Herri Mina, 2018 Irouléguy Rouge
Herri Mina was established in 1996 by winemaking legend Jean-Claude Berrouet. If the name Jean-Claude Berrouet is not immediately familiar to you, perhaps you are more familiar with the estate that he made wine at for 44 vintages - Château Pétrus. Yes, you heard me correctly. From 1964 to 2008, Jean-Claude Berrouet was in charge of winemaking at Château Pétrus in Pomerol. Jean-Claude is from Basque Country, and he always wanted to have vineyards in this part of France, and the name "herri mina" in Basque loosely translates to "nostalgia". Jean-Claude makes two wines here in Irouléguy, a white from Petit Menseng, Petit Corbu and Gros Menseng, and a red from Cabernet Franc. He shared with me that he chose Cabernet Franc because, like him, this grape hails from Basque Country, and working with this grape on these lands is like getting back to basics, getting back to its roots.
So let me unpack this a bit for folks. From what we know based on DNA evidence, Cabernet Franc originates from the Spanish País Vasco, that is Basque Country. Historically, Basque Country was this area the straddled the border of France and Spain, on the Atlantic side, western side, of the Pyrenees. It has been determined that Cabernet Franc is the parent of two very old varieties that hail from the area around the city of Hondarribia, they are Hondarribi Beltza and Morenoa. .
The region of Irouléguy is located in Northern Basque Country, historically in the department of the Lower Navarra. Here, Cabernet Franc goes by the local name Achéria, which means fox. And this area around Irouléguy has a very long history of viticulture that likely pre-dates Roman times. But the region's wines didn't really begin to gain notoriety until around the 13th century when the monks of the monastery of Roncesvalles were cultivating vineyards with local varieties at the priories in the villages of Irouleguy and Arhaux, located on the route between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and town of Hondarribia, all of which were important stops for pilgrims following the Way of St James all the way out to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. And of course, at this time, bread and wine were important means of sustenance for those on this long religious pilgrimage, and while the first mention of Achéria doesn't appear in records until 1903, it is very likely that Cabernet Franc was one of these important local varieties.
Thanks in part to the nearby important port city of Bayonne, the wines from Irouléguy continued to gain acclaim through the end of the 19th century not only in Basque Country, but in other important export markets. At the time vineyard plantings here reached their peak of about 1000ha. With the onset of phylloxera in the late 1800s, many of these vineyards disappeared, and by 1950 there was only about 50 hectares under vine in the region.
Today the Irouléguy appellation, which was established in 1970, encompasses 15 communes, and there are about 260 hectares under vine. The appellation is for red wines, rosés and whites, reds accounting for about 60% of the appellation's production, and rosé 20%. And Cabernet Franc, along with Tannat, are the principle varieties for the red wines. And currently there is around 50 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted in the region.
So let's look at the grape growing environment in Irouléguy. First, we are in a moderate maritime climate strongly influenced by the Atlantic, which is about 40km to the west, so the region receives quite high rainfall, about 1500mm of rainfall per year. While the rainfall occurs all year round, as is typical with maritime climates, the majority of the rainfall happens during the winter and early spring, providing ideal conditions for viticulture in late summer and early autumn.
Another important piece of Irouleguy's climate is in the late summer and autumn, there is a strong, warm, dry southerly föhn wind known locally as the Haïze Hegoa which blows on average every third day. And this helps to eliminate excess moisture from the vineyards lowering disease pressure.
Finally, we have the how the vines are planted and the soils. So we are in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, so the terrain here is extreme with steep, undulating hillsides, that intermingle with dozens of streams and tributaries that flow through the region. The vineyards are all located on these very steep slopes, typically at a 60% slope, on terraces situated typically between 200 and 400m above sea level.
The soils across the region are quite varied in terms of what is found where, but in general there are three main soil influences, all of which have excellent drainage but also balance moisture retention, which is important for Cabernet Franc. We have red sandstone that dates to the Triassic-era, Keuper ophites which are of volcanic origin, and then we have calcareous soils that date to the Jurassic era.
So today's wine is coming from a 1 hectare parcel of Cabernet Franc vines in the commune of Ispoure, in foothills of the massif of Arradoy. The vines are planted on red sandstone soils, on very steep, south-facing terraces at altitudes ranging from 150 to 300m. The vines were planted in 2000, and Jean-Claude shared with me that he is working with the Clone 214 in this vineyards, which is the Loire clone. He believes that this is one of the best clones available for Cabernet Franc in terms of viticultural characteristics and quality.
The winemaking for this wine is very classic. The fruit is hand-harvested, and destemmed. Fermentation is in small stainless steel vats. Jean-Claude takes a gentle approach with extractions and the wine stays on skins for about 15 days in order to preserve the fruitier side of the wine. Élevage lasts about 12 to 14 months in one year old oak barrels.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Herri Mina
Region: Southwest France
Appellation: Irouléguy
Commune: Ispoure
Soils: Red sandstone of the Triassic
Alcohol: 13.5%
