Didier Barral started Domaine Leon Barral with the passion and vision all true revolutionaries innately possess. Since the early 1990’s, at the genesis of this project, he has farmed his 30 hectares biodynamically - no matter how labor-intensive the toil requires. The results of his hard work have changed the way we look at the potential of the once underappreciated region. Located in the Languedoc’s appellation of Faugères, about an hour southwest of Montpellier and roughly 25 miles from the Mediterranean, Domaine Leon Barral works Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault almost entirely by hand. Through a natural relationship between the vines, natural vegetation and animal life on his property, he nurtures pristine fruit that is full of life with a voice of the terroir. Didier has a team of horses, pigs, and cows that graze in the vineyards and begin the natural symbiosis in which all nature thrives. I have found that in most vineyards, where there is a natural cycle of life, without the use of chemical fertilizers and sprays, the expression of place reaches a potential never matched by their neighbors. Such is the case here.

The first time I ever tasted a bottle of Didier’s wine was with a group of well-seasoned sommeliers with several years of experience on me. I had no idea what it was, where it came from or what it tasted like. After slowly enjoying the wine over the next few hours, I was stunned by every aspect of its beauty. I will never forget the potential of this producer and that wine experience – it simply stopped time. Crafted incredibly traditionally, the grapes for this wine are harvested by hand then predominantly destemmed with only a few whole clusters utilized in production. The must is fermented in a large wooden vat, using only natural yeasts, then pressed with an old traditional press into cement tanks where the wine ages for two years. The wines are never racked, filtered or fined, and no sulfur dioxide is added. The result is a magical expression of this special pocket of the Languedoc that is truly full of energy, power, and elegance.