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Half-yearly newsletter issued by the Jerome Quiot Vineyards, May 2002, n° 11
CONTENTS
Domaine de Verlaque
Memoirs: an extract from the notebooks of Guillaume Raymond
Chevalier de la legion d'Honneur
Update on Domaine Houchart
New corks
Building of the new cave at Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Recent medals and awards
A new product: Saint Gervais
Where to find us
EDITORIAL
This year as always, the vine is showing its character. As usual, growth is early. Fortunately no frost, but a significant period without rain.
For some time we have been telling you that important work would commence in the Cave at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. After a long period spent obtaining the necessary paperwork, we are starting the work; we'll tell you a bit about it in this newsletter.
For some time too we have been trying to buy a domain: that has now taken place, in Cotes de Provence. You'll read about it here before having the pleasure of visiting. Finally, we are carrying out substantial renovations at Domaine Houchart, where, notably, we are putting in a better reception area for the future. More details follow. We are investing 4.5 million Euros in this venture.
We are not forgetting the traditions and history of our domain and of our family and bring you an interesting old document from the beginning of the 19th century.
And then, the usual headings: where to find us, some technical information (this time on plastic corks) etc
With best wishes and happy reading
Jérôme-R. QUIOT
DOMAINE DE VERLAQUE by Jérôme-R Quiot
After a long search, the Vignobles Jerome Quiot are proceeding with the purchase of a 35 ha domain in Cotes de Provence, 1 km from Domaine Houchart. It is exactly what we have been looking for.
Good quality terroirs, all in AC Cotes de Provence. There is a project underway to give recognition to a new AC "Cotes de Provence Sainte Victoire" and this will affect more than half of this domain. Having taken into account the area of the land we own in Domaine Houchart that might possibly be recognized, the main part would be in the new AC (almost 50 ha).
Plantings are of typically Mediterranean varieties (Grenache 41%, Syrah 17%, Cinsault 17%, Carignan 14%, Mourvèdre 11%); vines with an average age of 20-25 years in fine condition and in a wonderful landscape - we are convinced that we have found exactly the right domain.
This domain, which does not have any buildings, will allow us to utilize more effectively the wonderful installations at Domaine Houchart where we are making huge investment. Therefore, together there are about 90 ha (of which 85 are vines) which will be developed at the foot of Sainte Victoire.
MEMOIRS
An extract from the notebook of Guillaume Raymond (1755 -1830)
Our family has in its possession some old documents. Among these is an old yellowing notebook, written in manuscript, which is a copy of letters that the great grandfather of my great grandmother (Guillaume Raymond was Mayor of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 1792, 1794 and 1795) sent to his customers, and notably during the 1st Empire (1812 - 1813) to the Vicomtesse de Castellane whose daughter became Duchess of Otrante when she married Fouche, Minister of Police to Napoleon 1st. There are about 12 letters which give us an insight into the consumption of Châteauneuf-du-Pape at the beginning of the 19th century.
White Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a long history: " I have no more of this good white wine you've been talking to me about; I only make white wine for those who ask me for it before the harvest" wrote my ancestor on 9th June 1812. "I would like you to let me taste the white wine that you give to your friends so that I can decide whether to ask you for 50 or 100 bottles next year" the Vicomtesse de Castellane wrote to him on 8th November 1812.
Orders were placed for significant volumes for particular people " For the next few years, I will ask you to keep me several pieces from each harvest".
Transport was carefully organized: "I point out that next April the weather should be favorable for transporting this wine, in order to avoid potentially harmful temperatures" my grandfather wrote. The Vicomtesse of Castellane replies "I have not been able to collect the wine before the summer and I would be grateful if you could store it for me. I will take advantage of the weather when the roads have dried up to come and collect it" 16th February 1810. "During the journey, changes can take place which can affect the quality of the wine. In order to avoid this, you should select a reputable driver, to make sure the barrels hold their value" 10th December 1812.
