This is the time of year when our winemakers harvest a whole year's work... a work of passion, of good or bad surprises, physical..... it's never copy/paste... the alchemy between the terroir, the soil, the grape varieties, the weather conditions and finally the winemaker's entire personality in harmony with his vines. As a wine merchant, it's a need to participate, to give one's time in the process from the vine to the bottle. Here we were at Thierry Casse's, Domaine de Barbazan in Madiran. A winemaker totally committed to following nature as closely as possible, with all the risks that entails. The wines are increasingly expressing the Soublecause terroir, so full of character with intriguing saline notes.... 2015 looks promising... superb sanitary conditions, crunchy and lively grapes despite high natural alcohol levels, a sign of magnificent ripeness! And for Thierry, fortunately, yields that will allow him to live better because since the 2010 harvest... yields were really too low!
 
 
