Philippe Formentin started Opi d’Aqui in 2012. He’s from Montpellier, “capital” of the Languedoc on the Mediterranean coast, but after making wines around the world, the globe-trotting winemaker is doing his thing in Clermont-l'Hérault, just an hour north of his hometown.

He started his career with a winemaking degree in 1998 in Beziers, also in the Languedoc, while working part-time with Alain Chabanon. After graduating in 2002, he worked another five years with Chabanon and then set off in 2007 on his world wine adventure that took him to India, Napa, the Black Sea coast of Russia, and the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. It was once he was back in his native France that he met Alain Coumont, founder of the bakery Pain Quotidien and together they hatched the idea of Opi d’Aqui.

The quirky name comes from the Occitan language once spoken in the south and means “opium from here” – a term coined from a friend who had lived in Thailand and likened the prevalence of the Grenache Noir in the Languedoc to that of opium in Thailand.

Philippe works with two growers providing him with certified organic and some biodynamic grapes from seven hectares of vines in neighboring villages, primarily on clay-limestone soils. Varieties include Grenache Blanc, Picpoul, Marsanne, Vermentino, Clairette, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Syrah. Philippe chooses when to send in his small team of pickers and grapes are always hand-picked, early in the morning when it’s still cool to avoid the beating Languedoc sun. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in a mix of fibreglass and steel tanks and there are no sulphites or other additives used during the wine making process. None of Philippe’s wines are fined or filtered. From the destemmed grapes of Les Faineants to the carbonic maceration of Massale, his wines always have a freshness and leave you wanting more. 

When asked why he make wines naturally, he answered quite simply that it’s what he drinks and what he likes. So do we!