Wine-grower Nicolas Joly, dubbed the ‘godfather of biodynamics’ and lauded for his work at La Coulée de Serrant in the Loire Valley, is the recipient of Decanter’s Hall of Fame award for 2025. 

Each year, the prize recognises an individual’s outstanding contribution to the world of wine, with Argentina’s Susana Balbo joining the star-studded list in 2024.

This year’s award highlights the pioneering work of Nicolas Joly, now aged 80, who has spent decades at the forefront of the biodynamic movement and is a staunch proponent of terroir. 

‘Leading by example, he has encouraged winemakers the world over to focus on the health and sustainability of their vineyards and to produce wines with a genuine sense of place,’ writes Beverley Blanning MW in a special feature and exclusive interview in Decanter magazine’s October 2025 issue.

‘Joly was a man well ahead of his time,’ writes Blanning. ‘When he started his wine-growing journey, few people were talking about organic viticulture and biodynamics was virtually unheard of.’

Having initially worked in finance, Joly returned to the family vineyard domaine in the 1970s and, after studying oenology at the University of Bordeaux, set out on a new path as a vigneron. 

Joly’s parents had relocated to Savennières from Angers in the early 1960s, to a property that included La Coulée de Serrant, a prestigious single-vineyard appellation in continuous production back to the 12th century.

After reading about the biodynamic principles previously espoused by philosopher Rudolf Steiner, Joly embraced an alternative approach to wine-growing at a time when use of agro-chemicals was widespread. 

‘We were treated like a sect,’ he recalls to Blanning in the Hall of Fame award feature. 

Leading wine-growers from across France soon took notice, however. Lalou Bize-Leroy, co-manager of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at the time, was an early visitor to Joly, writes Blanning.

Alongside returning La Coulée de Serrant to its former glory, Joly founded ‘Renaissance des Appellations’ at the turn of the century. 

His daughter, Virginie, now helps to oversee day-to-day running of the organisation, which has more than 230 wineries worldwide as members, but Nicolas remains its leader. 

Olivier Humbrecht MW, an early member and owner of biodynamic Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, said, ‘Nicolas was the first person who knew how to speak about biodynamics and make it fun and interesting.’ 

Ronan Sayburn MS, Co-Chair at the Decanter World Wine Awards, said, ‘He’s fascinating to listen to, and because he is such an extreme personality, he drives things no one else would.

‘As a sommelier, I always wanted to recommend Coulée de Serrant because when it’s great, it’s magnificent.’

Read Master of Wine Beverley Blanning’s full article on Hall of Fame 2025 award winner Nicolas Joly 

Wu Xiuyong: Decanter’s Rising Star for 2025

Decanter has also announced that this year’s Rising Star award goes to Wu Xiuyong, who has forged a formidable winemaking career in China’s Ningxia region while also championing rural education for women and girls.

She is the fifth recipient of the award, following on from sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier in 2024.

As head winemaker at Dongfang Yuxing in Hongsipu, Ningxia, Wu is the driving force behind one of two Chinese wines that won coveted Best in Show medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2025.

Combining 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Dornfelder and 6% Cabernet Gernischt (Carmenère), the winery’s Geruihong Yeguangbei 2022 was described as ‘a revelation’ by DWWA judges. 

It represents a milestone for this Ningxia sub-region, but it also reflects Wu’s skill, grit and determination.

Wu grew up in a family of modest means in rural China, and her father passed away when she was just 13 years old, writes Sylvia Wu, Decanter’s Regional Editor for Asia in an exclusive feature in the magazine’s October 2025 issue. 

Yet, the family believed strongly in education. Wu built on a long-standing interest in plants and the natural world by studying horticulture at Ningxia University, which counts many of China’s leading winemakers among its alumni. 

Wu’s early career included a first job at Xixia King, the first winery established in Ningxia, and later the establishment of her own winery, Yunkou, in 2008.

After several years of developing her skills and understanding via hands-on experience, as well as learning from leading wine world stars in China and beyond, Wu received an invitation from Liu Quanzu, owner of Dongfang Yuxing in Hongsipu.

Despite the winery only being half-built when she arrived, Wu decided to stay – a decision that has turned into a decade-long commitment. 

Today, alongside scouring Hongsipu for the best sites and fruit, Wu lectures at Ningxia University. In 2023, she received a National Labour Day Women Pacesetter award, which recognises outstanding women across a wide range of professions in China.

‘All the pride, sense of accomplishment and joy I find in life are linked to wine,’ she said. 

Professor Li Demei, DWWA judge and a leading Beijing-based wine consultant, said, ‘Wu Xiuyong’s passion, curiosity and drive have earned her wide respect in Ningxia’s wine scene. 

‘Despite the remote and demanding conditions of Hongsipu, she has persevered and emerged as a rising star.’

This article follows the Chinese convention of placing the surname first.

Read the full article on Wu Xiuyong in Decanter magazine’s October 2024 issue

Related articles

• Decanter Hall of Fame and Rising Star 2024 winners revealed
• Dirk Niepoort: Decanter Hall of Fame 2023
• Rosa Kruger: Decanter Hall of Fame 2022

The recipient of this year’s Decanter Hall of Fame Award is a man who steadfastly beat his own drum until the rest of the world fell in with his rhythm – or at the very least stopped to listen.

Possibly the world’s most outspoken defender of terroir, authenticity and ‘true’ wine, Nicolas Joly – dubbed the ‘godfather of biodynamics’ – is known for his rousing rhetoric and strongly held views.

Biodynamic trailblazer

Since 1977, when he took over the Loire valley’s most iconic domaine, La Coulée de Serrant, he has pioneered biodynamics in his vineyards, demonstrating the potential of these methods and bringing others around to his way of thinking.

Leading by example, he has encouraged winemakers the world over to focus on the health and sustainability of their vineyards and to produce wines with a genuine sense of place.

