HAUTES-ALPES
I had never heard of wines from the Hautes-Alpes department until I tasted a Mollard wine at a CAAPG meeting. It was such a quintessential Alpine wine that it had me hooked, especially when I was told that Mollard was the grape of Hautes-Alpes, grown in vineyards at upwards of 600m altitude. When I learned that in the latter part of the 19th century, pre-phylloxera, there were more than 6,000ha of vineyards in Hautes-Alpes and now there were less than 150ha, this had me even more intrigued.
Everything is ‘haute’ or high in Hautes-Alpes: the town of Gap at 750m is the highest departmental capital in France, the department has the highest average altitude of land and yes, the highest average altitude for vineyards too. Today’s vineyard plantings are in the most prized areas historically, close to the valley of the Durance river. Hautes-Alpes is the only wine region in this book where at least some of the vineyards are on real Alpine foothills, rather than Prealps foothills – the northern part of the vineyards lies in the Ecrins mountain range and national park. There are Provençal influences too, visible in architecture and vegetation – the department immediately to the south is named Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, which also has scattered vineyards, including AOC Pierrevert, but they are at lower altitude.
Most of the vineyards lie south of Gap between the Lac de Serre-Ponçon and Tallard in the mid-section of the Durance river, which rises near Briançon (the second-biggest Hautes-Alpes town). There were once four co-operative wineries in this area, but only Cave des Hautes Vignes remains in operation. The biggest tourist attraction is the beautiful Serre-Ponçon lake, the largest reservoir in France, created by the construction of a huge dam, completed in 1961. The dam allowed the planting of fruit orchards on the flat alluvial lands by the river, which contributed to the decline of the vineyards, and the region remains an important fruit producer.
The greatest density of vineyards is in the valley of the Avance, a small tributary of the Durance, near Valserres, where Cave des Hautes Vignes is based. Closer to the Durance, on its right bank, are interesting vineyards below Mont Colombis, just to the south of the Ecrins mountains between Remollon and Espinasses. Between these villages is La Plaine de Théüs, with vineyards lying on an old alluvial cone from the Torrent de Théüs. The delightful fortified village of Théüs is located up the hill. Close by are the spectacular demoiselles coiffées (ladies with hairdos) or cheminées de fées (fairy chimneys), eroded rock spires similar to the hoodoos in the US. They are well worth a visit and easy to access from the small side roads.
Overall in this area are varied clay-limestone soils, limestone scree and some marl, with vineyards at altitudes between 600m and 750m. Summers are hot with low rainfall (600–800mm annually); the mistral wind also dries the soils, which can restrict growth, but means disease pressure is low. At this altitude the wide day–night temperature variations allow the acidity to be maintained, despite the heat. Hail is an increasing issue and hit several vineyards in 2013 and 2014; spring frost can be a problem too. To the west, the fortified town of Tallard lies just off the Route Napoléon between Gap and Sisteron in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; near the riverside here are more fruit orchards and vineyards on alluvial soils.
The northeast of the department around Embrun is the other area where some vineyards survive or have been replanted. The cathedral city of Embrun was once the capital of the maritime Alps and an early Christian diocese. Vineyards in the locality stretched from Embrun to Châteauroux-les-Alpes and further north, all farmed by the church, and some of these have been rescued and replanted at altitudes up to 1,000m. It is a challenge to produce regular commercial yields as spring frost is a frequent problem. Yet across this area there is widespread evidence of medieval presses and troglodytic cellars, and near L’Argentière-la-Bessée (off the map to the northeast) vineyards were located as high as 1,300m.
Remollon once had more vineyards than any other village in Hautes-Alpes with about 200ha at the beginning of the 20th century. Today all that remains is the Domaine de la Clochère with less than 2ha.
Producers and wines
There are currently nearly 140ha of vines grown commercially, mostly under the IGP Hautes-Alpes label. International varieties dominate; there are less than 10ha of the indigenous Mollard, often known in the area as Petit Mont, and less than 1ha of Espanenc. Cave des Hautes Vignes accounts for well over half the production and is profiled in this chapter, alongside three independent vignerons.
