This May I had the opportunity to spend time with Olivier Pithon, a rising young star making wine in the Roussillon. Olivier is now recognized in Europe as part of the new generation of winemaking phenoms. K&L is proud to offer a selection of Olivier’s wines, which beautifully showcase the beauty and terroir of one of the most underrated wine regions of France.
2003 Côtes du Roussillon Domaine Olivier Pithon “La Coulée” ($20.99) “La Coulée” is a great introduction to both the terrior of the region and to Olivier’s non-interventionist style. This grenache-based red (with some carignan and syrah for tannin and acidity) offers copious quantities of sweet red fruit with a spicy note of pepper and local wild herbs.
2004 Cotes du Roussillon Blanc Domaine Olivier Pithon “Cuvée Laïs” ($26.99) Laïs is the name of one of Olivier much cherished Jersey cows. Maybe it’s strange to name a wine after a cow, but, you see, both the wine and cow share something quite significant in common; they are both loved by Pithon! The blend here is maccabeu and white and gray grenache. A proportion of new oak is used in fermentation, but the wood influence is always discreet, allowing the very fresh flowery notes to speak.
2003 Côtes du Roussillon Domaine Olivier Pithon “Saturne” ($28.99) Produced from black grenache and carignan, planted on the rock on shale slopes almost 60 years ago. A touch of syrah enlivens this local base. Very special attention is given to these vines from which you can catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean, the foothills of the Pyrenees and Corbières.
2003 Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Blanc Domaine Olivier Pithon “LA D18” ($39.99) For the domaine’s top white cuvee, Pithon borrowed the name of a local road, one that threads its way quite breathtakingly from Calce to Le Col de la Dona. The LA D18 is based on a selection of the best slopes of white and grey grenache and tastes quite like a white Châteauneuf.
—Mulan Chan