At 80 years of age, Joly’s passion for his subject remains undimmed.

Within minutes of my arrival at his home, he’s leaning in to explain: ‘You see, you have two sorts of wine: those that are impeccable, achieved by aesthetic surgery, but have no charm, and those that are achieved by biodynamics – which is what the place wants, playing the song that the place wants to play.’

These are themes – working with nature and adopting a hands-off approach in the cellar – to which he returns frequently, along with multiple references to the more esoteric ideas of the founder of biodynamics, Rudolf Steiner.

Ahead of his time

These days, organics, biodynamics, natural farming and sustainability are words on everyone’s lips, but it wasn’t always so. Joly was a man well ahead of his time.

When he started his wine-growing journey, few people were talking about organic viticulture and biodynamics was virtually unheard of.

In 1970s France, agrochemicals were much more à la mode than planet-friendly solutions, as grape growers sought an easier life than their parents.

Joly recalls that when he was at school, the children of farmers were threatened with having to work in the vineyards if their grades were poor. ‘Working in the vines was a dreadful thing; and 50-60 years ago, the vine was not bringing in much money,’ he says.

Joly’s own upbringing was rather more comfortable. He was born and raised in Angers, where his father was a surgeon. He spent his youth learning how to hunt, shoot and fish with his father and brother.

He recalls: ‘I landed in a family where there was a passion for nature, but a passion that is probably not viewed well in the world of today.’

Although he has long since ceased to have any interest in hunting, he says that nevertheless, this early experience gave him a deep understanding of nature.

La Coulée de Serrant

His parents moved from the city to nearby rural Savennières when they bought the Château de la Roche aux Moines in 1962.

It seems the vines that came with the property were of little interest to the family, even though they included the historically lauded La Coulée de Serrant, a single-vineyard appellation that has been in continuous production since the 12th century.

During the 1930s, French journalist and gastronome Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland) ranked it as one of the top five white wines in France (the others being Yquem, Montrachet, Château-Chalon and Château Grillet).

Hugh Johnson wrote that this vineyard ‘epitomises the exceptional situation which makes outstanding wine’, while Alsace wine-grower and fellow biodynamic practitioner Olivier Humbrecht MW says: ‘The energy of the place is amazing.’

See articles on previous Decanter Hall of Fame Award recipients

Returning home

The appeal of what would become a lifelong project wasn’t immediately apparent to the teenage Joly, however. While his mother oversaw the vineyard operations, he left for business school in Paris and the US, and fell into a career in finance.

He worked in New York and London before deciding to return to Savennières. ‘For no reason, I just quit the company,’ he says, ‘and this is why I’m a great, great believer in fate.’

He went to Bordeaux to study oenology and then came home to focus on the family’s Chenin vines and running the business.

Despite the exceptional site, at that time the domaine was running at a loss. ‘I didn’t care at all,’ says Joly. However, when he took over the vineyards, he describes his dismay at being persuaded to buy weedkillers for the first time, in the name of progress.

‘I realised immediately that I was destroying the place,’ he says. ‘The colour of the earth was changing. The ladybirds were no longer there. I was destroying the secret life of the place.’

He soon turned his back on chemicals in search of a more natural approach.

Spiritual awakening

Happening upon a second-hand copy of a book by Rudolf Steiner, he ‘almost immediately’ decided to move the estate to biodynamics.

Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher and spiritualist who founded this system of organic agriculture, as well as the Waldorf school movement and the esoteric spiritual movement anthroposophy.

A series of lectures he gave to a group of German farmers in 1924 forms the basis of biodynamic practice. ‘I knew nothing about biodynamics,’ says Joly. ‘[The decision to embrace biodynamics] was absurd, because it was a decision from nowhere, but my life has been made of decisions from nowhere.’

He trialled Steiner’s methods on a small scale for a year or two, quickly became convinced of their merits and took the plunge with the entire estate, which has been fully biodynamic since 1984.

Joly describes the work of Steiner as ‘a huge gift for my life, which has been based on these foundations since I was around 30 years of age’.

Nicolas Joly at a glance

Born: 23 August 1945, Angers, France

Education: L’Institut Supérieur de Commerce, Paris (1968-1969); MBA, Columbia University, New York (1969-1970); oenology, University of Bordeaux (1977)

Career: Investment advisor at Morgan Guaranty Trust in New York and London (1971-1977) before returning to La Coulée de Serrant

Family: Two children, Virginie and Vincent; three grandchildren

Interests: Anthroposophy, meditation, his grandchildren, gardening, spending time in the mountains

Leap of faith

Initially, however, his ‘decision from nowhere’ was difficult for the family. ‘We were treated like a sect for seven years because we were in biodynamics,’ Joly says.

‘My parents received a phone call telling them to be careful because their son was destroying their vineyard. It was a very negative pressure. You see how powerful the farming industry is.’

Undeterred, Joly continued, and he soon started to attract the attention of several high-profile wine-growers who, after visiting his domaine, began to adopt similar practices in their own vineyards.

A notable visitor in the early days was Lalou Bize-Leroy, who at the time was co-managing Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

‘I don’t know why she came, but she immediately got what biodynamics was about and started to use it at Romanée-Conti,’ Joly says. ‘This was a huge, huge change because this was the best of the best [converting to biodynamics].’

Other early adopters included Noël Pinguet (Domaine Huet), Anne-Claude Leflaive (Domaine Leflaive), Michel Chapoutier (Maison M Chapoutier) and Marc Kreydenweiss (Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss).

At the turn of the century, with two decades’ experience of biodynamics under his belt, Joly founded the Renaissance des Appellations (Return to Terroir).

Early member Olivier Humbrecht MW recalls: ‘Nicolas had contacted a few wineries around France. He had famous names from the start. We began with around 20 members in 2001, but it became bigger very quickly because of his aura.’