Others worthy of mention include the following: Olivier Ricard of Domaine de Tresbaudon in Tallard is the largest independent producer; he has about 20ha which he planted with international varieties from scratch from the late 1990s. He has a good local following, but the wines are less Alpine, from vineyards at lower altitude. Nearby, with organic vineyards at altitudes up to 700m, is organic fruit producer Philippe Bilocq of Domaine St-André, who has 3ha of non-local varieties – he makes his small production in a very natural way, with slightly inconsistent quality. Domaine de la Clochère is the only estate remaining in Remollon; it has 2ha of 45-year-old Mollard vines mixed in with other varieties, grown in a walled vineyard by the church and owned by the mayor, Bernard Allard Latour. Bernard makes his reds in an old-fashioned way, ageing them in large, very old barrels, which shows the rusticity of Mollard and its companions. Bernard has been an important supporter of the renaissance of the local wines, as well as the rescue programme for Mollard.
Domaine Allemand
Both Louis and Marc Allemand, respectively grandfather and father of Laetitia Allemand, are pioneers and saviours of the wine region and Laetitia may be following in their footsteps. Louis was born into a local farming family, with a few vines made into wine mainly for family use. Having done military service in Champagne he was enamoured with the Champagne lifestyle and determined to become a vigneron on his return in 1954. He gave up mixed farming and aimed to make quality wines to sell in bottle, starting with a traditional method sparkling wine. Four years later Louis established the first Hautes-Alpes wine estate, located off the main road on the plain of Théüs, and planted more vineyards mainly with white grape varieties. In 1964 his wife, Marcelle, created a welcoming tasting room to sell their Hautes-Alpes wines direct to passing trade, locals and tourists alike. At the same time, Louis looked after a governmental experimental vineyard, testing out grape varieties suitable for mountain areas.
Marc joined his father in 1974 and helped to extend the vineyards and range of wines; Domaine Allemand became the first to be accorded the Vin de Pays des Hautes-Alpes designation (the forerunner to IGP) in 1984, the year Marc took over running the estate. In the early 1990s, he launched a passionate rescue campaign for the fast-disappearing Mollard, the emblematic grape variety of the region, conducting experimentation and clonal selection in conjunction with the Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin. This led to Mollard being officially recognized in the register of grape varieties in 2005, and Domaine Allemand retains a nursery of Mollard clones. As for Laetitia, a TV journalist for 15 years and the only child of Mireille and Marc, when she heard that her parents might sell the winery – at one point a partnership was considered with Yann de Agostini – she decided to join the family estate. From 2014 she did a Masters in wine business at Dijon University and has since used her journalistic experience to promote not only her family’s wines but also those of the whole area, while learning about winemaking from her father.
Laetitia, Marc and Mireille Allemand
The vineyards next to the winery lie on gentle hills on the very stony soils of the old alluvial cone. There are further stony hillside vineyards spread across Théüs, Remollon and Espinasses at between 600m and 750m altitude, plus a few flatter vineyards near Tallard. Just over 4ha of Mollard is the family’s pride, with the oldest vineyard including a relatively large area of 70-year-old vines; there are also plantings of Merlot, Cinsault and Cabernet Franc for reds and rosés. For whites, Muscat à Petits Grains accounts for 4ha, with a little Chardonnay and Ugni Blanc. The vineyards are farmed sustainably, grassed down where possible with mainly mechanical weeding and thermal gas to burn off the weeds; herbicide is used only on the steeper vineyards. Marc does not like the use of copper and shuns Bordeaux mixture, but instead uses chemical contact sprays, then sulphur, avoiding spraying late in the season. Laetitia is interested in biodynamic methods but is biding her time to change things. Harvesting is exclusively by hand.
The winery building is spacious and everything including bottling is done there. Marc and Laetitia look for structured wines that show the classic acidity and minerality of their mountains and aim to limit intervention. For whites they use cultured yeasts and for reds they make a starter culture and then fermentation continues naturally. Temperature is controlled and fining is with bentonite, with light filtration. Marc uses a consultant oenologist from Aix-en-Provence during harvest; otherwise he works with Laetitia and with long-term assistant Laurent, who also helps in the vineyards.
The stars of the range are the wines from Mollard and Muscat varieties. In sparkling wines, the standout is a limited volume 100% Mollard Méthode Traditionelle Brut Rosé, a copper-coloured, stony and zippy bubbly that spends a couple of years on lees. In whites, Le Théüsien is a dry and delicate Muscat with just a touch of spritz. The rosé Goût des Vacances has 20% Mollard from young vines with Cabernet Franc, whereas Mollard is used in roughly equal parts with Merlot for the red M & M Secret Partagé – far from chocolatey, it delivers some deep fruit character. From the 2016 vintage Laetitia has made a red blend named Ma Cuvée. It’s a classic winemaker creation of Merlot and Mollard with a touch of Cabernet Franc, co-fermented using punch-down in barrels, then 15 months ageing in two-year-old Burgundy barrels. I prefer Le Théüsien red from 100% old-vine Mollard with just a short time in oak, which to me expresses more of an Alpine freshness and acidulated cherry character. Laetitia has made a small volume of a skin-contact Muscat too, which has potential. It seems Marc and Laetitia are beginning to have ‘his and hers’ cuvées. All the wines have a slightly hard edge to the finish, which frustrates me as this comes close to being an excellent range.
