Īnd when I returned from that trip to San Francisco, increasingly geekified by working at a wine shop and later Terroir (the first “natural wine” bar in the United States), I distinctly remember discovering and seeking out the Vins Contés wines. Olivier was part of a late 90’s/early 2000’s wave of producers, along with Tue-Boeuf, Chaussard, Villemade, Mosse, Maupertuis and the early Italians where I feel Denyse, Joe and Kevin started taking bolder risks on “fringe” wines that they weren’t sure they could sell but wanted to because of the people behind them. But in hindsight Joe’s statement crystalized something important. To be honest, I was meeting a dizzying amount of vignerons for the first time, tasting hundreds of wines and doting on my father. I don’t remember how the wines tasted that day and frankly it was a fleeting first impression. We weren’t sure we could sell his crazy wines, but we loved the guy so we started working with him recently.”
He started his own project a few years ago. I got the sense he really wanted Joe to like it, so I asked my father who he was and he said something very “Joe” to the likes of “Oh that’s Olivier Lemasson.
The whole exercise was a bit strange for everyone, and I distinctly remember Olivier pouring us his 2009’s from brut de cuve. Throughout the trip, this often meant the vigneron would come and serve him tastes of each wine, not unlike a sommelier at a restaurant. Too much walking or standing was exhausting for Joe, so he was forced to sit a lot. I was by his side the entire time to help him get around but also to absorb what one of these “wine trips” was all about. I was accompanying my father Joe he was bullish and needed to participate but had started his cancer treatment a few months prior and lost mobility in his leg. My first memory of Olivier Lemasson dates back to a winter Loire trip in January, 2010. However, he is not opposed to adding a minuscule dose at bottling if deemed absolutely neccessary. Most vintages, Olivier will bottle the wines without the addition of S02. Sick of having to fight with the AOC board for the Touraine appellation, Lemasson decided to intentionally declassify all of his wines to Vin de France in 2012. Two cuvées, 'Gamasutra' (from 100+ Gamay vines) and 'Cheville de Fer' (from 100+ Côt vines), are made to age, though both are often easy-drinking on release. The wines are all made in an intentional 'vin de soif' style the whites are direct-pressed, vibrant and bright while the reds are for the most part short semi-carbonic macerations and meant to be drunk fruity and young. Organic fruit from many of his faithful suppliers is still purchased to complement production. Eventually he was able to start renting two hectares of vines, and in 2016 was finally able to purchase his own land, nine hectares he had previously been buying grapes from. įor many years the project was 100% purchased fruit Olivier would source old vineyards worked organically, often seeking the obscure grapes of Touraine like Menu Pineau and Pineau d'Aunis. Undeterred, Lemasson continued on with Vins Contés. In 2006, they amiably parted ways so that Villemade could concentrate on his own estate again. He picked Lemasson to be his partner, and les Vins Contés drew from their complementary talents. buy grapes from other growers to vinify them). In 2002, Hervé Villemade was looking to start a négociant business (i.e. The story of les Vins Contés is that of a retailer meeting a winemaker. After a brief stint as a retailer at Square Trousseau in Paris, Lemasson’s passion definitely took over, and he settled as a winemaker in Touraine.
Lemasson became passionate about these odd wines, and trained at Marcel Lapierre’s winery in Morgon, Beaujolais, first by picking grapes four years in a row, then by working for a whole year in his vines and cellar. Olivier Lemasson is a sommelier who encountered natural wines when he worked for the retailer Eric Macé in Rennes, Brittany. You can read Jules' hommage 'A Tribute to Olivier Lemasson' below.