Spreading the word

The association now numbers more than 230 wineries worldwide. Joly’s daughter Virginie has taken over most of the day-to-day work of the association (and the domaine), but Nicolas remains as spokesperson and leader, regularly addressing audiences of trade professionals, winemakers and consumers with his unique brand of fiery rhetoric, championing wines that express their origins and equally vehemently opposing ‘technological’ wines, which he claims all taste the same.

One might imagine that Joly has used this platform to promote his own domaine, but nothing could be further from the truth. He appears to have little interest in talking about his wines or, for that matter, himself.

Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Ronan Sayburn MS says of Joly: ‘He’ll talk about anything but his own wines.’

Indeed, halfway through our interview, Virginie arrives carrying a tray of bottles and glasses. ‘He always forgets,’ she says. ‘Yes, I always forget to bring the bottles to taste,’ Joly agrees, before turning his back on the tray to continue to expand on the point he was making.

‘The purpose of Renaissance was to help small wine-growers who were just starting out. They needed money and I wanted them to stay in their place to express their deep link to the earth, rather than changing themselves into marketing agents.’

Everything has been done on small budgets, but the group organises regular tastings and has travelled the globe together, spreading awareness of their wines and biodynamics.

Passionate belief

While some of Joly’s thinking can be considered esoteric – he freely espouses the importance of elemental beings to plant growth, for example – he has the ability to hold the attention of a room with his passion for whatever he’s talking about.

Beyond the loftier ideas, he offers practical examples of what’s possible.

Humbrecht says: ‘Wine-growers are very pragmatic. If we change something, we want to see results – and this is independent of believing that there are elves in the vineyard. When you cook a steak, you don’t know exactly what is happening, but you can become better. And this is what Nicolas is great at: he allows people to write their own recipe.’

While Joly’s own beliefs appear immutable, he isn’t interested in imposing them on those who have no interest in hearing them. ‘I do respect the freedom of everyone, so I think people should do what they feel they have to do,’ he says.

‘My advice is that if someone has a deep interest in biodynamics, come here. I always take the time to explain things in depth, or to tell you my experience. I would feel that I’m not myself if I don’t do it.

What others say…

The sommelier

Ronan Sayburn MS, Co-Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards

‘He is an enigma, and his wines are, too. He’s fascinating to listen to, and because he is such an extreme personality, he drives things no one else would. He’s a very curious guy. He can walk into a vineyard and talk about the energy. As a sommelier, I always wanted to recommend Coulée de Serrant because when it’s great, it’s magnificent.’

The colleague

Olivier Humbrecht MW, owner of Alsace biodynamic estate Domaine Zind-Humbrecht

‘I am totally in his philosophy: if you want to make a great wine, it has to have a sense of place, a taste of terroir. Nicolas was the first person who knew how to speak about biodynamics and make it fun and interesting. He has an inner energy that makes people want to drink better wines, and wines with character. And he brings the younger generation of wine-growers in. You can listen to him ten times and he will always have something new to say and it’s always absolutely fascinating.’

The new neighbour

Ivan Massonnat, owner of neighbouring biodynamic estate Domaine Belargus

‘I am a fan of his personality. He is open and sharing and has had a very positive impact on the region. He put Coulée de Serrant back on the map – and there has been nothing more significant for the subsequent rise of the Anjou region than this. We owe him.’

The biodynamics expert

Monty Waldin, consultant, journalist and author of Biodynamic Wines

‘Nicolas always knew that the future was sustainability and has always remained firm in this view. Some think he’s a mad fanatic, but he’s not. He is also generous in sharing his thoughts with his colleagues. Today, the themes of climate change and respect for the planet are everywhere, but at the time [he started out], it was much more difficult explaining it to people.’

Related articles

• Wu Xiuyong: Decanter Rising Star 2025
• Susana Balbo: Decanter Hall of Fame 2024
• Pascaline Lepeltier: Decanter Rising Star 2024

This is a story about Ted Lemon and how, 30 vintages in at Littorai, near Sebastopol in California’s Sonoma County, he’s showing us what it looks like to build something genuine that lasts, telling a story worth listening to in one of the most challenging sectors of the American economy.

This isn’t, and can’t be, just another wine story. It is a story about a life lived with intention. About staying when it was hard and shifting when it mattered. About purpose and dedication – because, as psychotherapist and author Esther Perel puts it, ‘purpose is the essential dimension of meaning’.

Ted has been making wine for more than four decades and growing grapes for just as long. Having attained an oenology degree at Dijon University in 1981, he worked until 1984 with some of Burgundy’s most prestigious domaines – Dujac, Roumier, Roulot, Parent – before consulting in New Zealand and eventually returning to California.

A selection of Littorai wines from the 2022 vintage listed below

He has undeniably been a key player in bringing some of northern California’s most celebrated vineyard sites into the spotlight. He’s been nominated for a James Beard Award, credited as the godfather of modern California wine, and has been profiled and praised a multitude of times.

And yet, it still feels like there’s something about the way Ted thinks about sustainability and life in general that hasn’t fully been captured.

Firmly grounded

Ted Lemon’s perspective stretches far beyond the vineyards. What often gets overlooked is his attention to how we, humans and nature, might live in true solidarity, not just in farming, but in being. Ted is one of those people who makes you smile the moment you meet him.

There’s kindness – something good that radiates effortlessly. But alongside the warmth is discipline. Focus. A calm, deliberate assertiveness that can catch you off-guard – not pretentious, just commanding enough to make you sit up straighter.

As one should. I have sat down to taste with Ted one-on-one a few times now, and recently attended a retrospective tasting of Littorai in San Francisco, held to celebrate the estate’s 30-vintage milestone. In every conversation, he has made sure to highlight his role as a farmer first.

