The discovery of slowness in the Languedoc-Roussillon region

The apparent weakness of John Franklin , protagonist in Sten Nadolny’s novel “The Discovery of Slowness” - slow action, slow speech and slow thought - turns to a strength. Due to the main character’s willpower, the perception of time is being staged in a new way. So, the “slowness” turns to a remarkable gift, to an exceptional talent, and now, it lends his name to that wine project.

Axel Wulfken, whose CV contains renounced stations like Moët-Hennessy, initiated the project and, thus - after launching the Grand C. brand - he made his own ideas of vinification and product design come true once again.

His partner in this project is Jérôme Estève, a young and committed vintner whose winery Château Montfin is a 20 hectar family-owned business in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France, AOC Corbières. Since 2009, the winery grows its vines organically. There, at an altitude of 500 meters, grapes like Grenache and Syrah, which are typical for the region, are growing on poor limestone soils which provide few nutrients to the vines, but this is exactly the reason why they allow the vintners to achieve multifaceted and full-bodied red wines.

Axel Wulfken and his partner Jérôme Estève, are now producing a top level red wine with slowness as the decisive factor (it’s all in the name), and, thus, they are putting their personal convictions about wine growth and vinification into practice in all phases. They create a complex cuvee out of 32 percent of Syrah, 25 percent of Mouvèdre, 23 percent Grenache and 20 percent of Carignan. The grapes are being collected by hand, the vines are up to 100 years old, the vineyards are with no exception cultivated organically, the yield is downright low.

When it comes to the vinification, the emphasis is on deceleration and on the careful processing of the grapes. The result is an expressive wine with aromas of cherries, blackberries and plums, rounded by a dark chocolate flavor - perfect for the contemplative advent time - at a price of just under 20 euro. (red.yoopress)