Only The Stars Know: Vin Doux Naturel 1955-1995

BY NEAL MARTIN | AUGUST 6, 2025

Drinking a Vin Doux Naturel is like gazing up at the stars. When looking at the night sky, it is easy to forget that you are looking back in time. Andromeda is just about visible with the naked eye, but what you are actually seeing is the closest galaxy to Earth from nearly 2.5 million years ago. Who knows? Maybe it was gobbled up by a passing black hole and humankind won’t have a clue until it suddenly vanishes.

This astronomical analogy is apposite for Vin Doux Naturel (VdN). Philippe Gayral has devoted years of his life to foraging in wineries off the beaten path for unremembered vats of traditionally made Rivesaltes, Banyuls and Maury. Since VdNs have not been produced in this style since the late 1990s, they represent an extinct genre of wine. Nowadays, producers in Roussillon churn out what is, sadly, insipidly sweet Muscat, too often as a souvenir for tourists (with the notable exception of Mas Amiel). The idea of fortifying and then allowing these wines to age over many years is financially unviable, anathema to contemporary winemakers who justifiably argue there is no market for these wines. Few remember the halcyon days in the 1950s when, remarkably, 50 million bottles of VdN were sold each year.

The man himself, Philippe Gayral.

I have been reporting on Philippe Gayral’s venture back in time for many years. Gayral is an affable, avuncular man in his fifties, dubbed “the archivist” by HRH Jancis Robinson, which led to the name for his own bottlings. Gayral’s task inevitably becomes harder and harder, and I presume that each visit will be our last. Like a detective, he follows tips and leads, scouring old wineries that might have a few vats of VdN in their furthest recesses, wines they long assumed would never find a home or be consumed. That is why VdN is ostensibly a libation from a bygone age. Nothing like these wines is produced anymore. One day, they will all be just a memory. 

This year’s tranche from Gayral, the first in several years, featured his discovery of Domaine Saint Michel, an estate established in the 1950s in the Fitou area of the aptly named village of Caves. These wines were originally made by Henri Rius, whose stepfather founded the estate. Rius expanded the vineyard to 43 hectares on chalk and clay soils, planting mainly white varieties such as Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris with a smattering of Macabeo and Grenache Noir. Gayral mentioned that he analyses the VdNs to ensure there are no high levels of metals leeched from the pumps over the years, and he also checks their levels of volatility. These wines include vintages between 1960 and 1980, bottled in 2022 with no sulfur addition. At the time of their “rescue,” Rius was in his nineties. He died soon after at the ripe old age of 98. There are around 450 to 600 bottles of each vintage, mainly sold in the U.K. through Farr Vintners, in the U.S. through Martine’s Wines, and to a healthy market in Japan. 

Our tasting also included recent bottlings of Gayral’s “L’Archiviste” range, as well as some from Château Riveyrac that I have reviewed before. Readers should note that these bottles can be opened and consumed at leisure, as they are only marginally less indestructible than their close cousin, Madeira. Though these wines vary between vintages, growing seasons do not play a fundamental role in quality since grapes were always harvested as late as possible. Winemaking and maturation are more significant determining factors. Ergo, VdN is a saviour for those whose mortal coil began in off-vintages like 1965 or 1977. Despite being esoteric in nature, these wines have proven popular in restaurants, offering customers a beverage from their birth year that doesn’t cost a king’s ransom or risk being decrepit. Antiquity aside, these are simply delicious fortified wines that provide a great deal of pleasure. 

How long will we have that pleasure? 

Only the stars know. 

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