A Special Visit to the Languedoc: Passion, Perseverance, and the People Behind the Wine

A couple of months ago, I visited a wine producer in Languedoc who we started working with last year. It turned out to be a pretty special trip. Not only because I love France, and we got to taste great wine and food every day, but also because it was the first time I’ve been on a wine trip with colleagues in 22 years!

Domaine Gayda sits on gently rolling hills in the Languedoc, overlooking the Pyrenees mountain range (the sight of dominating Mont Canigou far into the horizon is simply majestic). The winery is surrounded by organic vineyards & olive groves, they have an on-site restaurant, a shop and superb accommodation available to rent.  

We spent a lot of time with co-owner Tim Ford. Open, warm and welcoming, with a passion for plants and nature (he used to be a horticulturist in Africa). He and his team have worked relentlessly to keep the business evolving. Heavily invested and committed to what they are creating. I was really impressed; not only by the dedication to ensuring quality and personality in all their wines, but also to making the estate and business a viable and sustainable entity. 

As a retail and hospitality business operator, recent years have been increasingly challenging as various economic pressures force us to think differently and work harder and smarter. Tim openly talked about how lower wine consumption globally is putting pressure on mature wine markets, of which of course France is the main one. He referenced a couple of local producers who had already gone out of business this year alone. When we were out in the vineyards, he told us how he lost a significant portion of his grapes, basically overnight, last year due to frost. Another issue they and other wine producers are facing as a business is stock: from harvest to bottling to shipping to drinking, it takes time for the wine to make it to market and for the producer to actually get paid… in some cases, it can take months or years before you see a revenue from the fruit of your labour. It puts huge strains on cashflow which makes it a very difficult business model to run successfully.

And Domaine Gayda do not choose the easy path. The business must be commercially viable, but it is equally, if not more, important to safeguard, preserve and improve the business assets: the vineyards. Organic viticulture, soil regeneration and protection, authentic winemaking are integral to their vision.

Typically, when I go on a wine trip, I get to visit a number of different estates over a few days and the focus is just on the wine: tasting, story, winemaking, next stop…  Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of fun. But it doesn’t quite encapsulate the whole picture. Making wine, good wine, is not just difficult because of botanical pressures though these are real and significant. But the business side is equally challenging and often overlooked. So, I really appreciated that time with Tim, being able to talk about the bigger picture and the realities of his day to day. And when all is said and done, I found Tim’s approach to be simply inspiring. And critically, the trip reinforced my complete passion and focus for the kind of producers we want to work with. Those who are committed to delivering quality even when it might cost them a bit more and make their life a bit more difficult. Who care about the land they are farming and treat it with respect, who work on a win-win basis with their partners and retailers.

I can’t finish this piece without talking about another highlight of the trip for me – well probably all of us to be honest – and that was Barbara, Tim’s wife. An exuberant, talented & gorgeous lady who was equally as hospitable, with a brilliant sense of humour and a story for every occasion.

What a pleasure it was to spend time with all this team, and some of my colleagues too… away from the rigours of day-to-day business. It gave me time to reset, think about Reserve as a business and what it should look like going forward. And I loved hearing what my colleagues thought about that too.

Thank you to Team Gayda!

Oh, and the wines were fantastic too, but we’ll sing the praises of those separately… or you can come to see us in one of our shops and we’ll show you a few. 😉

SHOP DOMAINE GAYDA WINE