Maison Ventenac: Forging a new Languedoc identity

Despite successful corporate jobs in Paris, and no formal winemaking experience, Stéphanie and Olivier Ramé decided to change their lives by taking the reins of the family wine estate in the northwest area of the Languedoc when Stéphanie’s father in law announced an intention to sell.

At the time, the estate was happily producing only three wines; a red, white and rosé made in bulk and bottled from a truck, recalls Olivier Ramé who quickly embarked on the OIV master’s degree and travelled to 30 countries around the world to ‘learn from the outside’.

Scroll down to see the Maison Ventenac tasting notes and scores

Ramé was particularly inspired by the traditional winemaking styles in Georgia (prompting the use of amphorae vessels for his own wines) as well as enjoying Cabernet Franc from central European countries and Riesling from Germany but it was a desire to see why a certain wine succeeded or not commercially that interested him.

The question was, ‘what am I going to do? – commercial wines or the wines I like’. He ended up doing both, starting off with 130ha of vines making crowd-pleasing styles and styles ‘acceptable for everybody’ but with a change to organic winemaking and vinifiction without sulfites (instead using non-saccharomyces yeast to avoid development of brettanomyce) the philosophy changed.

‘I started to discover this new world, vinifying plot by plot, using indigenous yeasts and when that happened, I couldn’t go back. So, I wasn’t just making wines for me, but I think the success is that I’m makings wine that I trust in, where you can taste the difference.’

Grapes are influenced from terroir on two sites; on the Cabardès side at an elevation of 200m on white limestone soil imparting a mineral, saline, fresh edge while vineyards in Moussoulens are deeper and clay-dominant save for one 5ha pebble-strewn soil ideal for Grenache. The appellation benefits from both Languedoc’s sunshine and Bordeaux’s rainfall putting it high on the quality scale in terms of delivering wines with a unique identity and typicity.

Factfile

Vineyards: 130ha owned by the estate, 70ha leased

Total production: 1.8million bottles annually

Consumption: 50% domestic, 50% export

These are ‘no make-up wines’ as Ramé calls them, no oak, no over-maturation and indigenous yeasts used instead of commercial ones, the grape characteristics and terroir are allowed to shine in the glass.

He also eschews the notion of following ‘stupid’ AOC laws to decide what goes into the bottle, instead choosing to remove the word château and domaine for labels and instead opt for Maison Ventenac so ‘now we can talk about the wine’.

Sustainable viticulture is practised, and the estate began organic conversion in 2018 with the switch-over taking place officially by the 2021 vintage – an important step for the ‘freshness’ of the wines says Ramé who believes the process has changed the way the vines look and given grapes more natural acidity.

Wines are vinified mainly in temperature controlled concrete tanks, or stainless-steel vats, though Ramé also experiments with terracotta.

The Ventenac portfolio can be likened to a big family with a range of names adorning the bottles’ stand-out labels including Stéphanie’s grandmother (Jeanne), sisters (Marie and Carole) and son (Paul).

Dissidents, the ‘soul’ of Maison Ventenac comprises four limited-edition, small batch production of between 2-6,000 bottles annually that give free expression to the single-vineyard, single-varietal selections.

Paul, the first wine and named after the couple’s ‘tough’ son made from Cabernet Franc in terracotta, Patience (different site Cabernet Franc in 20hl foudre), Puritaine (Syrah) and Candide (Chenin Blanc).

Still with the same philosophy, a range of bigger-production – between 100-150,000 bottles, lower price point wines were created; Prejudices (Chardonnay), Paria (Grenache) L’idiot (Merlot) and L’intrus (Cabernet Franc).

‘The two ranges don’t have the same volume’ says Ramé, but’ that’s what’s interesting about us, we work like small winemakers with plot selection, data and attention to detail but we can do that with large volumes’.

The Signature range, which was the old domaine and chateau wines (IGP and AOC respectively) encompasses appellation wines and reflects a true sense of place. Marie combines Colombard and Chenin, Carole the company’s vision of Chardonnay, Stéphanie a take on Pinot Noir, Pierre an ode to Cabernet Sauvignon and Eve intense Syrah.

Despite a long list of grapes already planted, experiments are taking place with Petite Arvine from Switzerland and Vermentino to ‘see what happens in the Cabardès appellation’. A new rosé has also been launched this year, a limited-edition, top cuvée called La Culottée made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon though its distribution has been hampered by the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Ventenac has a state of the art 5,000m2 winery, updated in 2016 which has new 5,500hl vat house, a new building for filtered, bottle-ready wines, workshop and wastewater treatment and leaching system.

The wines tasted showcase incredible purity of fruit and terroir nuances both reflecting the growing conditions and minimal intervention winemaking. With many bottles available between £10-12 / $12-15, and others just reaching £20/$23 they represent remarkable value for money and are really worth seeking out.

See the Maison Ventenac tasting notes and scores

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