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Davoche
Languedoc-Roussillon, France7 wines4.0 avg
43
Agly valley, Roussillon. Tess Davison (Australian chef-turned-vigneron) and Charles Ripoche (Cyril Fhal alumnus) farming 2.5 heritage hectares since 2022 alongside the Clafoutis négociant range.
Tess Davison and Charles Ripoche set up Davoche in 2020 with a small négociant range, Clafoutis - bought fruit, low intervention, single-variety bottlings of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. They acquired their own 2.5 hectares of old vines in 2022, in Cassagnes in the Agly valley of Roussillon. The first estate vintage was 2023.
The CVs behind the label are unusual. Tess is Australian, a chef before she turned to wine - Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Mugaritz, Noma Copenhagen (including the 2016 Sydney pop-up) - then SI Vintners in Margaret River, Felton Road in Central Otago, and Matassa in Roussillon. Charles trained in the Loire and worked under Cyril Fhal at Clos du Rouge Gorge just up the road. Their vines are planted to Carignan, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Maccabeu, Syrah and a little Mourvèdre, on schist, in organic conversion since 2023.
The estate cuvées begin with Karaka, a skin-contact white of Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu off old-vine schist, aged several months in barrel. Peychourigué, La Sardinière and Sol y Les follow; there is also a vermouth, Muti. Output is small - around six thousand bottles in the first vintage. Positioning is firmly inside the natural-wine circuit; they are not yet a Revue du Vin de France / Decanter name and may never want to be.