Producing around 45,000 bottles in a typical year (not 2017, ravaged by frost), almost all the wines are sold locally – some in the amazing vintage tasting room, looked after by Mireille or their genial long-term employee Véronique. There you can also find a range of fruit spirits, distilled on the premises. There are a few Paris wine shops who take the wines, but so far no significant exports. Marc and Mireille, along with grandfather Louis, who still lives on the estate, are delighted Laetitia is taking over and give her every support. There are no plans to grow this proud and historic estate and I am willing Laetitia to focus on the vineyards and winery to create more finesse in their wines – I feel sure it’s possible.
Domaine Allemand
La Plaine de Théüs, 05190 Théüs
Tel: 04 92 54 40 20
Email: domaineallemand@orange.fr
Web: domaine-allemand.com
Map ref: B1
Contact: Laetitia Allemand
Vineyards: 12ha
Visits: Tasting room
Cave des Hautes Vignes
It is a little sad that the only remaining Hautes-Alpes wine co-operative isn’t the biggest fan of Mollard, the region’s emblematic variety – however, two of the 68 members retain plots totalling about 2ha, and three of the wines in the range feature Mollard. The lack of love for Mollard is easily explainable, for this co-operative cellar is resolutely geared to the palates of the locals, with one-third of the production sold from the tasting room and the rest to supermarkets, shops and restaurants almost exclusively within the department. Among the older locals, Mollard does not have a good reputation – the grape gave high yields and long macerations made it very tough, plus the name has a slang meaning that doesn’t endear it.
Originally named Cave Coopérative La Valserroise, it was founded in 1950 and was the first of the region’s co-operatives to bottle its wines. At that time almost all the grapes were red, mainly Cinsault, giving very light wines, which were often blended with Algerian wine to beef them up – perfectly legal then. As tourism became more important, white wine was needed too; the local Muscat wasn’t ideal, so the Cave was the first in the region to plant Chardonnay in the early 1990s, with about 30ha grown today. There is still around 2ha of Muscat, as well as newer 1.5ha plantings of Roussanne. For reds, there is only 3ha of Cinsault left, mainly used for rosé. The largest red plantings are of Merlot, with some Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Mollard. The Bordeaux varieties were planted from the mid-1990s; the Syrah was planted later, but struggles to ripen, so will be grafted over gradually to Merlot.
Despite having taken on some of the growers from the other co-operatives when they closed, the number of members is on a steady downward slide. In order to make a living it is estimated that a co-operative grower needs 20ha of vineyards if that’s all he does, hence there is little interest from young people. Back in 2000 there were 170 members; of the 68 remaining only two are full-time growers and between them these two are responsible for about half the vineyards. Domaine de la Grande Hauche in Valserres is owned by Jean Sarret and his family and Domaine des Treilloux in nearby Jarjayes is owned by Bernard Estachy. Both converted to organic viticulture at the turn of the century and the co-operative adapted its cellars so that the organic grapes could be handled separately, and thus the estate names appear on labels. The other members tend to use herbicide, the easier option – when rain does come it’s often fierce, and regular erosion in the vineyards makes them hard to work without specialized machinery that small growers don’t own.
The only remaining wine co-operative in Hautes-Alpes is the Cave des Hautes Vignes in Valserres.
The best of the organic wines are the Domaine de la Grande Hauche Cuvée Léane, a just off-dry Roussanne, and the weighty but fresh Domaine des Treilloux red, a Merlot-based blend with some Syrah. Among the non-organic wines of interest is a cuvée named Croquant Petit Grain, a fresh, dry, early-drinking Muscat. The wines that feature Mollard are a simple rosé blend and two successful reds, one a blend of Cinsault with Mollard and the other a pure Mollard, which is labelled Rare Cépage.
Trained winemakers were employed and the cellar was modernized in the 1990s and 2000s, leading to an increase in quality. This co-operative holds its head up, and I sense that with some motivation to sell beyond the local area and a little advice, it could do much better.
