Hélène and I bumped into our first bottle of La Gramière in February 2010. We were in Uzès. It was bitterly cold and wretchedly damp. The only restaurant open was the cozy ‘Envie de Terroirs’ in La Place des Herbes. We ordered the luncheon special along with a bottle of La Gramière. It was a 2005. As you can tell from this photo of Hélène, it was thoroughly enjoyed. A nasty day turned into a delight. 

We enjoyed that initial bottle so much that we were determined to find the source so that we could offer it to our wine club. We found it the following week at Vinisud, the biennial wine fair held in the charming city of Montpellier. There we tracked down the owners, Amy Lillard and Matt Kling and the rest is, as they say, history. This is the sixth time we have offered their truly wonderful wines.

La Gramière

Amy and Matt sample the ripe fruits of their labours!

Drinking good wine wasn’t enough – they wanted to make their own. So, they moved to Paris and in early 2005 found the vineyard of their dreams near the quaint village of St-Quentin-la-Poterie not too far from Uzès and the Pont du Gard (pictured above). They named their bit of paradise ‘La Gramière’.

Here is how Amy describes their modus operandi – “Created in 2005 with the purchase of 4.5 hectares of vineyards in the southern Rhône Valley, La Gramière is our dream come true. Our vineyards have been farmed organically since we purchased them (organic certification took effect with the harvest of 2011).  It is a truly “hands-on” business - we have no employees, and we do all vineyard work and vinification ourselves. Our wines are made naturally with very little manipulation (no oak, no micro-oxygenation, no additives), just grapes (very good ones), a little SO2 and a lot of work.  Every September our friends and family arrive from all over the world to help us pick our grapes.  It's a true harvest festival with wonderful lunches in the shade of the olive trees and a big party to celebrate the end of harvest each year.   We feel our wines are the true expression of not only our terroir, but also ourselves, they are honest and true, and reflect what we both love in the wines of this beautiful region. We hope you enjoy them!”                                                                          

A recent addition to Matt and Amy’s little enterprise is their restored 1979 Citroën Type H truck. The magnificent beast began life as a horse hauler. In fact, hay and manure were still much in evidence when they acquired it. Now ‘le camion blanc et vert’ can be found at local markets and fairs around Uzès and the Pont du Gard in the summer months with Matt and Amy dispensing their enchanting elixirs to the thirsty Provençal.  

And that’s not all. Amy and Matt have long wanted to live closer to their vineyard. Amy has had her eye on a charming stone barn and nearby building in Vers-Pont-du-Gard which is two kilometers away from Castillon-du-Gard where their vines and new house are situated. Well, they recently purchased them and are now in the process of turning the barn into a tasting room and wine bar and the second building into a new winery.

Read all about Matt and Amy’s latest adventures and travails on Amy’s blog.

2009, 2010 and 2011 were terrific vintages in southern France; some say three of the best ever. From the 2009 vintage we are once again offering the Syrah ‘Peter’s Vineyard’. And, from the 2011 vintage we are bringing back the La Gramière (green label), a delicious blend of Grenache and Syrah and for the first time, the Old Vines Grenache. For those who would like to try all three, we have Matt and Amy’s La Gramière Sampler that contains two bottles of each. These wines are ‘Vins de Table’ because the fiercely independent Matt and Amy want nothing to do with the rules and regulations that AOC status imposes. Here’s what Jon Rimmerman of www.garagistewine.com had to say about the wines of La Gramière:

You never feel as though La Gramière has an agenda – there is no motivation to sell anything and no motivation to win you over by promoting, marketing or wishing for something that could (and should) come naturally to those that choose to amble through an evening or two with a kindred spirit that eventually becomes a confidant. In wine, that confidant is La Gramière.

With their tiny and special BIO/organic property, Amy Lillard and Matt Kling have made it ok to be a simple Grenache/Syrah Vin de Table. They have changed the notion of “country-French” from a furniture aesthetic to one of winemaking bravado where      rustic equals regal. The time spent in the vineyard and in the cellar, cajoling their offspring to a point where it can fly on its own, is almost unreal – worth far more in a monetary sense than they could ever recoup for their effort.

Then why do it?

That question is answered as soon as you pull the cork.

In the end, as with any bottle of wine you decide to engage in a relationship, however brief – a dalliance or a long-term proposal, it must speak to you, understand who you are and why you’ve chosen to be you...

...or it just tastes darn good.

 With La Gramière, you have both.”

2009 Syrah “Peter’s Vineyard” – 14.5% Alc./Vol.                           $27/$162 case of six
Amy says of this gorgeous mouthful, “This special bottling of 90% Syrah and10% Grenache comes from our good friend Peter Till’s vineyard, without whose help much of this adventure wouldn’t have been possible! The grapes were picked by hand to express the characteristics of the terroir from which it came, the year in which the grapes were grown and our desire to make a unique and unmanipulated wine. We believe that in this way, we have created a wine that is true to its place of origin, authentic and full of character. This special bottling of Syrah was aged for 18 months in tank.  From the excellent 2009 vintage, this wine is still quite young and tightly wound.  It is deep and rich with ripe red fruit and spice - the tannins will enable it to age for another 5-10 years.” It too will go wonderfully with any lamb dish, roast beef and game. Only 1,000 bottles made. Order this very special southern Rhône now.

2011 Old Vines Grenache – 14.5% Alc./Vol.                                    $27/$162 case of six
The fruit from Amy and Matt’s oldest vines was vinified separately and they liked it so much they decided to bottle it as is, 100%, unadulterated, pure Grenache. Aged for 24 months in unlined concrete tanks, this wine needs decanting, but once it opens up in your glass, you'll have a hard time putting it down. It has a delightful candied fruit aspect to it, is really rich and full, but more ethereal and not as dense as the 2010. It shows classic notes of sugared orange peel and black olives, the tannins are softening up and it can be drunk now or held onto for 5-10 more years. Complex yet elegant, it has everything the 2011 vintage has to offer! This is a big wine with lots of chewy, rich tannins and ripe fruit. It will go nicely with confit de carnard, rich stews and medium cheese. Only 5000 bottles made. Order your great old Grenache now.

The LCBO is the only entity authorized to sell beverage alcohol in Ontario. Arthur Sellers & Company and Arthur’s Cellar Wine Club do not sell or markup beverage alcohol, but rather, arrange for customers to purchase it from the LCBO. Our prices indicated above and on our website include the LCBO sale price plus a fee to cover the cost of sourcing, handling and marketing the wine. The LCBO’s sale prices are available on request.

Please pass this bulletin on to others that you think might be interested in three absolutely delightful red wines from the southern Rhône – the 2011 La Gramière, 2009 Syrah “Peter’s Vineyard” and the 2011 Old Vines Grenache.

Many thanks and cheers,

Jim, Hélène and Kate

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