‘As I watched people my age and younger sell their businesses because of burnout, the ability to farm really kind of saved me,’ confesses Ted, on what keeps him motivated after 30 years.

And, specifically, biodynamic farming. ‘Suddenly you’re turning all your ideas on their head. I was raised in the Western tradition, believing in Western science, and then I decided to try a completely different paradigm.’

Balance of needs

Ted was 42 years old when he took the leap – in the early 2000s. ‘All of a sudden it was like, okay, everything I think I know… I’m going to challenge myself.’

That’s how he stepped into a system that goes beyond organics – one that treats the vineyard as a living organism, guided by lunar cycles, compost preparations and a deep commitment to biodiversity.

That willingness to pivot – to unlearn, to start over – shows as a form of resilience rooted in integrity. It’s staying true to yourself, even when the map disappears. But what also struck me is Ted’s acknowledgement of the human side of farming – what he calls the ‘social goal’ of his work.

‘It’s how we treat the land,’ he explains, ‘and how we treat the people who work for us and with us. It sounds simple. But the kind of social responsibility Ted speaks to – that balance between the financial needs of the business and the wellbeing of the people behind it – is something we’re collectively failing at, across industries.

‘If you’re serious about biodynamic farming,’ he says, ‘those are the things I think you should be deeply engaged in. You have to be asking yourself those questions: am I treating people correctly? Are things in balance?’

Nothing in excess

Ted’s belief in crafting wines of balance and restraint, with remarkable ageing potential and a true ‘sense of place’, is inseparable from the way he farms and lives responsibly, sustainably and with patience.

When asked about his concerns around climate change, he replies, without hesitation: ‘I think there’s still too much wine in the world, and I think there will be too much wine in the world for a while. We will need to innovate, adopt and adapt in many ways. Rethink our priorities as a society, even.

‘The biggest challenge going forward is the one that nobody wants to talk about in the wine business,’ he continues, ‘which is the excess of wealth. The wine business is very appealing to wealthy people who have made money in other walks of life, and that’s fine.

‘But when that kind of massive wealth enters a business, on the scale that it has in the fine wine business, it distorts everything.’

Massive wealth, he believes, when paired with a mindset of speed and scale, can quietly erode the very sustainability the wine world claims to value. Big money almost always demands fast results: more vineyards, more bottles, more market share.

But wine doesn’t work that way. It’s a craft rooted in patience and humility from the ‘vine up’. When the cost of glass doubles overnight, for example, a billionaire-backed project shrugs while a family-run estate gasps.

‘You know, if you’re a small family winery that doesn’t have other resources, you’re going out of business,’ Ted reflects.

Lasting impact

For Ted, sustainability isn’t just about farming without chemicals – it’s about building a business and a culture that can last. But culture is not a static thing; it’s shaped and sustained through shared experiences.

In speaking with Ted Lemon, it’s evident how much he values mentoring, exchange and ongoing learning. Those who’ve spent years with him – in the cellar, in the vineyard, in life – can attest to that.

Daniel Estrin worked alongside Ted for nine vintages and is now vineyard manager and winemaker at Cristom Vineyards in Oregon. He speaks of Ted not just as a boss but as a role model – the kind of man, father and leader he aspired to become.

‘Someone deeply attuned to the land, to people and to doing the right thing, even when it’s the harder choice,’ he says. ‘Ted doesn’t function like a normal winemaker. There’s no separation between farming and winemaking – they’re one and the same. The wine is just a consequence of the farming. And the people are an extension to all of that.

He adds: ‘He farms the way he does because he wants to leave the land better than the way he found it. It’s a human obligation to him.’

Click here for more Littorai wines from the 2022 vintage

Spiritual dimension

Ted’s relationship with the land is something even he admits is hard to put into words. Critics and even some fellow farmers often dismiss biodynamic farming as unscientific or a little too ‘woo-woo’.

‘The biodynamic community has always struggled between those who were afraid of the spiritual dimension and the population that almost embraced it to a fault,’ he explains.

He adds that to farm biodynamically, one must believe there’s more out there than what we can see. ‘I believe that the spiritual world exists, and I’m always looking for its manifestations – because I believe it shows up in all things. And if you become sensitive, trained and attentive to this other world, you find it in ours.’

When asked the question, ‘Do the vineyards speak to you? What would they say after 30 years of working “together”?’, he jokes: ‘Do better!’

But it’s clear that, for Ted, improvement is not simply a punchline – it’s his guiding principle. I ask whether Ted believes that his biodynamic approach results in better wines.

‘It’s not for me to say whether biodynamic wines are better than organic ones,’ he says. ‘For me, it’s the agroecological effects of farming that matter, and we see those more profoundly in biodynamic vineyards. That they’re contributing to the long-term health of their region – that’s what I care about.’

A taste of Littorai: The 2022 vintage

Related articles

• Sonoma County: 2022 vintage report
• Napa Cabernet 2022: Vintage report and buyer’s guide
• How Thacher Winery uncovered a lighter side to Paso Robles

It’s a question on many minds today: should you buy organic? From food to household products and cosmetics, a growing number of us – myself included – are choosing organic to limit exposure to harmful chemicals.

But does this extend to wine? And should it?

Organic wines are gaining popularity worldwide, driven by consumer demand for healthier, more sustainable options, with compelling stats to match.

According to a sustainability report by research specialist IWSR, organic wine volumes grew by 5% globally, 6% in the UK and 7% in the US, from 2017-2022.

Statista’s 2024 UK wine report highlights a rising consumer preference for organic wines, fuelled by concerns for health and the environment.

In Bordeaux, this trend is clear: in 2024, 24% of the region’s vineyards were certified organic or in conversion, according to the CIVB Bordeaux wine council.

The region aims for 100% of its vineyards to hold sustainable certifications – organic, biodynamic, or others such as High Environmental Value (HVE) – by 2030, and this reflects a bold commitment to greener practices.

