2023 La Croix Gratiot Picpoul
2023 La Croix Gratiot Picpoul
If this is your introduction to Picpoul, welcome. This is one of summer’s favorite wines. Picpoul means lip stinger in French. Brightly acidic and vibrant as heck, Picpoul is everything you want in an August wine: easy, delicious, and relatively inexpensive.
This one comes from the grape’s ancestral homeland, Picpoul de Pinet AOC in the Languedoc. Naturally, the only grape permitted here is Picpoul. This is a region of scrubland hillsides running south towards the Mediterranean and a coastal lagoon called the Etang de Thau. The climate is Mediterranean with a strong marine influence, and the region shifts north to south from jagged rocks and garrigue (wild, herbaceous shrubbery) to rolling hillsides and evening breezes.
La Croix Gratiot sits on the northern end, full of scrub brush and loamy, limestone soil. The winery was founded over 25 years ago by Yves and Hugues Ricome, but is now run by their daughter Anaïs. The vineyards are all organic and undergoing biodynamic conversion. This is classic Picpoul de Pinet, with rippin’ acidity and a soft, textural midpalate. It’s all stone fruit and citrus, but there’s real presence and intrigue sneaking in. Traditionally, this wine is considered a perfect pairing for all manner of fish and crustaceans pulled out of the Mediterranean. Guess what? It works pretty damned well with the bounty of the Puget Sound, too.