Rémi Sédès
France, Nantes, Coteaux d’Ancenis
Like the beloved Shire horses he uses in the vineyards, Remi Sedes likes to take things slowly. For him, his work as a winemaker is as much a lifestyle choice as a profession. He relishes his time outside, and avoids working with machines. As he puts it; he might as well get a job in a factory listening to machinery if he were to sit driving a tractor around the vineyard all day.
Hailing from the Jura, he studied agronomy when he arrived in the area to live closer to his wife's family in Nantes. He earned his white stripes with Vincent Caillé, followed with a brief stint in Bordeaux to grapple with reds, before setting up to take things at his own pace in 2013.
Speaking to him in the early days of the pandemic, he was thankful for the opportunity to slow down further. "Actually, I like the way things are now. There is a lot less speed and stress, people have slowed down. I can concentrate better on my work in the vineyard and I feel calmer overall."
It's in character then that Remi prefers not to rush his wines to market, and has just released his 2018 Gamay; Cuvees Noe & Trait.
Rémi is a Gamay specialist, and this was a key factor in choosing to work in Ancenis, north-east of Nantes. The soil is micro granite - which suits Gamay particularly well - with a mix of clay, sand and limon underneath. Gamay is vigorous, and the acidity in these soils help to reduce yields.
Remi takes Gamay very seriously, his have real structure and finesse. The approach changed a little in 2018, being the year he felt confident to give sulphur the boot, and decided to soften the edges of his reds.
What can you tell us about 2018 Remi?
"That summer I had to put up a big fight against mildew due to loads of rain, that’s what I was worried about the entire time. But, the harvest ended up really good, the mildew didn't affect the buds. The year before our yields had been so low, things really bounced back for 2018. It ended up as a very good year, in terms of quantity and maturity."
"For the Gamay in '18, I wanted shorter macerations - just 15 days on the Trait Gamay while for Noé the maceration was 3-4 weeks. They were bottled without sulphur in May 2019.”
How is your mare, Tocade getting on? When we last spoke you were hopeful there might be a successor?
"Tocade is well, she is pregnant! She will hopefully give birth in May. This autumn we had to plough the vines with a very good plough I found back home in the Jura, it did a great job. So I'm happy."
How was the rest of 2020?
"We’d had a very rainy winter in 2019, which was unusual here but great for the soil to build up water reserves for the hotter months that came in 2020. We had a very hot summer, 37, 38 degrees celsius. But the vines had drunk well over winter and it ended up being a very easy year for them. The fermentations went very smoothly.
I'll actually be bottling the 2020 rose next month and it is tasting very, very, very, very, very good!"
NOW IN STOCK
2019 - Muscadet Côteaux De La Loire - Michto - Melon de B - 12.78
NEW 2018 - Coteaux d’Ancenis - Cuvée Noé - Gamay - 12.78
NEW 2018 - Coteaux d’Ancenis - Trait Gamay - Gamay - 13.25
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