Recommendations for 20 organic Bordeaux wines below

Bordeaux organic: Why it isn’t easy

Such an accomplishment would be no mean feat. Bordeaux’s maritime climate, with warm temperatures and relatively high rainfall, makes organic viticulture tricky. Diseases like mildew and botrytis thrive here, often requiring robust intervention to suppress them.

Conventional farming has long been the go-to, using a range of sprays: contact products such as sulphur and copper, which wash off after 20mm of rain; penetration products that cling to leaves; and systemic sprays absorbed directly into the vine for reliable protection, especially during vulnerable phases like flowering.

These systemic options dominate, offering predictability and higher yields, but they come at a cost – chemical residues that linger in wines and soils, as well as posing health risks to workers – and there are suggested links between pesticide use and a range of health impacts, including cancers, Parkinson’s disease and other chronic conditions.

Organic viticulture, by contrast, limits growers to natural contact sprays free of chemicals – sulphur-based for powdery mildew (oidium) and copper-based for downy mildew. This means no synthetic fertilisers, herbicides or insecticides.

Organic practices prioritise soil health through composting and cover cropping, while promoting biodiversity with tree plantings, hedgerows and bird boxes.

Conversion to organic takes three years, after which vineyards earn the EU organic label and France’s green ‘AB’ (Agriculture Biologique) certification.

In the winery, organic rules restrict additives, require organic yeasts for fermentation and lower total sulphurdioxide levels (100mg/L for dry red wines, compared to 150mg/L in conventional wines). Certification bodies such as Ecocert audit both vineyard and winery practices annually.

To support Bordeaux estates tackling this complex transition, Derenoncourt Environnement was launched in 2016 by renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt and his team.

They offer tailored guidance, assessing estates’ needs, manpower and investment to optimise soil health and navigate disease challenges, helping producers achieve organic certification.

Biodynamie – going beyond

Biodynamics takes organic principles further, bringing rigorous organic practices, precision and resources together with a holistic, spiritual philosophy.

Certified by bodies such as Demeter or Biodyvin, biodynamic vineyards use phytotherapy (plant-based treatments) like infusions or essential oils derived from plants (nettle, horsetail, willow, comfrey and so on).

They also use natural preparations like horn manure (made using cow horns filled with manure and buried over winter) and horn silica, ‘dynamised’ (diluted by vigorous stirring in water) and sprayed to strengthen vine health and improve resistance to diseases such as mildew or oidium.

It follows a lunar and cosmic calendar for vineyard activities, aiming to harmonise agricultural practices with natural rhythms for greater vitality and expression in the wine.

While there’s no conclusive data to prove it, often organic and biodynamic wines tend to have a feeling of greater ‘energy’ to them, with tasting notes reflecting characters such as ‘bright’, ‘lively’, ‘alive’ or ‘shining’.

Almost a purity to the flavours, or a feeling of being energised as you drink them.

Trade-off: Soil, sprays and sustainability

Going organic isn’t a stroll through the vines, however – it’s a high-stakes endeavour.

Studies suggest that while organic viticulture does boost soil organic matter, the reliance on contact sprays requires frequent applications, given Bordeaux’s wet climate, and this can lead to more tractor passes that compact soils, potentially causing damage to root systems and harming long-term vineyard health.

In challenging vintages like 2021, 2023 and 2024, producers faced devastating mildew pressure, forcing some organic estates to spray more than 30 times, while others opted to temporarily halt their organic status in order to protect yields.

This raises a critical question: is organic always the greenest choice, if it puts pressure on the soil as well as demanding more vehicle fuel and labour?

Copper, a cornerstone of organic sprays, also poses risks, accumulating in soils over decades and potentially becoming toxic for plants, fauna, mammals, soil life and human users in cases of chronic exposure.

However, total usage is limited in the EU to a maximum of 28kg per hectare over seven years, or an average of 4kg per hectare per year.

Conventional systemic sprays, while reducing tractor use, leave chemical residues that harm soil and human health. You could say producers are caught between a rock and a hard place.

There are, however, innovative workarounds that are emerging.

While Petrus in Pomerol is not an organic estate, its focus on sustainability has led to the installation of a cutting-edge ‘umbrella’ system powered by solar panels (similar to the Viti-Tunnel system at Château Quinault l’Enclos).

This automatically shields vines during rain, channelling water to the centre of each row and keeping leaves dry, in order to prevent mildew from forming.

While effective, this technology is costly, meaning the producer – even Petrus – has deployed it only on eight rows of vines thus far, and it’s an impractical option for large estates or estates without the financial means.

It also alters the vineyard’s aesthetic somewhat. More accessible solutions include enhanced drainage systems, strategic cover cropping to improve soil structure, and encouraging ample sun and wind exposure (vines at the top of hills or on plateaus inevitably get more wind than those in valleys).

Hybrid solutions: Blending organic and pragmatic practices

Recognising the challenges of organics, many Bordeaux producers are exploring hybrid approaches. Although not a rating of wine quality, the HVE certification combines organic principles with targeted chemical use to reduce vineyard soil compaction and emissions while maintaining yields.

Agroforestry and fungus-resistant (‘Piwi’) grape varieties are also gaining traction (albeit less in Bordeaux than elsewhere), minimising environmental strain.

These flexible strategies reflect a region-wide push for sustainability without rigid dogma, ensuring soil health, ecological harmony and economic viability – something the region is already confronting, given the market, let alone the weather.

The future of organic Bordeaux

Taking everything into account, it’s clear that the Bordeaux region is committed to ‘greener’ wines, and for consumers seeking organic or biodynamic options, Bordeaux’s evolving wine scene offers plenty to raise a glass to.

