Inside the French festival serving incredible wine in a beautiful setting
Typing this up on Eurostar, I am having to completely rethink what I had planned to include in this week’s column. Rather than writing from my London home and grimacing at the grey outdoors, I had been invited by Alex Watson, part of the Domaine Watson family and co-founder of Renais gin, to escape the capital and go to wine ‘harvest festival’ Fetes des Vins Chablis.
My previous Fetes des Vins, in Beaujolais, had been a chaotically raucous couple of days: punk brass bands playing Taylor Swift, cars discarded in ditches, cigarettes stubbed out on platters of oysters. For this year’s edition I expected Chablis, arguably the most famous village in the world, to be a more sedate affair.
And I was sort of right. There was a brass band parade, but more berets and twirly moustaches than punk. There were premium local producers, but it didn’t feel like a wild party. It felt more like being enfolded into a family celebration. The tone was set by Mike Goncalves, Renais’ gregarious National Account Director, who kept us all gently lubricated throughout the weekend.
France’s hedonistic wine festival was a little more well-behaved this year
Alex Watson is part of the Domaine Watson family and co-founder of Renais gin, which has surged in value lately after raising an extra £5m from investors. On our trip, the drinking started with a Domaine Watson “train wine” as we travelled down to Chablis, liberally poured into paper cups, and continued into evenings of Renais gin old fashioneds, strawberry negronis and martinis. This may be outing myself as unsophisticated but however fashionable negronis are, they’ve always felt more like an endurance test to me. But this variety slipped down surprisingly easily, though their signature “terroir martini” was undoubtedly my favourite ever. And I don’t say that just because I got to enjoy one in an hour-long bubble bath at the grand old chateau.
“There is a nice sweetness to the gin,” explains Goncalves, “so you can make a very dry style of martini”. The terroir martini swaps the vermouth for 6ml of Domaine Watson Chablis and it is this link between the local wine and local gin that sets Renais and Domaine Watson apart. The Renais Grand Cru (£90 renais. co.uk) has been cask aged in used Chablis wine barrels and, tasting both together, you can really see the familial resemblance. They even steep the grape spirit in limestone, from the soil of the region, to give it that added wine-lovers sense of place.
Founder Alex Watson tells me over dinner: “It was a nightmare, but it gave me the confidence to lean more into the world of wine and gin. I’m not doing flavoured gin, but if there’s a worthwhile experiment, I’m up for it”. Alex grew up with one foot in Burgundy. His father, Chris Watson, planted his vines in Chablis over three decades ago and is the only Englishman to be a robe-wearing ‘Pilier’ of Chablis for his services to the region and wines. After graduating Alex went to Chablis to “stay out of trouble”.
“It was a lightbulb moment. I’d worked in hospitality since my teens, and I realised I could make my passion my career. Working in spirits seemed exciting and fun and I wanted to do my own thing but to keep a strong connection to my family and to respectfully carry forward tradition”. Many will know of Alex’s sister and co- founder, Emma Watson, but she isn’t made into a “celebrity” figurehead, indeed she is only mentioned once during the trip.
“She’s been coming here since she was five so everyone here knows her. Here people are more likely to stop and ask for a photo with my dad”. I ask about her role in the brand and am told she is involved in the design and imagery. The bottles are uniquely beautiful, with glass ripples emulating rows of vines and hidden “easter egg” details woven into their labels.
They have just launched a Harvest Edition (£65) in collaboration with artist Frankie Penwill. We meet plenty of lovely, entertaining wine folk, including Jack Blumsom, Alex’s University friend and founder of otherwine.co.uk. The good crowd is another sign that for the Watsons family and friendship are as much a part of what they do as the wine and gin. Certainly, the Fetes des Vins Chablis is the best harvest festival I have ever been to. I came for the wine, but I stayed for the gin.