Le Petit Domaine de Gimios

Saint-Jean-de-Minervios, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

I made fast acquaintance with Pierre Lavaysse, the simpatico young winemaker of Petit Gimios in the Languedoc, at a couple wine tastings in France and Italy as we bonded over our love for dub reggae and winter sports. He was presenting at these shows as the face of an important, if slightly under-appreciated producer of dazzlingly pure Muscat de Petit Grain and red blends of delicacy and minerality that have a dedicated but small group of fans. Pierre obviously has a tremendous amount of respect for the family winery, but after one long February day of pouring and tasting wine in the Loire Valley, he told me he was going to pack it in and take his van to go snowboarding in Switzerland that afternoon and invited me along. I unfortunately didn’t bring snow pants in my carry-on and had to fly home to Chicago the following day, but his offer was 100% genuine. When Ann-Marie, Bradford and I, along with Alex from Ordinaire, went to go see the Gimios in person, we were hosted by the humble founder and Pierre’s mom, Madame Anne-Marie Lavaysse (Pierre was away taking advantage of the last warmish days of surfing in early October). It all clicked that it was really her spirit that had been coursing through their astoundingly good wines, Pierre simply the stoned messenger.

Despite her relatively tiny output, Anne should be heartily credited as one of the founders of the natural wine movement in France. In the early 90s she settled in a beautiful rocky part of this Southern region where the plan was to farm a small wheat field and care for a beautiful orchard, until the field randomly burned down. Needing another plan quickly to stay in the area, Anne was aware of the surrounding farmers caring for Muscat grapes, which could be sold or crafted into sweet wine for a favorable price compared to other crops. She bought a small farm that was attached to a field of these grapes, and made her first efforts of the now called Vin Doux in an adjacent dairy barn. Her first wines blew the minds of more ambitious sans soufre winemakers like Marcel Lapierre and Philippe & Michèle Gramenon, as they displayed incredible maturity and confidence for an amateur. 

Back to our visit on an ideal late Autumn afternoon. Anne, dressed in a dirty earth-tone linen apron, greets us outside of her fermentory after tending to one of her home gardens, unlocks the keys to the cellar and brings us in for a tasting of not-quite wines (they had just put fresh juice into tanks) where a couple of things stood out to me. First, all of the wines begin their fermentation in that old dairy vat, which serves the same purpose as an upright steel one, so why change it out for unnecessary modern equipment when you don’t have to!? Second, that the Muscat is the anchor or the domaine, the original inspiration, around which all of the other wines revolve. Anne seems paradoxically sheepish and extremely proud of this. Her rosé and nearly all of the reds have a touch of Muscat blended in which adds an unmistakable elderflower signature. Last and most striking, Anne doesn’t particularly like drinking wine, but seems chuffed that her and Pierre’s creations have made an indelible impact on lovers like us. 

We take the 2-minute crumbly drive out to the vineyard in our this-year’s-edition Audi station wagon rental (Anne drives a 50-horsepower hatchback with startling aplomb), hop out, sunset oncoming, and I cannot believe how rocky the topsoil is. Fist-sized limestone stones cover and clatter around the bush vines of Grenache, Aramon, Muscat, and Cinsault, with lingering wildflowers sprouting up through the rubble. The air smells of lavender and pine resin. These ancient vines are completely farmed by hand and pick-axe, a labor that Anne seems to wear lightly. I like to think the wines embody both the sublime drama of the setting and the complete humility of their maker. Special wines indeed.

Mac

We just received a small quantity of the full Gimios range:

Pet Nat Blanc 2019 - $46 (out)

Pet Nat Rose 2019 - $46 (out)

Muscat Sec 2019 - $49

Rose 2019 - $42

Rouge Fruit 2019 - $42 (out)

Rouge de Causse - $42 (out)

Vin Doux 2018 - $60

Check the online store, call (773-360-8365), or email us for an order.