For readers keen to explore, the 20 mainly Right Bank wines in the pages that follow offer a glimpse into some of the smaller, lesser-known properties putting their passion and effort into making organic and biodynamic wines.

There are, of course, also a number of classified estates with long-term commitments to organic viticulture, as listed in the box below…

Finding the balance: 32 Bordeaux estates producing organic and/or biodynamic wines

✿ Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, St-Emilion 1GCC (in conversion) ✿ Château Beauregard, Pomerol ✿ Château Berliquet, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Cadet-Bon, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Canon, St-Emilion 1GCC ✿ Château Canon La Gaffelière, St-Emilion 1GCC ✿ Château Climens*, Barsac 1CC ✿ Château Clos de Sarpe, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Clos du Clocher, Pomerol ✿ Château d’Yquem, Sauternes 1CS ✿ Château Durfort-Vivens*, Margaux 2CC ✿ Château Fonroque, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Franc Mayne, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Gruaud Larose, St-Julien 2CC ✿ Château Guiraud, Sauternes 1CC ✿ Château Haut-Bages Libéral*, Pauillac 5CC ✿ Château Jean Faure, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château L’Enclos, Pomerol ✿ Château L’Evangile, Pomerol ✿ Château La Lagune*, Haut-Médoc 3CC ✿ Château La Rose Figeac, Pomerol ✿ Château La Tour Figeac, St-Emilion GCC ✿ Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac 1CC ✿ Château Lafon-Rochet, St-Estèphe 4CC ✿ Château Latour, Pauillac 1CC ✿ Château Lilian Ladouys, St-Estèphe CBE ✿ Château Mazeyres*, Pomerol ✿ Château Palmer*, Margaux 3CC ✿ Château Pédesclaux, Pauillac 5CC ✿ Château Pontet-Canet*, Pauillac 5CC ✿ Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan CCG ✿ Château Tour St Christophe, St-Emilion GCC

20 organic Bordeaux wines

Related articles

• Bordeaux 2015 revisited 10 years on
• Bordeaux’s famous ‘5’ vintages
• Best value Bordeaux 2024 wines

Glossaries are normally published at the backs of books. This makes sense: it would be a tedious way to begin any story.

But when talking about the 2024 vintage in the Rhône, it might be useful to start with a list of viticultural diseases and their effects. Because in 2024 the Rhône faced a barrage of problems.

When I met with Maxime Chapoutier to taste his 2024 Sélections Parcellaires on 19 March in London, he told me that it was the toughest growing season he’s ever witnessed.

But his perseverance has been repaid many times over – it’s shaping up to be a fascinating vintage.

Scroll down for tasting nows and scores for the 2024 Sélections Parcellaires wines

Silver linings

The key element that the season revolves around is water; both its benefits, and the problems it can cause.

The last wet year in the Rhône was 2021 and it produced a lot of thin and reedy wines. The style of wine in 2024 is thankfully much riper. That’s because it’s not just the amount of rain that matters, but when it falls.

While 2021 saw rain during the summer months and harvest, it came earlier in 2024 – mostly in winter and spring. It replenished the water table, and primed the season for a strong start.

‘From autumn to spring, you build the quantity,’ says Maxime Chapoutier, ‘from spring to autumn you build the quality.’

But wet weather in March led to problems with flowering in the northern Rhône, known as coulure. It’s rare for Syrah to suffer from this condition – it’s more commonly associated with Grenache in the south. This reduced potential yields by up to 40% in certain places, according to Chapoutier.

Low yields

Ongoing showers in April led to the early arrival of downy mildew. This is a fungus-like organism that attacks both leaves and bunches, causing them to blacken, desiccate and drop off.

Thankfully Chapoutier didn’t see any of the other sort – powdery mildew. This can lead to off flavours, whereas downy mildew principally affects yields, which were further reduced as a result.

By August the rains had stopped, and temperatures hit 35°C – hot, but not as scorching as the heatwave during the previous August, which saw the mercury rise to over 40°C.

By contrast, September was unseasonably chilly in 2024, with some afternoons not even reaching 20°C.

‘The consequence is that the tannins built up slowly and are much finer than in 2022,’ says Chapoutier, which was an exceptionally hot year.

In the north, the Chapoutier team began picking the whites on 19 August, with most being harvested in the first week in September.

Reds started on 12 September, and finished on 4 October – a return to more normal picking dates after 2022 and 2023. Alcohol levels are moderate here, and the wines have fresh acidity.

Maxime says conditions in the southern Rhône were ‘basically the same,’ but given that Grenache is even more sensitive to coulure and downy mildew, yields were even more limited – the domaine’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards brought in as little as 8hl/ha, a long way off the permitted maximum of 35hl/ha.

Classic proportions

Juicy, fruity, sun-warmed wines are enjoyable to taste and flattering when young – vintages like 2018 and 2023 were delicious on release. But what they can lack is that steadying ‘Old World’ sobriety.

What I enjoyed about Chapoutier’s 2024s is that savoury, slightly austere edge that brings elegance, classicism and drinkability.

The reds were uniformly very good. Maxime is happier with Hermitage than Côte-Rôtie this year – he says Côte-Rôtie suffered a storm around the 19/20 September, so people harvested earlier than they otherwise might have.

All four of Chapoutier’s Hermitage are excellent, faithfully expressing their individual sites. Le Pavillon was particularly impressive – it’s a must-buy.

Vintage insights

Chapoutier has been increasing the proportion of whole bunches in the red Sélections Parcellaires wines to between 15% and 35%, depending on the vineyard.

In general it works well, accentuating freshness and contributing aromatic complexity, though some of the wines will take a little longer to soften as a result. The net effect is positive.

The whites have plenty of extract, giving them intensity and salinity, coupled with good acidity. They exhibit a little less of the struck-match reduction that has been more pronounced here in the past couple of vintages – which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your taste. They are equally as good as the reds this year.

