier's philosophy on wine making is actually quite interesting and you can read about it on his website. His essential mission is "...to make honest wines, wines with strong personalities that fully express their terriors and the dreams of their winegrower". What makes his approach quite interesting is that he has taken the ideas of terroir expression, organic viticulture, and biodynamics and personalized them to his own philosophy. For example when it comes to producing terrior driven wines he argues that for a wine to really express where it was grown it requires a winemaker that has "an intimate familiarity with each parcel of land, of it idiosyncrasies and its microclimate". In essence the terroir will not express itself, the winemaker must coax it out. Furthermore, when it comes to organic farming he argues that in many ways it is not stringent enough and although the movement is good for wine in general more must be done. Gassier takes an equilibrium approach in the vines, the soil, and the surrounding environment.

To achieve this approach he has reduced yields significantly, uses horse manure as fertilizer, and grows natural prairie grass between the vines. He also uses a well integrated pest management system to reduce the need for unnecessary spraying and keep his vineyard ecosystems in balance. Finally, most of his wines are manually pruned and harvested to ensure top grape quality and reduce damage.

Gassier is the proprietor of two different estates Chateau de Nages and Domaine de Molines. Both estates are located in the Costieres de Nimes, which is located on the border of the Southern Rhone valley and the Languedoc, known for its unique round pebble soils. He also makes single varietal wines sourced from his Les Piliers vineyard and creates a two red and two white blends exploring his experimental winemaker side known as Lou Coucardie and Nostre Pais.

The Chateau de Nages is a 70 hectare estate that creates AOC Costieres de Nimes wines. The reds from this estate are blends of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre and the whites are made from Grencahe Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier. He also crafts a Rose from Grenache and Syrah here. The Domaine de Molines is a 30 hectare estate where he grows single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc wines as well as dessert style Viognier and sparkling rose. For his Lou Coucardie bottlings he blends Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre for the red and Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Viognier for the white. His Nostre Pais wines are meant to fully express terroir and are blends of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Carignan, and Syrah for the red, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier for the white. Finally, he grows 5 single varietal wines in his Les Piliers vineyard, including a Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc.

So far I have tried several wines from his Chateau de Nages estate. His Reserve Rouge is always a best buy year in year out for good quality characterful wine. But the bottlings I have been so far impressed about are from his Les Piliers vineyard. I have had both his 2004 Syrah and 2008 Viognier and they blew me away. His approach with Les Piliers is to be an expression more of him as a winemaker than to be about terrior. He claims that in these wines "my personality and my unique path is expressed." Where his ideal is to create universal and hedonistic wines which demonstrate each varietals "strengths and originality." So far I have been very impressed by Gassier and would love to try his entire line of wines. As I taste more I will post my notes here and all I can do is just highly recommend trying any of his wines as from what I have had they are all very impressive. I have posted my tasting notes for his Les Piliers 2004 Syrah and 2008 Viognier below.

Michel Gassier- Les Piliers- Viognier -2008- Vin de Pays D'Oc- Costieres de Nimes-France (Pictured At Top)

This is Gassier's 100% Viognier grown in clay and lime soils. Yields were limited using spring pruning and grapes were hand pruned and picked. The wine was left in skin contact for 12 hours after complete destemming. Then 50% of the juice was transferred to new French oak to be fermented and the other 50% was fermented in stainless steel vats at 14 degrees C and aged on its lees with batonnage to late December. The wines were then blended back together with fining, filtration and bottling taking place in March 2009.

The wine is pale yellow with hints of gold. Its nose its absolutely lovely and aromatic with notes of apricot, spice, vanilla, and fresh flowers. In the mouth the wine has a nice creamy feel with flavours of apricot and peach. This is all underscored by a great mineral note and refreshing acidity that I would not normally associate with Viognier. The wine finishes dry and refreshing with a lovely herbaceousness. With air the wine evolves which is typical of Gassier's style. After a couple of hours the nose turned into what could only be described as a fresh spring garden with perceptible notes of mint, thyme and other herbs along with a fresh floral component. It actually became more Provencial as time went on and really displayed its origins in the South of France. The only criticism I could make is that the wine still retained quite a bit of alcoholic heat, but this dissipated with air. High quality, honest and tasty stuff with a great nose. Very Good+

Michel Gassier - Les Piliers - Syrah - 2004 - Vin de Pays du Gard - Costieres de Nimes - France

Gassier's Les Piliers Syrah is grown in rolled pebbles and red clay. Yields were kept low through spring pruning and in the this vintage came to 2 tons per acre. The wine was late harvested and completely destemmed. It was macerated for five days before fermentation and was then fermented at 26 degrees C. Finally it was post fermented macerated for two weeks. The wine was then transferred into French oak barrels for 12 months and bottled afterward.

The wine is dark purple nearly black in colour and clings to the glass showing a lot of extraction and alcohol. At first the bouquet is quite restrained and very subtle hinting at dark fruit, licorice, and garrigue. In the mouth, dark fruit and garrigue with a lovely minerality (typical of the Les Piliers vineyard) flavours play out in a full bodied absolutely silky mouth feel. For the first hour this wine is altogether restrained and very French. However, this is not a simple wine and after an hour or more of air this beauty really begins to strut its stuff. High toned cherry, red fruit and floral notes come to the fore in an unrestrained, in your face, style. In the mouth it is still pure silk with delicious ripe tannins and a long black fruit, spicy floral finish. The complexity and utter surprise of this wines personality change when given air make it an amazing value and exceptional wine in general. One word, excellent!