Le Mazel ‘Raoul’ Rouge

Location: France, Rhône

Winemaker: Gérald Oustric

Grapes: Carignan

Soil: Clay, limestone 

Winemaking: Hand harvested into small boxes, and then fermented carbonically for 10 days before being pressed off into stainless steel tanks for 7 months. This is bottled without filtration, fining, or any sulfur addition.

From us at M&L: Gérald Oustric was working his family’s vineyards in the little town of Valvignères in the Ardèche when he met the renowned Marcel Lapierre in the 80s. Before this fateful rendezvous the Oustric family was selling all their fruit to the local co-operative; but it took that one meeting with the legendary member of the Gang of Four to show Gérald that there were other ways to make wine. Tending to one’s own vines, treating them naturally and with respect, would result in wines with purer, more expressive flavors, showcase specific terroir and personality, and that would be kinder to the earth. He immediately pulled out of the co-op and, with the help of his sister Jocelyne, started converting the family’s vineyards to organics, with a focus on making wine without any additives whatsoever. Today Le Mazel cultivates about 19 hectares, with some for their own wines but also leasing vineyards to friends and colleagues—beloved producers Anders Frederik Steen and Sylvain Bock, to name a few—and some fruit sold négociant. These are wines showcasing the mistral-swept, clay and limestone-driven rugged climate of the Ardèche.