I’ve heard very mixed reports about the 2024s over the past six months, but it was clearly a success at Chapoutier – in quality if not quantity.

But one swallow does not a summer make; perhaps other producers have been less fortunate.

I’ll be visiting the region to taste more widely in October, and will produce a full vintage report in November. But based on these wines, I can’t wait to taste more.

Chapoutier 2024 Sélections Parcellaires:

Related articles

• Walls: Exclusive first taste of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires 2023
• Walls: Exclusive first taste of M Chapoutier Sélections Parcellaires 2020
• Walls: 19 vintages of Beaucastel’s white Rhône masterpiece

Are you looking for Loire wines with a difference? Whites beyond Sauvignon Blanc, or Gamays with real character? Do you want to surprise wine-loving friends with a wine they’ve never tried?

Then look no further than the ‘Loire Volcanique’.

The area referred to as the Loire Volcanique covers four appellations, situated upstream towards the source of the Loire river. In fact, the area is only 70km directly west of Beaujolais and the top of the northern Rhône.

The appellations are Côte Roannaise and Côtes du Forez on the upper Loire itself; St-Pourçain, and Côtes d’Auvergne on the tributary of the Allier; as well as the associated IGPs Val de Loire, Puy-de-Dôme and Urfé.

After many decades in the doldrums, this picturesque region is now making some of the most interesting and exciting wines in the Loire.

Scroll down for notes and scores for 15 great Loire Volcanique wines to try

These range from delicious, easy-drinking, unoaked examples, to serious wines aged in oak – or, increasingly, in amphorae – that have the potential to develop and age well, from both long-established domaines and ambitious newcomers.

Rise and fall and rise again

Currently there are just 1,315ha planted in the whole of the Loire Volcanique area, but all four appellations were considerably larger in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Côtes d’Auvergne in particular had very substantial vineyards at this time, profiting from the demise of the vineyards of the Midi, which were being consumed by phylloxera.

In the last decade of the 19th century, there were over 44,000ha of vines planted in the Puy-de-Dôme department. In Boudes, one of the five crus of the Côtes d’Auvergne, there are the remains of abandoned terraces on the steep hillside.

However, the four appellations eventually succumbed to phylloxera around the time of the First World War, and were subsequently impacted by rural depopulation, so this area sharply declined in importance.

Despite its small size, this region is now enjoying a renaissance, with a number of dynamic producers making very good, interesting wines under AP, IGP and Vin de France labels.

A painter’s palette of grape varieties

The wines are made from a range of grape varieties, including Aligoté, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Pinot Gris and Noir, Riesling, Roussanne, Syrah, Tressallier and Viognier.

This wide range, quite different from those found in the other parts of the Loire, reflects just how far south Côtes du Forez and Auvergne are, with St-Pourçain and Côte Roannaise being slightly further north.

The southern-most villages are on the same latitude as Côte-Rotie, so it makes sense to plant Viognier, Roussanne and Syrah.

Red and rosé

Gamay is the dominant grape variety – Côte Roannaise and Côtes du Forez reds must be made from 100% Gamay. There are two local variants: Gamay St-Romain (Roannaise and Forez) and Gamay d’Auvergne (Côtes d’Auvergne).

Pinot Noir is allowed in Côtes d’Auvergne and St-Pourçain but never 100%. That said, very good 100% Pinot Noirs are available bottled as IGPs or Vin de France.

White

A very interesting range of white varieties are used – principally Chardonnay (Auvergne and St-Pourçain) and Tressallier, which is St-Pourçain’s local grape variety.

In addition Aligoté, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc and Gris, Riesling, Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier also feature.

Remnants of a volcanic past

As the name suggests, the region is known for its extinct volcanoes.

In the Côtes d’Auvergne area, the Puy-de-Dôme itself is the highest of the region’s extinct volcanoes, and is notable for being a famous climb in the Tour de France cycle race.

In the Côtes du Forez, Château Sainte Anne is an ancient fortified castle which perches atop a volcanic peak, high above the village of Marcilly-le-Châtel, a site which dates back to the beginning of the 11th century. Cave Verdier-Logel has some of its vines here, on the steep slopes.

Many of the region’s vines are planted on volcanic soils, especially granite and basalt. These soils help to give the wines their attractive freshness, which is further aided by the altitude of the vineyards.

Gilles Bonnefoy in the Côtes du Forez has some vines at 600m, while Domaine Sérol (Côte Roannaise) has a parcel at 500m. Thus wines made with Rhône varieties are often fresher than those from the Rhône Valley.

In contrast, the vineyards of Sancerre top out at around 300m.

Appellation facts

St-Pourçain: (600ha) The most northerly appellation in the Allier Valley, where it is joined by its tributary, the Sioule. Reds: Gamay and Pinot Noir. Whites: Chardonnay and Tressallier.

Côtes d’Auvergne: (350ha) This AP straddles the north and south of Clermont-Ferrand, with vines up to 550m in altitude. Reds: Gamay and Pinot Noir. Whites: Chardonnay. Other: Also some Syrah in IGP and Vin de France.

Côte Roannaise: (215ha) Spread across 14 communes on the eastern foothills of the Monts de la Madeleine, with vines up to 500m in altitude. Reds and rosé: Gamay.

Côtes du Forez: (150ha) The most southerly of the four appellations, with vineyards widely scattered on the foothills of Monts de Forez with vines up to 600m. The most southerly vineyards are south of Lyon and in line with Côte-Rotie and Vienne. Reds and rosé: Gamay.

Climate

The climate is semi-continental with dry, relatively brief cold winters in comparison to the rest of the Loire, followed by hot summers.

The region has both the lowest minimum average January temperatures and the highest maximum average summer temperatures, along with substantially more annual sunshine, than elsewhere in the Loire, according to Meteo France.