Cave des Hautes Vignes
Le Village, D942, 05130 Valserres
Tel: 04 92 54 33 02
Email: cavedeshautesvignes@orange.fr
Map ref: B2
Contact: Jean Sarret
Vineyards: 75ha
Certification: Ecocert (for part)
Visits: Tasting room
Domaine du Petit Août
Yann de Agostini is the most important recently established vigneron in Hautes-Alpes and a champion of both its best vineyard terroir and its indigenous grape varieties. Yann’s grandfather came here from close to Lake Maggiore in Italy as a mason, a trade Yann’s father continued. Born near Gap, Yann studied wine and worked in Cognac and Bordeaux, St-Emilion and Cahors, then over in Australia’s Yarra Valley with Martin Williams MW and finally at Château Mont-Redon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. He returned home to join his girlfriend, now wife, Anne, a psychologist in Gap, and between 2002 and 2008 became the winemaker for Cave des Hautes Vignes. Knowing Marc Allemand and having been to high school with his daughter Laetitia, Marc and Yann made a deal in 2009, whereby Yann could establish his own estate with help from the Allemands, making his first vintages of some old-vine Mollard at their winery; in return he worked on their estate. The partnership might have concretized into something bigger, but from the 2012 vintage the two domaines decided they would be best working apart and in 2013 Yann took on more old vineyards and land to plant.
Yann de Agostini in one of his young Mollard vineyards.
As well as being a champion of Mollard for reds and Clairette for whites, Yann was fascinated by an old variety called Espanenc or Plant Droit, which was once much planted in the region and which he had found in the vineyards of one of the co-operative members. He made an experimental cuvée with a few vines in 2015 and was able to take over 0.1ha to make 400 bottles in 2016 and to take cuttings. In 2016 he ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to help with costs for clearing land and planting a new plot of Mollard in 2016 and a further 0.2ha plot of Espanenc in 2017. Locals knew Espanenc as pousse or pie de chèvre, because the bunches are said to be similar to goat’s teats… but Yann’s Espanenc cuvée is named Un de Ces Jours (One of These Days). Having tasted it a couple of times, I can see what makes Yann excited – a quintessential rustic mountain red, but with a potentially greater depth of fruit than Mollard, it seems ideal for the area.
More than half of Yann’s vineyards are planted with Mollard, including about 2ha of old vines, some now over 80 years old. In all, he farms about 20 parcels located in Remollon, Rochebrune and Espinasses as well as some historic vineyard plots on the impressive road that winds up the gorge to Théüs. Altitudes are between 600m and 700m. Alongside Mollard and Espanenc Yann has 0.3ha of Cabernet Sauvignon. For whites, 1.2ha of Roussanne and 0.8ha of Clairette form the largest plantings, with 0.2ha each of Marsanne and Muscat. He has some old Muscat à Petits Grains and some newly planted Muscat d’Alexandrie, which ripens later and provides acidity. Yann has always ploughed the soil and he originally used herbicide below the vine rows but has never used systemic chemical treatments; from 2013 he converted the vineyards to organics with full certification in 2017. He believes that the soil is too dry to work well with biodynamics and has not yet tried plant treatments but uses sweet orange essential oil to help combat oidium and reduce the sulphur sprays. Due to the range of grape varieties his harvest extends over four weeks, usually from mid-September; all harvesting is by hand.
Yann’s winemaking approach is simple, and he is skilled at it, with his practical winery built into the hillside stocked with a Vaslin press, mainly fibreglass tanks and some oak barrels, using CMC’s Provence outpost for bottling and also for disgorging of the sparkling wine. He uses neutral cultured yeasts for some cuvées, but otherwise his winemaking is very hands-off, with low sulphur levels. In a normal year, Yann makes about 24,000 bottles – the figure was 14,000 in 2017 due to the harsh frosts, with fewer cuvées than usual. His wines are named after popular French song and album titles and, apart from the Espanenc, all the red cuvées include Mollard. There are three 100% versions: the juicy Mémoire Neuve has no barrel ageing and is made to drink young; Tout Compte, Tout Compte Fait is from the very old vines and aged in old oak; and the 40-year-old Mollard goes into a cuvée called Mille Façons, inspired by Philippe Grisard of Savoie – hand destemmed and fermented in oak, with a very long maceration – I’ve never managed to taste this. Finally, Les Amis Imaginaires (the delightfully named ‘imaginary friends’) is equal parts of Mollard and Cabernet Sauvignon with a little oak ageing – the Cabernet adds tannin and the style is very vintage dependent. He makes a delicious Mollard rosé, called New Rose.
