The Cave Coopérative de Barjac of Ardèche of Vin de Pays

Our feet crunched through layers of dry oak leaves as we climbed a pebbly path towards the vineyards behind the farmhouse. Roots go deep here. Not just the tall oaks and squat vines, but families too. I walked the vineyards at Mas de Libian with Hélène Thibon, but it was her father Jean-Pierre that greeted me when I arrived. Hélène’s sister Catherine was out front with Bambi the horse, ploughing the sandier plots. Later, we tasted in the winery with Hélène’s son Aurélien. Three generations of a ...

Latour was the 11th generation of his family to lead Maison Louis Latour (and the seventh named Louis Latour). The house of Latour was formally founded in 1797, although the roots go back to the first vineyards purchased in 1731 by Denis Latour. The Latour family originally worked as coopers, and Denis’ son Jean moved to Aloxe-Corton to set up an independent cooperage and later to found Maison Louis Latour, naming the business after his son. The house of Latour remains closely associated with th ...

Onwards, upwards. The roads get narrower, the corners get tighter. I step out of the car when I finally reach the winery and the air is so much fresher here. I go to take a sip from my water bottle and a gust of wind makes it whistle. I stand with Thomas Jullien and we look over the vineyards. It’s not yet spring, and the vines look little more than sticks. ‘It’s a lunar landscape at the moment,’ he says, as a friend’s flock of 300 sheep has just passed through to graze on every scrap of green b ...