Quality problems existed then too: 24th March 1813 "I have spent 20 years in Paris, during which I have almost always taken my supply of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the last two years I have been sent such bad wines that even the servants would not drink them and they were only good for washing the horses hooves. I don't know whether I have been supplied poor quality wines or whether they were affected en route, but I was put off. I took some Pommard (sic) from Burgundy, but in the last four years got used to the wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape again. I even find that Burgundy gives me stomach problems, and I would therefore ask you to send me as soon as possible a piece of good Châteauneuf-du-Pape" the customer demands.
Some advice from my ancestors: 4th April 1813 "I point out to you that Châteauneuf-du-Pape is good to drink after the end of winter, you should try it. At three years old, if stored well, bottled and well corked it is even better. Also, if I had to give some advice it would be to buy several barrels, in order to be able to drink mature wine. Wine from Châteauneuf is good for the stomach, especially when mature. "More advice from 24th March 1812. "This wine is very drinkable after the cold weather of winter and much superior to other wines. It is true that it becomes better in its second year and from the third year, when in bottle, it worthy of being drunk at the table with the dessert in small glasses."
These notebooks could have been written in 2002 (except you should replace .... carts with containers and small glasses with big ones!)
Jérôme-R Quiot
JEROME QUIQT: CHEVALIER DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR
On the 27th March, the Grand Timel Room at the Palais des Papes, Madame Marie-Jose Roig, Mayor of Avignon, has awarded my father the insignia of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. This award has been made to him personally by Monsieur Jacques Chirac. He wrote the following note to Madame Roig:
"I have great pleasure to inform you that I have decided, by a decree to be published in the coming days, to appoint, unreservedly, Monsieur Jerome Quiot to the title of Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur. This award is the crowning achievement of the work carried out by this passionate viticulteur who has done so much to stand up for and promote quality wines. It rewards his dynamism, his huge abilities and his devotion to the common interest. It rewards the distinguished services he has rendered our country." Signes: Jacques Chirac.
It is a great honor for our family, all the personnel at the Domaine and our customers, who are often our friends too.
Florence QUIOT
AN UPDATE ON DOMAINE HOUCHART
For several years now we have been telling you about the investments at Domaine Houchart. How far have we got?
First of all some background information. In 1890, Aurelien Houchart, great grandfather of Genevieve Quiot, bought the Domaine. After some years devoted to the development of this undertaking, which we will come back to in a later newsletter, the family decided in 1950 to transform the family domain into a Cave Cooperative whilst retaining the viticultural domain. During this period, numerous large concrete cuves were installed as well as a number of annexed buildings, also in concrete. In 1984, Genevieve started to develop the vineyards, of which the cave cooperative formed the centre. We were determined to salvage the old buildings of the domain which we did in 1987 when we bought back the cave cooperative. The buildings were at that time in a terrible state and unusable for making quality wines. On the contrary, the main structures were intact.
We started by putting the vineyards right by renewing the vines. As at today, the plantings are as follows: Grenache Noir 32%, Syrah 21%, Cabernet Sauvignon 13%, Cinsault 13%, Carignan 14%, Mourvedre 6%. Moreover, 65% of the vines are less than 20 years old; the repairing or replacing of the trellising was done at the same time. The remaining vines don't need to be replaced urgently, and some hectares are being replanted this year. This phase of the work, currently almost finished, will have cost around €600,000.
Finally we have started to redo the Cave. We have broken up and divided some of the concrete cuves, painted the insides of the cuves with epoxy, altered the reception quay and installed pneumatic presses, installed stainless steel tanks and improved temperature controlled vinification capacity, reorganized the sales area to give an overall effect more in keeping with our family tradition, has cost in the region of € 400,000.
As we speak, the Domaine is in good working order, with the 55ha of vineyards and the cave allowing us to work in excellent conditions and to make a first-rate quality product.
However, we do not think that the investment is finished yet. Two large buildings have just been finished.
Bottling at the domain: from February 2002 a portable bottling line has come to do the bottling on site, to bottle the roses earlier and to avoid transporting the wines in bulk. A number of local buildings will be used for storage.
