Domaine Gauby La Foun Cotes du Roussillon Villages 2013

Domaine Gauby is situated in and around the tiny, bucolic Roussillon town of Calce, inland from Perpignan and a short drive from the Cataluña border of Spain. Exiting the A9 and driving northwest into the eastern Pyrenees though the quiet, winding roads and precipitous hills of timeless beauty is a little bitter-sweet. This is a forgotten corner of France that is both wonderfully unspoiled and tragically neglected. Admittedly in recent years a handful of producers have set up camp in the Fenouillèdes and begun to deservedly gain international attention for some impeccably crafted wines from ancient vines. The most famous, Gerard Gauby, was born into a wine-making family with vines in Calce and took the reins in the 1980s. He thus was set to become one of the forerunners in developing the potential of the old vines and unique terroir of this region. More than twenty years on, Gerard Gauby's meticulous care for his vines tends to follow biodynamic principals that have been personally tested over 17-18 years of farming this way. In the winery he and his equally talented son, Lionel, use only natural yeasts and principals - no chaptalization, acidification, fining or filtration. They will not work with stainless steel, only cement and wood (including wooden fermenters and old foudres for inert storage).