The popular wine of Alexandre Morin
Vogueur is the wonderful project of Alexandre Morin, a former Franco-Tunisian sommelier.
Every year, he selects vineyards in a country around the Mediterranean. These are indigenous, untreated, unirrigated vines, which he vinifies, ages and bottles in the country of origin with the utmost respect for the environment.
The wine is then transported to France by sailing ship to ensure it is carbon-neutral.
2023: Le Vin Vogueur (Alexandre Morin) in Tunisia
Tunisian wines are produced at two vineyards: Kelibia, in the north-east of Cap Bon, and the Kerkennah Islands,
off the coast of Sfax. The winery is located in Grombalia, Tunisia’s wine-growing capital, between Tunis and Hammamet.
- A semi-arid Mediterranean climate, with plenty of sunshine, low rainfall and cool nights.
- Soils that are predominantly limestone, sandy and loamy.
- Muscat de Kelibia and Asli de Kerkennah grape varieties (organically grown and rain-fed).
- Winemaking: spontaneous fermentation using indigenous yeasts, aged on lees in stainless steel tanks, bottled in May 2024. Unfined and unfiltered wines.
Grape varieties
- Kelibia: Muscat, planted in the 1930s by Sicilian winegrowers, was introduced to the Cap Bon peninsula by Mussolini’s Italy, which planted Muscat of Alexandria in several areas now covered by the “Muscat de Kelibia” AOC. Over the decades, this single-varietal grape, now indigenous to the region, has become perfectly acclimatised to a “semi-Breton” Mediterranean environment!
- Kerkennah Islands: Asli since ancient times, the indigenous Asli grape variety has been grown on the Kerkennah archipelago off the coast of Sfax. These century-old vines, grown ungrafted, are pruned in the goblet style and planted alongside date palms and fig trees. Today, they are on the verge of extinction due to the spread of olive cultivation and the loss of viticultural expertise.
Floors
- Kelibia: A limestone bedrock with clay-limestone soils, becoming loamier closer to the surface.
- Kerkennah: very light soils consisting of fine sand and sandstone. Highly saline soils.
Climate
- Kelibia: vineyards less than 5 kilometres from the sea. Very sunny and dry, with plenty of wind and paths sweeping across the hillside. Cool, dry winters.
- The Kerkennah Islands: vineyards less than 2 kilometres from the sea. Maximum sunshine and low rainfall, with constant sea mist sweeping across the island. A very marked difference between day and night temperatures.
Wine-making processes
- At the first light of day, we harvest the grapes by hand, placing them in small crates and transporting them by donkey.
- The harvest is then transported in the morning to our winery in Grombalia.
For the white wine: the grapes are sorted twice, by hand and upon vatting. Slow, gentle pneumatic pressing,
followed by two days of cold settling. Native yeasts initiate spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel
vats at around 18°C. Light racking at the end of fermentation, followed by ageing on the lees for nine months.
Some photos of Alexandre Morin in Tunisia, the Wine Taster
