Grapes: Rolle (Vermentino)
Region: Provence, France
Vintage: 2023
Viticulture: Organic
Soils: Silty clay + Limestone
Vinification: Direct press of whole bunches
Aging: Rested on lees, 3/4 in stainless steel tank, 1/4 in oak barrel
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None
Notes from the Importer:
Getting his start in Burgundy, Marc Kemlin found his love for viticulture while working at a family friend's estate in Chassagne-Montrachet. While passionate and dedicated to the work in the vines, Kemlin found himself increasingly heartbroken seeing each year's work pressed, yeasted and sent to négociants the next day. He'd hit a wall, and when his wife Fanny admitted that she found it hard to integrate herself socially and professionally in Burgundy, it was time to for a change. Ready to start a family, the two agreed to move to the city of Aix-en-Provence where Fanny had grown up. Continuing to work in wine, Marc went from micro-parcelsvinified in Burgundian barrels to production-centric chateaux centered on massive quantities of commercial rosé. The culture shock of Provence was real.
While continuing to vinifiy huge vats of mediocre rosé, Marc felt increasingly pulled towards starting his own, small-scale artisanal project. Serendipitously, Fanny's family happened to own a sprawling estate called Domaine des Ribières just 30 minutes north of Aix-en-Provence. The property is breathtakingly beautiful but also a unique terroir: tucked away in the Ribières valley with no neighbors, the estate sits at 350 meters elevation, quite high for the region. The soils consist of silty clay and limestone, with one sector exposed south and the other north. A little river at the edge of the property brings freshness and contributes to a micro-climate that protects from frost. In other words, good stuff!
Vines had been planted at Ribières 70 years prior, but the land had long been used to grow cereals. Knowing that that replanting would take a lot of time, money and effort, Kemlin decided to in the interim start a collaborative project with his friend Pierre Rochard of the fantastic bistro Les Vieilles Canailles in Aix-en-Provence. Dubbed Colvert over many nights of eating and drinking, the plan was to find a space outside of the city that would double as a restaurant and winery. Things were well under way, including a delicious, unsulfured négociant cuvée of Rolle dubbed "R/C" that blew our minds the first time we tried it. But the pandemic upended everything, forcing Rochard to pivot to catering and making the partnership untenable. Undeterred, Kemlin bought out his partner and continued the Colvert project as a solo endeavor.
Starting with a plantation of Grenache Noir in 2019, Marc has progressively planted roughly half a hectare every year, now totalling four hectares at the time of this writing. Along with the Grenache, Rolle, Cinsault and Roussanne now grow in Domaine des Ribières' soils. Marc estimates he could plant up to 10 hectares but is hesitant, as he feels adamant about meticulously working his land from A to Z.
"For me, touching every vine is like reading the land. You can have someone give you a summary of a book and know what happened, but you have to read it yourself to create your own images and ideas from it. I love planting each vine, pruning each vine, doing the green harvest, taking care of them… Only that way can I learn and understand how my actions will affect my work. To me it’s a powerful exchange."
Uninspired by the rosé-centric Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOC, Kemlin has decided to pass his entire production to Vin de France. Passionate about white wine from his time in Burgundy, Marc's focus is principally on white wine production, including atypical blanc de noirs from Grenache and Cinsault. As whites only represent 4% of Provencal wine production, Kemlin freely admits it's also a way to be creative and to distinguish himself in a competitive, saturated market:
"90% of the time, when I taste a white wine from Provence, it’s yeasted and smells like peach and kiwi. You smell it and you don’t even want to taste it. I love white wine and decided it would be my goal to make excellent white wine from Provence. It’s also interesting because it really goes against anything being made in the region. My land finds itself within the Coteaux d’Aix-en Provence AOC, but from the beginning I decided I’d make everything in Vin de France. This gives me a freedom to be creative, but also to learn."
2022 was the first vintage produced from Marc's young plantations, resulting in two estate wines: a 100% Rolle and the aformentioned blanc de noirs from Grenache, with a 100% Chardonnay of purchased organic grapes from the Luberon rounding out the lineup. At this point, he in debating whether to if he'll permit himself to buy grapes in future vintages.
Despite the vines being very young, Marc's vision, passion and attention to detail shines through in the bottle. These are one of kind wines made against the grain in a region bogged down by standardization. And they are only going to get better as the vines sink their roots deeper into the mother rock.
