Well, in the early 1970s, Domaine Terres Blanches, the winery located on the hillsides of the Alpilles in between the townships of St. Rémy and Eygalières, began to work organically. Terres Blanches is a lucky winery, M. Michelin of Michelin tires is behind it, and they have the means to express their hopes and dreams. Together with innovative farmers and biologists, they both returned to the world of organic farming, and redefined it. Today, the tools and methods used by so many in this region were developed at this winery. We very much enjoy their rich fruity red, and when the year is particularly good, they make their cuvée prestige and name it the cuvée Aurelia. Of all the wines I mention in this article, theirs will be the easiest to find exported to the United States, Great Britain, Germany and further abroad.

Not everyone in the region has followed suit. However, amongst those that have their is a small winery in Vauvert in the Gard (part of the larger area known as the Languedoc), which makes predominantly simple vins de pays, and when the harvest is good, an AOC Costières de Nîmes. The closest neighbor to Terres Blanches, the Domaine D'Eole, under the guidance of wine-maker Mathias Wimmer. And a small family winery in Rasteau, part of the appelation Côte du Rhône Villages.

Jean Paul Cabanis in Vauvert has now been working organically for 15 years, longer than many. His winery is a small one, located on the west side of the Rhône on lands he identifies as resembling those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (rocky, dry soil, on the hillsides). He makes white, rosé and red wines as his ancestors have been doing at least as far back as his great grandfather, in the early 1800s. Apparently the name Cabanis crops up in many towns in Languedoc and is often indicative of their Protestant faith. In 1998, Jean Paul decided to begin making a higher quality wine which would qualify under the strict guidelines of the AOC Costières de Nîmes. It was surprisingly good, and if you can believe it, was selling for 20 francs (just over $3) in 1998, and then 30 francs (not quite $5) a bottle till stock was exhausted. We served this wine alongside far more prestigious and expensive bottles, and again and again people asked us where they could find this one... we didn't mention what we'd paid for it. And now there is no more. Not happy with his harvest in 1999, he only made his vin de pays that year. But, when we visited him during the early part of the harvest in 2000 and 2001 (a rarity, we try never to intrude during this hectic and delicate time, but he is a gracious and warm host so...) he looked upbeat and hopeful. Both years turned out well, amazingly so. And in particular, the 2001 is a year of deep, rich and fruity wines, both chez Cabanis, but also throughout the Rhone Valley.

Across the Rhône and a bit further north you'll find the Domaine de Trapadis on the outskirts of the village of Rasteau. There, the young Hélen Durand and his mother Michelle are business associates making some of the most delicious red wines in the region. He is known as a bit over-the-top, a little bit crazy, in his devotion to wine, wine-making, his vines, his lands... he lives and breathes grapes and wine. He started making wine on his family's lands when he was 16 (he is now 27). During his younger years, his mother had done what many do, she sold the harvest each year to a larger winemaker who used her grapes to make his wines. But, Hélen, while attending the agricultural high-school with a focus on wine-making, decided to take back the family lands and experiment on them, making their own wine and developing their own name. When he took back over the family lands, they were as many in the region were, exhausted by the overuse of pesticides and herbicides, and giving a relatively ok, if not exceptional yield. He opted to go organic, bit by bit, turning over the weeds and letting them mulch to feed his land rather than killing them with herbicides. He visits his vines daily, and immediately is aware of any invasion of pests (and so can handle it early and without strong pesticides) or illness or mold or any other element attacking his vines. He, and the other organic wine-makers in the region, use the topical application of copper and sulfur to combat mold and certain diseases, treatments allowed under the organic labelling in France (known as BIO).

Hélen has noticed that in not using extra chemistry in the growth of his vines, he is able to make use of the yeast naturally present on his grapes to start fermentation, and does not add any to his vats. In this way he is able to make a wine that expresses the "terroir". A wine of his land, of his air, of his region. He grows the traditional Grenache and Carignan of the region, as well as Syrah and Mourvedre grapes. He does not age his wines in oak barrels, neither new nor old, but vinifies in cement tanks (a common material for fermentation vats here, adapted for wine-makers, and like old wood, it permits oxygenation during the fermentation process, unlike stainless steel). However, to gain a certain element of wood tannin, he leaves the grape stems in as he ferments, rather than removing them as many do, including both Cabanis and Wimmer below. He makes a gamut of 4 red wines and one VDN red dessert wine. Each is wonderful, from the simple red-currant spiciness of his basic AOC Côte du Rhône, to his top of the line Les Adrés, deep, dark, rich and complex. His red dessert wine has notes of blackberry and black current and is fantastic when paired with a dark chocolate mousse.

Back down in our neighborhood, is the Domaine d'Eole, run by Mathias Wimmer, who, as his name would indicate, is originally from Germany. He has been at the winery these past 10 years and is making what we firmly believe is the best wine in the Baux de Provence region, (under the AOC Côteaux d'Aix and Les Baux de Provence). His winery is located on the outskirts of Eygalières, a small village in the Alpilles, right on the sides of the Alpilles hills. The lands are dusty, rocky and dry, ideal for growing the Syrah grape. The winery also grows Grenache (a staple of the region) and dark fruity Carignan, the rare Counoise, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mathias works organically and lives right in the midst of his lands, ideal for visiting them daily and keeping good tabs on the health of his vines and the ripeness of each parcel.

One of the methods of controlling the quality of his wine (which his colleague Hélen Durand also uses to the north) is to do what is known in local terms as a "vendange vert" in the month of July. The aim is to control the production of his land, drastically limiting the quantity of liquid that he produces per acre or as they use here, per hectare. In the month of July, Mathias and Hélen go amongst their vines and cut off many many bunches of grapes, still small and green. For their top wines, they reduce the production of each vine to only 3 grape bunches per individual plant. (if left alone, the plant could produce 2-4 times as much, depending on the age of the plant). Why do they reduce the potential wine production of their vineyards? To strengthen the plant and concentrate all the plant's energy on fewer grapes. This gives them a more intense, rich, dark and concentrated wine. Mathias limits his production to 1/2 of the liquid quantity allowed him under his AOC guidelines. A drastic step in the direction of quality.

Mathias makes 2 very different rosés, one classic, rich in fruit and crisp, another with a higher concentration of Syrah grapes, and aged in partially new oak barrels. The latter he makes in very small quantity and by early June, there is no more (having been bottled in March!). He also makes 3 reds. One is a fruity, dry wine to be drunk a bit chilled, ideal in summer with a dominant of the Carignan grape, this is his cuvée Gardian. The second is his Côteaux d'Aix classic with a dominant of his Grenache vines, Counoise and then 5-8% Syrah, a wine rich in dark red fruits, body, with a hint of spice. The last is his cuvée Léa (in the States it is called the cuvée Prestige) which has a larger percentage of Syrah grapes (you can tell in the color and body of the wine... dense and black). This is his spiciest, richest, most complex wine, and the only red wine which he ages in new oak barrels, but only for a percentage of it, allowing him to control the woodiness of the final product.

Whether the means are minimal, or generous, if the wine-maker is devoted to his art -- and I always say, a wine-maker must be an accomplished farmer, scientist and bear both good judgement and good taste -- wondeful wine can be made. Granted, he must work with the land he is given, or purchases, and the grapes he chooses to grow, and the weather.... but, given a chance, his heart, his soul, and the land will be in his wine. It will be uniquely his, uniquely of the land upon which it is grown, it will have its own personality, and challenge us with its complexity.