2023 Domaine Coursodon, La Grenade Syrah, Vin de France

Domaine Coursodon

Based in St Joseph, this small 16-hectare domaine places great emphasis on its granitic terroir, considering its wines to be both pure and compelling. This is a thread which runs through all the property’s wines. Jérôme Coursodon is the fifth generation of his family to run the estate. Ever affable, he says, “I tend to produce generous, powerful and elegant wines. Wines with a soul, made from grapes with character.”

Jérôme is St Joseph specialist: he only makes wines from this commune and is extremely knowledgeable about its terroir. His Silice Blanc and Rouge are so-named for the high silica content in the soil in those parcels. His L’Olivaie and Paradis de St Pierre lieux-dits cuvées are a masterclass in different styles of St Joseph expression.

Jérôme didn’t suffer too badly with frost in 2021 as his vines are all on the slopes and escaped most of the damage. Nonetheless, the challenging vintage conditions made him take the difficult decision not to produce his Paradis St Pierre Rouge this year, opting instead to concentrate all his efforts on making two exceptional cuvées rather than risk making three weaker ones. It’s always impressive to see a winemaker put quality above quantity in a tough year and it certainly feels like this was the right decision. Containing declassified Paradis fruit, L’Olivaie is particularly stunning in 2021.”

Sadly, Jérôme’s white wines had very low yields in 2022 due to the severe drought conditions, so we can only offer Silice Blanc from this vintage and hope to see the Paradis Blanc return next year.

Vin de Pays

Althought not as stringent as those for AOC, Vin de Pays wines must fulfill certain criteria: they must exclusively derive from their named area, meet precise standards under analysis, come from ‘recommended’ grape varities (as per each département) and must receive a tasting accreditation.

The designation of Vin de Pays is divided into three tiers:

Vin de Pays Régionaux (regional)

These denominations include:

• Vin de Pays d’Oc (from Languedoc-Roussillon, accounting for 70% of all French Vin de Pays) 
• Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France (from the Loire Valley)
• Vin de Pays du Comté Tolosan (from the south-west of France)
• Vins de Pays Portes de Méditerranée (from the south-east, Provence and Corsica)
• Vin de Pays des Comtés Rhodaniens (from the Rhone valley) and Vin de Pays de l’Atlantique (from Bordeaux and Charentes)
• Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne (in Armagnac country, producing refreshing, dry white wines
• and its Cognac counterpart Vin de Pays Charentais

Vin de Pays Départementaux (departmental)

Names of these wines derive from the French départements (administrative divisions similar to English counties) in which the wine is made. There are about 50, for example, 

• Vin de Pays Loire-Atlantique is made in the Loire-Atlantique département, which is part of the regional designation Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France.
• Vin de Pays de l'Aude (in Aude) 
• Vin de Pays de l'Hérault ( in L'Hérault) in Languedoc 
• Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes  

Vin de Pays de Zone (local)

These are the smallest subdivions of Vin de Pays and are, for the most part, to be found in the Languedoc region. Local names are often drawn from a geographical feature (sometimes no longer recognisable) or historical event. Examples of local names are Vin de Pays des Marche de Bretagne, Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Quercy, Vin de Pays de Cathare and Vin de Pays de la Vallée du Paradis.

The most important of the Vins de Pays is Vin de Pays d’Oc, which is France’s prime source of varietal wine. Roughly 85% of Vins de Pays originate in Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence or the southern Rhône, with a further 6% coming from the Loire. The vast majority of Vin de Pays is red. In terms of price, Vin de Pays is typically young, simple wine from high-yielding vines, and it is usually sold for less than an AOC equivalent.

Wine-growers may choose to bottle their wines as Vin du Pays to take advantage of the flexibility afforded by this designation (for example, certain -usually international- grape varieties and wine making techniques may be prohibited by their local AOC regulations, but they are permitted by their local Vin de Pays).

Thanks to the efforts of some particularly ambitious wine-makers, there are now numerous Vins de Pays that are internationally acclaimed. Some top class estates, such as René Rostaing in Côte Rôtie and Domaine de Coudoulet produce excellent wines in the Vin de Pays designation, as well as bottling using their AOC. 

Notably, the acclaimed Mas de Daumas Gassac produces all its wines exclusively as Vin de Pays (VdP de l'Herault)

Syrah/Shiraz

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.