“You have to taste this,” said sommelier Vanya Filipovic, bottle in hand and voice tinged with mystery. The label of this Aglyphe 2018 was mesmerizing, adorned with a snake hiding in graphic vegetation. And the juice (red) in the bottle: of rare sensuality.
The co-owner of Vin Mon Lapin, who, at the time, was still in charge of the Vin Papillon menu, had just discovered the Quebec estate Clos sur-Vivant and she wanted to share the excellent news.
Three years later, at Vin Mon Lapin, we tasted another vintage from this surprisingly small, still confidential vineyard, located in Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse, on the south shore of Quebec. The same enchantment had occurred. Then a third time more recently, tasting a bottle of the Bagnard 2021 vintage.
It was time to go there to elucidate the mystery of these very special Radisson vintages and their discreet authors. We’re not sure what or who we were expecting – maybe cluster wizards! –, but what we find in Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse is a very welcoming fellow, in front of his brand new cubic cellar, adjacent to a farm building, surrounded by corn fields, on the side of Route 279.
Behind the rows of corn, there is one of several small plots. This contains Radisson, a grape variety chosen because it had grown well for years at the neighbor, Domaine Bel-Chas, and three white grape varieties: Bel-Chas, Frontenac and Osceola Muscat.
With around 4,400 vine plants aged between 4, 7 and 14 years (the first grapes were not vinified), for an area of perhaps one and a quarter hectares, the project is tiny. And brothers Jeff and Nicolas Roy don’t intend to gain much weight.
“We really want to stay small, keep control and focus on quality. We would perhaps replant 1,500 vines to eventually reach an annual production of around 10,000 bottles, but no more. » For comparison, Pinard et Filles and Les Pervenches produce around 20,000 bottles each.
It must be said that Nicolas has to manage without his brother Jeff most of the time. The latter lives in Berlin, where he has been a wine merchant for 10 years. He comes to Quebec twice a year, for spring pruning and fall vinification. The rest of the time, Nic is helped by his farmer father. Father of two young children, the winemaker also works as a substitute in Quebec schools.
The first vintage marketed on a larger scale by Clos sur-Vivant was the 2021, with 1,500 bottles. Surprisingly (tip!), we found a few bottles of it recently at Veux-tu une beer, branch on Avenue du Parc, in Montreal. In 2022, a fungal disease wiped out some of the grapes, but the brothers still managed to produce around 1,200 bottles.
At the end of the visit, we understand that Clos sur-Vivant does not have a magic recipe. It has the same challenges as other Quebec vineyards, between excessive humidity, raccoons and potential frost. No “special” equipment or containers are hidden in the winery.
If there is a trademark here that could explain the incredible sensuality that we find in wines (especially reds), it would undoubtedly be the desire to do everything in the most artisanal and natural way possible. The wood with which the winery was built came from the neighbor’s white spruce tree. The colorful labels are original works by Nicolas. None of the wines have had sulfur added.
The Roys tested a host of techniques, whether direct press, classic carbonic maceration, the infusion of whole berries in the musts, “lasagna” (maceration by successive layers of whole bunch grapes and destemmed grapes). ). And they haven’t stopped having fun!
Thanks to “Minettes”, an oenophile grocery store in Sainte-Rose, we learned that there was another pair of Roy brothers interested in winemaking, this time in Montreal. We meet Simon and Mathieu, from Mâsson-Villages, at Café Lézard, on the Promenade… Masson. The owner of the restaurant, Rachel Chevalier, is passionate about designer wines. “She was the first to confirm to us that we were producing something drinkable! », says Mathieu Roy.
The Roy brothers fell under the spell of natural wines around 2006, when they opened the late Moine Échanson in Quebec. “We drank chardos and pinots noirs there that didn’t taste at all like what they normally taste like and that fascinated us,” says Mathieu Roy, who works as an advertising designer/editor. “At the same time, I was trying Quebec wines and wondering why I never found anything to my taste. »
Simon, a nurse by profession, imagined himself pampering the vines while his brother would apply his ever-growing knowledge of hybrid grape varieties. In spring 2023, they planted 4,200 vines. “Everyone told us: ‘Don’t plant more than one hectare the first year.’ We listened. »
This first parcel in Dunham contains Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, a bit of hardy hybrid “Roland” and four “Piwi” grape varieties (from the German “Pilzwiderstandsfähige”, which literally means “able to withstand mushrooms”): johanniter, helios, monarch and regent.
While waiting for the budding vines to produce beautiful grapes in a few years, the tandem is focusing on Mâsson-Villages, its trading wine label. The name is a play on words from the Burgundian appellation Mâcon-Villages.
Mathieu and Simon Roy first experimented in a “garage” way, in the heart of Rosemont. Then they found a collaborator in Sainte-Geneviève de Berthier, Le Vignoble du vent maudit. This is where they buy their grapes and make their winemaking.
Their vintages, officially launched in spring 2023, bear the names of places in the neighborhood where they have lived for a long time: Monaco, Nouveau Rosemont, Pélican, La ligne rose, Canada hot-dog, Masson hot-dog, etc.
“The conclusion we arrive at after our experiments and after having exchanged with many other Quebec winegrowers, is that hybrids are better in blending and that we should not hesitate to combine the reds with the whites, to work the marcs, declares Mathieu Roy. In Quebec, more than ever, we are trying to understand what works best here. »
