Souaf! Souaf! 2024

It was in the 1980s that Jean-François (“Jeff”) Coutelou assumed control of the family property in the tiny comune of Puimisson, off the Mediterranean coast, readapting the farming system to his ideas about the way nature may make possible the uniqueness of each harvest: the yields were considerably lowered, the farmed area reduced, a new pruning technique was introduced, and a new concept of polyculture was put into place with the plantation of an olive grove and other fruit trees (figs, almonds). Chiefly, Jeff incentivized manual labor in detriment to the utilization of machines, thus imbuing with new life and vitality the microbiota of the soils, releasing its nutrients, and so uplifting the ode to diversity.

In 1987 the domain obtained organic certification, turning Jeff into one of the pioneers of this kind of practice in the region, in a moment in which organic farming was not exactly popular among the majority of the Languedoc winemakers, if for no other reason than intensive and mechanized farming was largely encouraged by the viticulture industry.

This approach, therefore, allows us to clearly grasp Jeff’s personality, champion of convictions, despiser of fashions. All the grapes cultivated in the domain are native to the South of France, and Jeff created a special area where he keeps some very rare and  forgotten grapes (Aramon Blanc, Servant, Castet), saving them from extinction and studying their genetic system. In the cellar, he basically follows his instinct, and it is not uncommon to bottle a wine in a given year, and this specific wine may never be bottled again in the years to come. Are the grapes going to endure a short or a long maceration? Should carbonic maceration be encouraged or not? Should some grapes be crushed or just slightly pressed? All these are decisions that Jeff makes on his own, relying on his intuition and undauntedness, year after year, harvest after harvest. Happy wines brought up with love and a superb sense of humor.