Luc Devot is a man who has lived several lives. He was a professional cook for seven years, a fisherman for three, then a musician, animator, and educator. Wine found him relatively late, but when it did, it found him through the right door: his first harvest was with Jean-Louis Tribouley, a committed natural winemaker who introduced Luc to the philosophy that would define the rest of his working life.
Backstory
Luc began his first vinification in 2017 in Estagel, a village in the inland hills of Roussillon. In 2018 he discovered and secured a magnificent first parcel of almost two hectares at around 320 metres elevation, planted with gobelet-trained Grenache Gris, Mourvèdre, and Grenache Noir on schist. He has since expanded to 4.5 hectares and vinifies in a former cooperative cellar in Estagel that he shares with fellow natural winemakers Sylvain Respaut and Olivier Cros.
The Region
Estagel lies in the Agly Valley in the Roussillon, a landscape shaped by the geological force of the Pyrenees and the drying heat of the Mediterranean climate. The village sits roughly 40 minutes from Perpignan at an altitude that tempers the heat of the lower plains. The surrounding hills are composed largely of schist, the same ancient metamorphic rock that defines the character of wines from neighboring Maury and Banyuls.
Vineyards and Farming
Luc tends 4.5 hectares entirely by hand without synthetic inputs. His vines include Grenache Noir, Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Lledoner Pelut (hairy Grenache, planted in the 1950s), Macabeu, and Carignan. The old-vine Lledoner Pelut, one of the rarest varieties in cultivation anywhere, is among the most distinguished in the cellar. Soils are predominantly schist with clay-limestone on gentler slopes.
Winemaking
Luc vinifies using gentle maceration, carbonic maceration, or direct pressing depending on the cuvée. Fermentation is spontaneous with wild yeasts. Wines are raised in a combination of vat and barrel before bottling without filtration or fining. Sulfur is used only in medicinal doses when strictly necessary, and many cuvées are bottled without any addition at all.
The Wines
The range includes reds, whites, and a pétillant naturel, with cuvée names that reflect Luc's playful personality: Amb Amics (with my friends, in Catalan), Dans la Lune, L'Appât du Grain, Hydrophobia, and Ptit Dej. The Catalan language is a deliberate nod to the culture that surrounds him in this corner of France that has always looked south toward Spain.
