Producer: Domaine Léonine

Stéphane Morin

Where?

Saint-André in Northern Catalonia, where the Roussillon plain gradually rises towards the Albères massif—the easternmost part of the Pyrenees, where the mountains flow into the sea near Collioure, Banyuls, and Port-Vendres. In this region of transit and ancient culture, where graceful and delicate Romanesque art flourished before the year 1000 (as evidenced by the sculpted marbles of Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines and Saint-André, two communes where vineyards of the Léonine estate are located), viticulture was practiced long before the Roman conquest and the founding of Narbonne Gaul. In addition to its dry wines, Roussillon is known for its naturally sweet wines, but Domaine Léonine specializes in naturally dry wines, "close to the terroir, easy to drink, with as little barrier as possible between the grape and the glass," writes its founder, Stéphane Morin. This new winemaker, in a previous life, was a photographer. His encounter with his close neighbors, such as Jean-François Nick of Domaine des Foulards Rouges or Laurence of Domaine Yoyo, decided his commitment to the cause of natural wine. During a winemaking training course at the École supérieure du vin de Rivesaltes, Domaine Léonine was born in 2005. To name it, Stéphane borrowed two syllables from his children's first names, and the vines are made up of healthy and venerable vines purchased from a grandfather who had worked them all his life, protected from pollution, in the traditional way, without treatment or synthetic products. Soon, the wines emerging from the estate will make a strong impression. Since then, their impact has only deepened.

Terroir, plots, and grape varieties

The estate comprises a dozen hectares spread across the communes of Saint-André, Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines, Argelès-sur-Mer, and Port-Vendres. The vines are old—up to 115 years old—and the soils are healthy. In Saint-André, they are sandy-loam or located on granite sands; those in Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines are composed of silty sands and rounded pebbles. In Port-Vendres, close to the sea, they are schist or granite, as is the case in Argelès, where the plots are surrounded by a cork oak forest. We can see the full potential the winemaker can derive from these different mineral configurations. The grape varieties pay homage to the king of the region, Grenache, but also to Carignan and Syrah for the reds. The whites are composed of Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Muscat d'Alexandrie, Malvoisie, Macabeu, and Chardonnay.

Growing Methods

The estate is entirely farmed using organic and biodynamic methods, with manual harvesting. The soil is worked with a tractor and a pickaxe for digging and weeding the rows. The healthy, deep-rooted vines receive care based on natural sulfur, copper, nettle and horsetail manure. All work is done as naturally as possible, sometimes with the help of a horse. The key, says Stéphane, is to observe the vine, "see how it reacts, how it lives, and monitor its health. Be preventative rather than curative."

Vinification

The harvest, for almost all the wines, is subjected to carbonic maceration in spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts ("access to the cellar is strictly forbidden to any single-celled organism that could hinder the proper progress of fermentation," it is stated on the website). The estate describes itself as "pompophobic," meaning it has little interest in pumping, punching down, and pumping over. Whether it's the berries or the must, everything is handled by gravity: pressing, racking, and bottling. The reds (and one macerated white) are aged in Burgundy barrels. No fining, no filtration, no added sulfites.

The Wines

Descriptions of Domaine Léonine's wines all praise their clarity and authenticity. These vintages, each of which bears a name related to music, are described as round, fresh, authentic, close to the earth, noble, and respectful of their terroir. The vintages from old vines are described as powerful and precise. The old Grenache and Carignan grapes undoubtedly contribute to the estate's distinctive character and partly explain the minerality, delicacy, and freshness of the red vintages.