Le Petit Domaine de Gimios "Saint Jean de Minervois" Hérault department, Languedoc.


 Le Petit Domaine de Gimios is a five-hectare estate located at 320 meters above sea level, in the Hérault department, along the Mediterranean wine-growing perimeter of the Gulf of Lion. Here, Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre follow the principles of biodynamic agriculture.

Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre bought their farm in the hamlet of Gimios in 1993. The vineyards attached to the farm were abandoned, unworked, and had not been treated with chemicals. 

Saint Jean de Minervois:

According to a legend, the Saint-Jean vineyard dates back to Roman times, as in all of Languedoc. The lord of Pardailhan collected from the Middle Ages the right on the wine of Saint-Jean and Saint-Martial. King Louis XVI at the court of Versailles had the Muscat of Saint Jean de Minervois tasted at his royal table. Beyond this perhaps legendary anecdote, the town produces a remarkable Muscat, which obtained the AOC in 1949.

The terroir of the area is characterized by a Mediterranean climate and the garrigue landscape. Garrigue is the quintessential Provencal landscape of dry, limestone-based scrubland, populated by hardy herbs such as rosemary and lavender. The climate is cooler than in many other wine-growing areas of the Languedoc, allowing the Muscat grapes a longer hang time. This fact – coupled with the excellent drainage and poor soils of the area – means that Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois wines are often more complex and more delicate than other Languedoc Muscat wines.

Producer description: 

Anne-Marie Lavaysse started off as an architect, living in a cozy area near Paris. She woke up one day and was bored of the lifestyle and decided to head south!  Prior to settling in Gimios, she had a polycultural farm in the Montagne Noire (in the Languedoc, near Axel Prufer). She had geese, ducks and goats. She is among the pioneers of the natural wine movement. Gimios is a tiny secluded hamlet in the Minervois, high elevation & on limestone. She now works with her son Pierre. 

In 1993 she bought her first parcel, which was an abandoned vineyard and she put her cow in it to clear the land. For 7 years she pruned aggressively in order to allow the root systems of the vines to re-establish themselves. Her first vintage was 1999, consisting of 3 hectoliters, and to Anne-Marie's surprise, it was good! The INAO (French appellation system to which all producers have to submit their wine in order to get the appellation) refuses to give her the AOC approval, stating there was a taste of "light" in her wine. In 2000 she resubmitted again and was denied the AOC because the fruit was not oxidized enough for the AOC "Muscat Saint. Jean de Minervois". In 2001 the local farmers who belonged to the coop tried to ban her from harvesting. She left the coop and decided to make Vin de table (a dry muscat & Vin doux naturel). By creating her own wine, she came to like wine. She had a small parcel of red (mostly Alicante) and blended it with her muscat à petits grains, put it in a barrel: and produced 200L in 2002. 

2019 This is a glass of wine that really makes you feel in love with the natural artisan wines, a drink is satisfying without being pretension. Best

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