LES CLOS PERDUS, Peyriac de Mer

Based in Peyriac de Mer, just below Narbonne, this enterprise is the child of the unlikely pairing of Australian ex-dancer Paul Old, and Brit farmer Hugo Stewart. A particular propensity for wine tasting which had been nurtured by the then editor of Decanter magazine, David Rowe, encouraged Paul Old to return from London to Australia to retrain as a winemaker when his dancing days were drawing to a close. Undoubtedly drawn to the Roussillon by the opportunities that its fascinating vinous potential and moderate land prices continue to present to new winemaking talent, he has now been established here with his family for over a decade. As the name suggests, the duo search out small, negelected parcels of (preferably old) vines that are uneconomical for larger concerns to exploit. There are now three main sites comprising a parcel of 110 year old Mourvèdre and some Carignane on clay soil beside the salt lagoons close to Peyriac, another of 20 year old Grenache and Carignane some miles inland in the Hautes Corbieres, on a high garrigue of clay and stone soil, whilst the third parcel is an hour away, high up in the Agly valley close to Maury, where the Syrah, Grenache and some white Macabeo vines eke out their existence on the harsh, by turns windswept and sunblasted grey schist slopes which are dominated by the forbidding Cathar castle of Queribus.

The Old-Stewart regime is strictly low-interventionist, the vines being farmed using organic and biodynamic methods in order to encourage microbial vigour and to allow the place to express itself properly through the wine. Healthy grapes require less intervention in the winemaking process, which takes place in small fermenters under the indigenous yeasts that occur naturally in the vineyards.

These are exemplary wines made with clear and obvious passion that show remarkable precision and focus, and represent for us the epitome of true value and authenticity.

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