Movin’ On Up to the East Side of Cote Rotie

To make a sure-fire cult wine, the recipe is simple: a charismatic winemaker, a popular grape and a location with a name like Burgundy, Bordeaux or Co^te Ro^tie.

But since European Union and French law greatly restrict the planting of new vineyards in those pricey appellations, three winemakers from the Northern Rhone are trying another approach. They’re going across the river to make a cult wine from newly planted vineyards in an area classified only for lowly vins de pays.

The first cuvee of the new wine, called Sotanum, is a red in the image of Co^te Ro^tie and has already arrived in a few U.S. stores. Its producers, Yves Cuilleron, Pierre Gaillard and Francois Villard, began planting five years ago within the commune of Seyssuel, a couple of miles north of Vienne, on the east bank of the Rhone River--across from the prestigious vineyards of Co^te Ro^tie.

Already producing wines in several prestigious Rhone appellations, the three are staking their claim to land that was once as famous as any in the region. Roman wine lovers such as Pliny the Elder gave high marks to the wines produced from both sides of the Rhone, which were called simply “wines of Vienne.”

Well-regarded wines were produced around Seyssuel until the end of the 19th century. Then phylloxera struck, killing the vines, and many growers went to work in the textile mills. When an appelation was granted for neighboring Co^te Ro^tie in 1940, the Seyssuel growers failed to petition for their own appellation and the land was eventually classified only for vins de pays.

“Some of the old-timers say that before the war, the negociants of Ampuis still bought grapes over here to spice up their Co^te Ro^ties,” says Gaillard, 45, who used to work for the ultra-prestigious West Bank wine firm Guigal.

That’s a little like saying fine Burgundy used to be blended with Co^tes du Rhone. No wonder there has been some sour-grapes griping from Co^te Ro^tie growers. The raves of modern critics such as Robert Parker have ensured that their wines command the prices of the rarest Burgundies and Bordeaux, and no one really likes a market challenge.

Not to worry. The pressures on all cult-wine prices are not likely to dissipate soon. There are too many buyers, while the production of cachet vineyards is always relatively low.

On the other hand, the gap between the unavailability of the wines in hottest demand and the availability of those in greatest supply has never been wider.

The EU prohibition on new vineyards was designed to help drain this lake of less prestigious wines. To plant new vineyards, the same area of equivalently rated vineyards must be removed from wine production somewhere else.

“We were able to replant those hillsides,” explains Villard, 38, “because EU regulations say that vin de pays vineyards can be planted in exchange for such vineyards torn up in any part of the EU.”

So Cuilleron, Gaillard and Villard first had to acquire (and rip out) enough vin de pays vineyards to put up against the parcels they wanted to plant.

Their next step was to persuade the owners of the best Seyssuel parcels to lease. “That wasn’t too difficult,” Gaillard says, “since many of the old families had a romantic longing for the old days and wanted to see grapes grown on their land again.”

The three have taken long leases on the parcels, and French law makes it difficult to dislodge a farmer even at the end of his lease. Thus the replanting represents a permanent change in the vinous geography--if the business side goes as well as they hope. Altogether, there is enough good land for at least 240 acres--half the size of the entire Co^te Ro^tie appellation.

The banks they approached for financing the leases are betting on success too. Of course, they were less swayed by romance than by the potential for a viable prestige product.

“Fortunately, the hillsides of Seyssuel are a magnificent terroir for the Syrah grape,” says Cuilleron, 38. The Rhone makes a curve right above Vienne, so the slopes there have a southerly exposition and a soil makeup (principally schist) similar to the best Co^te Ro^tie sites.

Cuilleron and his partners snapped up the best Seyssuel sites--relying on the testimony of old-timers and ancient books--before anyone was looking. Their leases total more than 61 acres, of which more than 20 have been planted. By contrast, many individual Co^te Ro^tie vineyards are barely more than one acre. No wonder the West Bank is not amused.

Nevertheless, other potential growers appeared soon after Cuilleron and company began planting. Chief among these was the house of Chapoutier--Guigal’s main rival. Chapoutier has contracted for a smaller amount of land to the north of Seyssuel.

Michel Chapoutier says he intends to produce a wine that will out-value generic Co^te Ro^tie. And if that sounds premature, recall that the ne plus ultra of cult wines, Guigal’s 1985 Co^te Ro^tie “La Turque,” came from vines that were only 4 years old. Gaillard certainly knows this--he helped replant that vineyard too!

The partners’ 1998 first official harvest yielded only 40 barrels of a dark, aromatic red and three barrels of rose. One hundred cases of the red (aged in 100% new oak) arrived in America last spring, imported by European Wine Cellars. The wines were presented at this summer’s Hospices du Rhone festival in California by the venture vineyardists themselves. Meanwhile, the 1999 and 2000 harvests were also successful.

Still, the ultimate success for the new wine would be winning its own appellation. The big and little makers of Co^te Ro^tie have objected--with some historical justification--to the triumvirate’s using terms like “Wine of Vienne” for their product.

Maybe it’s for the best. Cuilleron et al. have named their enterprise the Domaine des Vins de Vienne and have begun to use this brand for a range of super-premium Rhone negociant wines, already on American shelves retailing for between $14 and $50, depending on appellation.

For their Seyssuel cuvees and parcels, the friends have resurrected the names of forgotten Roman vineyards. The 1998, which retails for about $32, bears the date in Roman numerals and the name Sotanum, which suggests the sustenance to be had from the wines produced here in the future.

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Bisazza is a freelance journalist who divides his time between Japan and France and has a special interest in the wines of the Northern Rhone.

Les Vins de Vienne are available at The Wine Exchange, 2368 N. Orange Mall, Tustin, (714) 974-1454; L.A. Wine Company, 4935 McConnell Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 306-9463; Hi Time Wine Cellars, 250 Ogle St., Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463; and Woodland Hills Wine Company, 22622 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111. If you can’t find these wines, have your local retailer contact the distributor, European Wine Cellars, at (212) 924-4949.