Picpoul de Pinet... on the march

Picpoul de Pinet is an oddity. Perhaps rather a treasure, created by a mixture of luck, chance, geography and canny winemaking and marketing. The appellation of Picpoul de Pinet is located in the unforgiving heat of the south of France in the Languedoc region to be precise. However, by a quirk of geography, its proximity to the sea and even more importantly the Thau lagoon, means that whilst this should be a wine that is heady and steeped in tropical flavours, it isn’t at all like that, it tastes much more like a cold climate wine and has all the zippiness and tartness associated with something entirely different. 

Unsurprisingly, for it always seems they have a hand in things viticultural, the first vines were probably planted by the Romans, but it is not until the 14th Century that the grape piquepoul is first mentioned. Strangely, the grape was originally a red variety, but most of what we drink today springs from a mutation in the grape where it became white. Piquepoul, as the grape is slightly confusingly known, seems to have often played the maiden aunt to some of its more illustrious cousins in the Languedoc, think viognier, white grenache and others. In fact, for much of the 20th Century it really was only being used as a variety to bolster the incredibly fashionable craze for Vermouth. The phylloxera outbreak also did much to damage its viability and the grape was only being grown in a few very small areas, notably around the Thau lagoon. 

There is some argument as to how the grape gets its name, but much the most romantic explanation is that it comes from the French for ‘lip stinging’ which does make some sense if you taste a good quality example, which tend to have a zingy, saline and slightly tart flavour. As is so often the case, Picpoul pairs beautifully with the things that thrive in the region it grows. The Thau lagoon is famous for its freshly shucked oysters, but any seafood will almost always pair well, chicken is a great friend to Picpoul as well and anything that has tarragon in it will go beautifully as the best examples have a herby note to them. 

The story of Picpoul’s success really gets going after ignominity in the 1990s, when some forward thinking producers grouped together and made a point of championing the wine’s differences. You may notice on the characteristic tall green bottles that there are waves, and on the label a symbol of Neptune, both are to emphasise the region’s proximity to the sea and perhaps the special salinity that the best examples exhibit. The wine has become incredibly popular in Britain and the United States, no longer the unfashionable urchin looked down upon by other appellations in the Languedoc. In fact, Picpoul is a huge success story as it can be so easy drinking and immensely quaffable but without being bland, it has a body and roundedness that few white wines at this price point can demonstrate. It has ‘bottom’ to use the old Victorian term. If you like Pinot Grigio you really should try this. 

With success comes an inevitable fashionability and it is easy to find disappointing examples on the market, sage advice might be to spend an extra two or three pounds on the bottle and notice the huge difference you will find in the tasting. Domaine Gaujal Picpoul de Pinet is a superb example of everything the grape has to offer, with sunny, lemon and lime flavours and that characteristic echo of the sea about it. The initial citrus and acidity rolls back to give you other flavours like pear or fleshy melon. Utterly delicious and rather a snip at the price. If you are picking up some oysters or planning to roast a chicken in the near future you know exactly where to head.