Joli Vin imports

Jean-Baptiste Senat - Minervois

Between the Rhône River and the Spanish frontier, there’s an ocean of grapes on the vine. Grenache, Syrah, more Carignan the further south you go, much of it from rather old vines and some pockets of Mourvedre. There’s a bunch of other stuff too: Cabernet, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and even some Pinot Noir, none of which has any historical legitimacy in the region but which can nevertheless sometimes command a thin profit. The permutations of wines made from the four principal red varietals, myriad of soils and expositions are countless. From all those tanks of wine it would stand to reason that tasting something which stands clearly head and shoulders above the rest, which distinguishes itself beyond question would indeed be a challenging piece of work. It is.

 Thankfully, there are a collection of artisan winemakers, among this vast expanse of vineyards spread out over the dry, scrubby landscape of southern France, whose vision is so unique, whose execution so inspired, that the wines themselves alert the taster to take notice and pay attention to something completely apart from all of the perfectly acceptable but rarely remarkable wine which abounds in this region. Jean-Baptiste Senat in the Minervois is such a producer.

 Jean-Baptiste had to find his way back to the land and to himself after trying his hand in the rough and tumble world of Parisian politics as a young man. In spite of family pressures, he returned to the region of his youth in the mid 1990s in order to firmly plant both feet on the ground, feel the wind in his face and profit from the pleasure known only to those whose bodies ache at day’s end from the physical toil of working the land. His parents were landowners but kept a safe distance from the physical labor of the farming life. Jean-Baptiste launched himself squarely at the center of that work, rehabilitating and reviving the oldest and most viable vineyard parcels still under the family name, slowly added other parcels as the opportunities presented and turned the viticulture strictly toward organic faming and away from the strictly mechanized mode of vine cultivation which relied heavily on chemical treatments and frequent passes in the vineyard from the relative comfort of a tractor seat. Today Senat farms 16 hectares, 12 in the Minervois Appellation. While he does, on occasion, visit his vines from atop a tractor, it is strictly for the purpose of plowing the soils, 3 times annually, serving the purpose of oxygenation, promoting a healthy biodiversity and cutting the vine’s most superficial roots obligating those remaining to plunge deeper in search of nutrients and water. He is unyielding in his commitment to organic farming and the parcels are certified by Ecocert.

The great challenge for the winemaker in the Languedoc and Roussillon is in correctly matching grape with the variety of soils one finds in the region and the micro-climats associated with the changing landscape. Jean-Baptiste clearly appreciates and has thought about these variables: his Grenache is planted down slope in the sandy, limestone based soils which enjoy plentiful sun and warmth much favored by this grape; Syrah is planted at higher elevations with a north facing exposure to preserve freshness and avoid overly ripe fruit; Carignan is planted in the few Schiste based soils up in the hills, again to preserve freshness and acidity while his Mourvedre is planted in the clay based soils of the lowlands which retain water and humidity so well, favoring that varietal which desperately needs more water and heat in order to fully ripen and best express its own best qualities.  

In a region most notable to the summer traveller by its unrelenting heat, one would not expect to find many wines made in these adverse conditions to be distinguished by their sense of freshness and vivacity, but this is precisely what he favors and what one encounters when first tasting though the range of his wines. Senat believes strongly that winemakers have gone too far in the direction of excess concentration and high alcohol, which is not difficult given the regions intense sun and heat. Rather, Senat works hard to achieve phenolic ripeness through the maintenance of healthy soils alive with organic matter and by favoring bush vines, vines that are allowed to grow in the traditional manner, en gobelet, rather than stretched out on wires, fully exposed to the sun. Training on wire might work fine in the north where every ounce of luminosity is a precious commodity crucial for ripening fruit, but in the Minervois insufficient sun is a non-issue. Therefore, much of Senat’s Grenache planted in full southern exposure looks like a band of teenage boys badly in need of a trip to the barber, a bit unkempt but crucial for providing the fruit a barrier of protection from the summer sun’s intensity. Yields are kept below 35hl/ha and harvesting is all by hand. Senat de-stems approximately 60% of his fruit and ferments in enamel lined tanks using only native yeast. During the approximate 12 days of cuvaison, temperatures are kept below a cool 24 degrees centigrade while he gently coaxes out aromatics through a few delicate pigeage, but avoids pump-overs or other heavy extraction techniques, lest too much tannin be extracted. With the help of a traditional wooden basket press he acquired from Domaine Bertagna in Burgundy, the wines are pressed and transferred to their aging vessels. For the cuvées raised in oak, only older barriques and demi-muids are used. The wines are bottled after racking with neither fining nor filtration.

Jean-Baptiste Senat is as brash, opinionated and obstinate as his wines are soft and supple. In the vast winemaking region of southern France, he is a young man just beginning to receive the attention his wines richly deserve and is distinguishing himself among the few, truly unique voices in the region. The directness of his character is revealed in the frank, pure expression of vivid fruit, mineral, earth and sheer pleasure to be found in his wines. He is not making tannic wines meant for long term aging, difficult to appreciate, let alone enjoy, in their youth. He is not trying to please the critics or win awards. Here is a man working hard to please himself and make wines which will delight friends and family. At our first meeting Senat revealed to me that it is only in recent years that he feels he has begun to hit his stride and appreciate his own results. For Senat, wine is fundamentally meant to be shared at the table and the best measure of a bottle is not how many points it has received in the trade magazines but rather how quickly it is drained at the table. Such honesty is as refreshing as his wines are delicious.