Daumas Gassac and Grange des Pères furious with the green wine guide: settling of scores at OK Corral

L'héritage des fils Guibert (ici aux côtés de leur mère Véronique) mis en question par le guide. SYLVIE CAMBON

The green guide to the best wines in France, published by the Revue du vin de France (RVF), which is released in bookstores this Thursday, has not made everyone happy in Languedoc and Roussillon. The Daumas Gassac estate is up in arms against the guide, demanding "a little respect" and a little less "contempt". As for another legendary Aniane estate, the Grange des Pères, it has simply cut ties with the RVF. But beyond the specific cases, one thing is clear: if Languedoc was popular a few years ago, it is now stagnating, or even regressing in the ranking of the best estates, despite the retention of a few sure values ​​such as Olivier Jullien.

"How much time… How much more time. Years, days, hours, how much?" Serge Reggiani sang about the thirst for life in Le temps qui reste. We could apply the same refrain to the wines of Languedoc-Roussillon. How much more time will they be the ugly duckling on the wine planet?

This week, the publication of the 2025 green guide to the best wines in France was enough to dampen their hopes. Is the time so close of the big red that stains and of the yield at all costs?

Let's not paint an outrageously dark picture… The guide salutes a few major, even legendary, estates: the emblematic Olivier Jullien in Jonquières and the no less avoidable Gauby père et fils, Gérard et Lionel, in Calce. But five vineyards out of 104 inheriting a “three stars” is not much… 5%, in fact.

Languedoc alone, with two three-star estates (Mas Jullien and Peyre Rose), struggles to reach 2%. Not to mention that the Grail is still out of reach: zero points in “four stars”, an additional distinction introduced two years ago.

“We are faced with Parisians who are a bit in a close-knit group” assures Roman Guibert

Languedoc-Roussillon has 21 “two stars”, out of 275 in total, and 43 “one star”, out of 451. It is with this last category, the lowest of the four classified levels, that Daumas Gassac, in Aniane, must be satisfied. A slap in the face, considering the prestige of the estate. “We are faced with Parisians who are a bit in the middle of it, deplores Roman Guibert, the vineyard's France director. They do this in an office […]. I tried to have a discussion with them several times to ask for a little respect, in vain. I see mostly contempt."

"We have a very special wine, the antithesis of Languedoc wines, it stands out. This is nothing new.” Understand: what Aimé Guibert, his father, initiated 50 years ago does not please everyone. He was inspired by the Bordeaux model, introduced Cabernet Sauvignon, playing solo, therefore, outside the specifications of regional appellations.  A wine disconnected from the Languedoc identity: this is precisely what the guide criticizes the Guibert brothers for.

Languedoc has been less popular in recent years

Aimé Guibert, unbeatable in extolling the merits of his success story, died in 2016 at the age of 91. He passed the torch to his sons in 2010.

If Daumas Gassac feels mistreated, with grades at ground level, others are smiling. The Pas de l'Escalette estate, in Poujols (Hérault), has two stars. "When you're in the guide, they say it's not bad, when you're not, they say they're rubbish, in short, you're never happy, agrees Julien Zernott. We're rated differently than if we were Burgundians or Champagnes. We're condemned to do well to continue to exist. And we're starting from a long way back."

According to him, the moods of consumers and the market have troubled the rise of the region's wines: "A few years ago, concentrated wines were needed, now we need infused wines. Languedoc is moving in this direction, betting on finesse, especially for whites. But it's a long process. And it's true that Jura and Savoie are more popular today. That was the case for Languedoc five years ago“.

Tirelessly, reinventing oneself, after having believed that one had succeeded. All the time that remains. Years, days, hours. How much more time?

Bernard Vaillé does not carry the Revue des vins de France in his heart, especially since the death of his brother Laurent. ARNAUD BOUCOMONT

“They're idiots, they're not about to set foot here again”

Bernard Vaillé cannot blame the Green Guide to French Wines for not having included his Grange des Pères estate in its ranking: he refused, as he has for many years, to send them tasting samples.

The dispute is old: his brother Laurent, tragically deceased in 2021, had ended up falling out with the Revue du vin de France (RVF). “One day, they criticized the estate by saying that we did not send samples, that we considered ourselves an untouchable estate. Laurent had seen red, he had told me “They're idiots, they're not going to set foot here again!””.

The aftermath of Laurent Vaillé's suicide didn't help matters. “After what they did…” He doesn't finish his sentence. The litigation is heavy.

“In the RVF, they wrote that the property was vacant, that it was Frédéric Pourtalié and his sister (friends of the Vaillés, at the head of the Montcalmès estate in Puechabon, Editor's note) who were going to take charge of the winemaking”. Certainly, Bernard Vaillé chose not to speak to anyone for six months, closing his doors on the very day of his brother's death, but he had “never intended to sell the estate”.

The winemaker almost took the RVF to court. “My lawyer told me it would be complicated and I just made a right of reply“, he specifies.

Bernard Vaillé regrets the proportions taken: “It's a shame, because it's almost the only truly specialized magazine on wine“.

Bernard Vaillé will not start his harvest before September. “In the first ten days of the month”, he sighs. I subscribe to read the rest