Yann believes that Clairette is a very good variety for the area – he makes an Extra Brut 100% Clairette sparkling named L’Imprudence, with low dosage working a treat and better than most Clairette de Die Brut I’ve tasted; in Sur Le Fil, 40% Clairette (60% in 2017) is blended with Roussanne and about two-thirds is oak fermented. The result combines herbal aromatic characters with slight peachiness and stony freshness – a delight. Le Poids du Superflu is usually Marsanne, Roussanne and Clairette fermented in four-year-old Meursault barrels, giving a dry, fuller and spicy white. The frivolous and fruity Fête Foraine is co-fermented Muscat (50–60%) with any leftover Roussanne and Clairette plus some stray Chardonnay vines.
Yann exports to the US and the UK, accounting for about 15%, which he hopes to increase to a third of production. About half is currently sold locally and the rest to wine shops around France. Proof of his dedication to innovating with Hautes-Alpes products, Yann is also a partner in Apple des Cimes, whose ‘ice ciders’ are made in his winery; manager Philippe Rostain is a great unofficial salesman for Yann’s wines. Otherwise Yann works entirely on his own, except for seasonal vineyard workers – I hope his trajectory is ever upwards.
Domaine du Petit Août
ZA Les Graves, La Plaine de Théüs, 05190 Théüs
Tel: 06 88 70 84 22
Email: y.dago@yahoo.fr
Contact: Yann de Agostini
Map ref: B1
Vineyards: 6.4ha
Certification: Alpes Contrôles
Visits: Preferably by appointment
Charles-Henri Tavernier
Known to all as Charly, this genial vigneron made his last vintage of Hautes-Alpes wines in 2018, but he has certainly left his mark on the region. Originally from a cattle-farming family in Normandy, he studied geography in Paris, spending two years in Hautes-Alpes writing a thesis on the vineyards; it was published in 2000 (see Bibliography). He became enamoured with Hautes-Alpes and with wine, so moved on to wine studies at Beaune, with work experience in Irancy, and with the biodynamic estate Domaine de la Garrelière in the Loire Valley.
In 2003, Charly set up his small estate, taking over an official departmental experimental vineyard in Châteauroux-les-Alpes and little by little taking on numerous tiny family-run plots that were threatened with disappearance, mainly in St-André d’Embrun. In some he was able to keep the parcels of old vines; others he replanted. He ended up with nearly 4ha between Embrun and Châteauroux at altitudes from 800m to 1,000m. Many of the plots in St-André are divided by old walls, built by the church as steps climbing up from the Durance river in the 13th or 14th century – it’s an extraordinary sight. The soils are largely clay-limestone, with limestone scree and one area on an old alluvial cone. In 2013/14 he converted all his vineyards officially to organics and made compost along biodynamic lines. Spring frosts have resulted in very erratic production and even in good vintages Charly never managed to make more than 10,000 bottles.
Charly created a winery in the cellar of the old village home he bought and restored. With a mixture of tanks and barrels, spotlessly clean, Charly developed into a thoughtful, natural winemaker, using only natural yeast and very low or no SO2. With a huge range of grape varieties, he generally made two cuvées of white and two or three of red, nearly always blends – he promised some surprise single varietal wines for his last vintage. All his wines have marked acidity, which you would expect at this altitude. In whites, vintages I tasted of his Cuvée Mélilot, from the best plots of Chardonnay and Chasan (a crossing of Chardonnay and Listan), were full of life – made in a Burgundy style, the oak giving texture. In reds his unoaked blend of about two-thirds of all sorts of old vines, mainly southern varieties, combined with press wine from young Gamay, Mollard, Pinot and Cabernet Franc, marries warm fruit with bite. The barrique-aged red with one-third of the best of the old vines, plus young vines of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc and Mollard, is built to age a while. Most of the wines have been sold under the IGP label, though some were deemed ‘too natural’ and sold as Vin de France.
In later vintages Charly exported reasonable quantities to a Belgian client; the rest is sold at markets, wine shows and through local shops. Three vignerons have taken on Charly’s vines to supplement their own little plots and he will let them use his cellar to begin with. As for Charly, he is seeking a somewhat easier life and is planting Chasselas to farm table grapes. A massive supporter of the region’s wines, without Charly, there would be no commercial winemaking in this northeastern part of Hautes-Alpes.
Charles-Henri Tavernier (retired)
Les Terrasses, Route du Petit Puy, 05200 Embrun
Tel: 04 92 50 41 68/06 47 19 93 14
Email: cha.tavernier@orange.fr
Map ref: E2
Certification: Alpes Contrôles
Visits: Preferably by appointment
The walls around these vineyards in St-André d’Embrun above the Durance river were originally built by the church, which farmed vines for the Christian diocese of Embrun.