We are in the process of working on the buildings, the exteriors and roofing and annexes and are also trying to improve the environment. The cellars are being extended and a reception area dded. This work calls for an investment of € 300,000.
Jérôme-R QUIOT
PLASTIC CORKS OR
POLYCHLOROTOANISOLS
Who has never anticipated the pleasure of a bottle of wine before opening it and then been disappointed by a corked bottle? We are also thinking of our friends, restaurants and wine stockists, who are seeing their profits decreasing due to bad bottles or complaints by customers.
A few technical terms to explain this problem follow. The taste of cork is due to molecules of the 'polychloroanisor type. These molecules are not naturally found in wine. It is possible that certain places contain a large quantity of these molecules in their atmosphere (affected by treatment products of ... and products of cleaning) which pass into wines being stored there and bring a bad taste. Even so, this is quite rare. Most frequently, these molecules come from the cork which makes up the closure (hence the term corked). This is not a problem of the taste of cork, for it is found proportionately as much in entry level corks at 3 cents euros as in good quality corks at more than 60 cents euros (Study from the Institute Rhodanien).
Strengthened by these observations and conscious of the increase in problems related to corks in wine circles (up to 20% detected, Onivins study in 2001), Vignobles Jerome Quiot has taken the problem back to its base and been experimenting for a long time into this matter.
After these trials and discussion with many of you, we have decided to use plastic corks for our rose and white wines "AOC Cotes de Provence" with plastic corks.
It is not for die sake of economy that we are doing this, although it is true that some synthetic corks are available at an extremely competitive price, "Nomacork" that we have selected are the same price as the natural closures we have been using up to now.
In conclusion, since we have started using these corks, we have not detected any problems with corked bottles in our wines (but the delay is still short). We have found that the stability of our wines has improved and we have not had any "couleuses" (when we have a leakage of wine around the cork) problems. But we will take careful note of any of your comments regarding this subject.
Perhaps in 2003 our red wines Domaine Houchart "Cuvee Traditionnelle" and Domaine Houchart Vin de Pays will be sold with these closures. We intend to end closure tests on our red wines and look at the results, maybe next year...
Jean-Baptiste Quiot
CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW CELLAR AT CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE
The work began with a large hole measuring 40m x 12m. This will form the underground storage area for wine in bottle as well as some barrels.
The ground floor will become a larger and better equipped selling area, as well as a larger despatch area. The second floor will be offices, a tasting room and reception rooms.
We'll come back to this later on.
Jerome QUIOT
RECENT MEDALS AND AWARDS:
All our
recent awards are aviable here.
FOIRE DES VINS D'ORANGE
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE BLANC 2000 Domaine Duclaux |
Gold Medal |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE 1999 Domaine Duclaux |
Silver Medal |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE CUVEE EXCEPTIONNELLE 1999 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Silver Medal |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE BLANC 2001 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Bronze Medal |
DECANTER NOVEMBER 2001
| CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE 1999 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
* * * |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE 1999 Domaine Duclaux |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE CUVEE EXCEPTIONNELLE 1999 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
* * * * |
Our press review is avaible here
PARKER « THE WINE ADVOCATE » DECEMBER 2001
| CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE 1999 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Rating: 86 |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE CUVEE EXCEPTIONNELLE 1999 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Rating: 90 |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE 2000 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Rating: 87-88 |
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CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE ROUGE CUVEE EXCEPTIONNELLE 2000 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret |
Rating: 90-93 |
A NEW PRODUCT!
Last month, we have launched a third Cotes du Rhone Villages, a SAINT GERVAIS rouge 2000
One of the three villages on the right bank of the Rhone. This wine is sold at the same price as our two other Villages wines : Cairanne et Vinsobres.
For further information, please contact Isabelle Ogier.
WHERE TO FIND US
V&S Tokyo:
4th - 6th June 2002, Stand MORTIER & Cie.
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