La Maison Gardiés, On s'en Fish! - 2024
Fast Facts:
Winemaker(s): Jean & Victor Gardiés
Region: Espira-de-l'Agly → Agly Valley → Roussillon → France
Classification: IGP Côtes Catalanes
Varietal(s): Cinsault, Carignan
Terroir: Clay and limestone, hot and dry, steady wind off the mountains
Serving Temp: 55-65°F
Jean Gardiés built his winery in 2003 from local stone, which keeps cool against a blistering sun. That same August, just weeks before harvest, lightning set the roof on fire. Turns out you can't get a roofer in France in August, so the family picked that vintage under tarps, and the tarps stayed up until February. He converted the vineyards to organic the next year anyway, which tells you what it takes to knock this guy off a plan.
The winery sits in the Agly valley surrounded by mountains. The ground around it is limestone burnt so dark it looks like schist! The older vines are higher up on clay and limestone, in the same path of the tramontane: a dry wind that pours down off the mountains for days at a time. Harvest runs two months across 46 parcels, each ripening on its own schedule. Victor Gardiés wants the fruit cold when it reaches the cellar, so crews start at 6am and finish by 11am, before the heat sets in. As he puts it, from the moment the grape is cut from the vine, the clock is ticking.
On s'en Fish said out loud is on s'en fiche, French "for we couldn't care less." It's also a red he made to drink with fish. Rules be damned! Running the show in this blend is Cinsault, a thin-skinned grape native to Southern France that gives color and perfume without too much weight. Right behind it is Carignan for a little grip and structure. The maceration is short and intentionally held cool, keeping the skin influence at a very calm pace.
Why'd we pick it?
If you ask Victor about aging wine, he'll compare it to making sushi, where an unfathomable amount of discipline and skill is made to look effortless. He's the kind of winemaker who runs long élevages in big oak just to see what a container does over years, and then makes this, where the whole thing is knowing what NOT to do. Young winemakers come through the cellar every year expecting to be turned loose on the juice, and most of what he teaches them is when to leave it alone.
Field Notes
- Tastes like: Grenadine and crunchy red cherry, cassis, white flowers, a smidge of smoke underneath.
- Serve it with a short chill and see how it goes. The warmer, the more aromatic those perfumey white flowers and smoke hit.
- Food Pairings: For you fishy folks, take the name at its word. Split whole sardines and grill them with shaved fennel and a lot of lemon. Said sardines go with basically anything, but a summer salad or blistered padrón peppers would be magic. Hand-chop a beef tartare with horseradish, mustard seed and shallot, and if you've got a cured yolk to microplane over it. Highly recommended. Roast a split head of cauliflower and toss it with golden raisins, pine nuts, and a simple gremolata. A wedge of Manchego and quince membrillo is an excellent backup.
