LE CLOT DE L'ORIGINE

ROUSSILLON, FRANCE

Humble, modest, yet an icon and trailblazer of winemaking in Roussillon, Marc Barriot does things differently than most in his region. What stood out to me initially was his original take on winemaking by crafting something unique out of ‘what works’ and not forcing anything that simply doesn’t. Marc grows mostly red grapes, yet most of his wines are white. His signature touch to the wild world of winemaking is that he often vinifies red grapes in a white wine method to produce a racy, energetic white wine that represents where it came from with finesse and a dash of cool. They’re really quite mind bending and in varying degrees show freshness, minerality, and crunchy, saline, juicy, herbal, floral characteristics. He of course also makes red wine, which are absolutely aromatic, lively and juicy, showing many similarities to his whites.

Marc’s wines are low in alcohol and have minimal additions of sulphur, which in my opinion allow you to enjoy the wines better and get a greater sense of its place; they aren’t masked. Though winemaking is no simple feat, the intention behind simplicity is at the core of Le Clot de l’Origine, where you’ll find a horse or mule plowing the vineyards, harvest done by hand, ambient yeast fermentation, no fining or filtration, and hand-bottling the wines himself. It is a labour of love, precision and intention.