Saint-Etienne enjoys 1,985 sunshine hours per annum – around 200 more than Nantes.

The region benefits from being in a rain shadow, and from the Foehn effect, whereby a warm, dry wind descends the leeward slopes of the mountains.

Sadly, frost is a perennial threat and 2021 saw severe damage, while violent summer hailstorms are also a problem.

Every time I visit this lovely, picturesque region I discover something exciting and new. Last year it was the dramatic Mont-Georges – a steeply sloping, terraced vineyard in St-Pourçain, a recent joint venture planted by a collection of three estates.

Previously it was the steep Bouthéran vineyard in the Côte Roannaise.

I am sure these remarkable sites would be famous if they were found in Burgundy or the Rhône.

Green approach

Many of the leading domaines are either organic, biodynamic or both, and this is borne out by many of the wines that showed best in this tasting.

Unfortunately, all too often green credentials do not extend to bottle weight. Excessively heavy bottles are still favoured by too many producers, perhaps mistakenly seeking to give their wines extra prestige.

Of the 80 wines tasted, and the 15 featured here, overall the standard was impressive. The most consistent appellation was Côte Roannaise, with some excellent wines from AP, IGP and Vin de France bottlings.

The fascinating wines of the Loire Volcanique await you.

Top producers to know:

St-Pourçain

Clos de Breuilly – a recently established, high quality, ambitious domaine. 2020 was the first vintage.

Domaine des Bérioles – run by Jean Teissèdre, sister Sophie Roux and her husband Jérôme, this organic domaine is one of the best in the Upper Loire.

Domaine Grosbot-Barbara – Denis Barbara, the loose-limbed rock star of St-Pourçain, had the vision and determination to create the beautiful vineyard of Mont-Georges.

Côte Roannaise

Domaine Sérol – a model organic and biodynamic estate with vines up to 500m and an excellent range of wines, including a long-term partnership with the famous Troisgros family.

Domaine des Pothiers – now run by the dynamic Romain Paire who makes fine organic and biodynamic Côte Roannaise wines, including Riesling.

Côtes du Forez

Cave Verdier-Logel – the first serious independent producer here when the local cooperative was virtually the only producer in the area. It makes a fascinating range of wines including Riesling. Jacky Logel is one of the region’s great characters.

Les Vins de la Madone, Gilles Bonnefoy – an excellent producer with some of the highest vines up to 600m, and biodynamic since 2009.

Côtes d’Auvergne

Bénoît Montel – an excellent and consistent producer based in Riom just north of Clermont-Ferrand.

Desprat-Saint-Verny – a cooperative now owned and managed by the Desprat family. By far the largest Auvergne producer and a frequent medallist at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

15 Loire Volcanique wines to try

Related articles

• The enduring appeal of Muscadet: 18 fabulous wines to try
• Loire Valley 2023 vintage report: White wines and the best new releases
• Hubert Brochard: Change in store for the Bollinger-owned Sancerre estate

Like all insufferable dads, the other day I was lecturing my son about the music I grew up with, so I played him some early jungle over breakfast.

In retrospect, some of it sounds like a drum kit falling down the stairs, but a few tracks, despite their radical style, have stood the test of time.

It’s not just music that goes through different styles and fashions, wines do too. Take Châteauneuf for example. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it went through its ‘modern’ period, characterised by extreme ripeness and new oak.

Today, this style couldn’t be less fashionable, with winemakers instead seeking freshness and balance.

At the time, one of the wines associated with that extreme style was Domaine de la Mordorée’s La Plume du Peintre. I recently had the chance to revisit the 2003 and 2005, and compare with the 2019 and 2022. I was keen to see how they looked 20-plus years on.

Are we right to deride that style today, or were winemakers actually onto something?

Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ notes and scores for 10 Domaine de la Mordorée La Plume du Peintre wines

Queen of the woods

In French, a mordorée is another name for a bécasse, a small game bird known in English as a woodcock. It’s the emblem of Domaine de la Mordorée, which is now in the hands of Ambre Delorme. She uses the creature’s various nicknames for some of her other cuvées: La Reine des Bois (The Queen of the Woods), La Dame Rousse (The Redheaded Woman) and La Dame Voyageuse (The Travelling Lady).

It was her father Christophe Delorme, who died aged 52 in 2015, that first developed the Plume du Peintre range. This name – which translates as ‘the painter’s quill’ – also refers to their feathered friend.

Ambre says it’s the name of a small colourful feather found on the woodcock’s wing that hunters take as a trophy; it’s also used by artists to sign their finished canvases.

The Plume du Peintre process

Domaine de la Mordorée is located in Tavel, but also has some excellent vineyards over the river in Châteauneuf, including some very old vines grown on galets roulés on the plateau of La Crau. Though the exact blend changes from vintage to vintage, the La Plume du Peintre Châteauneuf is always based on this parcel as it delivers particularly structured, powerful wines.

It isn’t produced every year. The first vintages were in 2003 and 2005, made by Christophe, then, after a long hiatus, Ambre produced a 2019 and a 2022.

She accompanies her best parcels through the growing season, then, if volumes are sufficiently generous and she feels that ‘something is happening here’, she will isolate plots and vinify and age them separately. Then it’s a case of ‘taste, taste, taste’, and if the quality is high enough, they are bottled separately as La Plume du Peintre.

La Plume du Peintre Lirac and Tavel

During the gap between the original and recent vintages of La Plume du Peintre Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the range started encompassing other appellations, but ‘it’s always a story of old vines’, says Ambre, ‘as that’s where you find the complexity’.

Domaine de la Mordorée produced La Plume du Peintre Lirac rouge in 2012 and 2016, Lirac blanc in 2017 and 2023, and Tavel in 2019, 2022 and 2023. All are drinking well now, with particular highlights being the Lirac blanc 2023 and Tavel 2023. (See tasting notes below).

Changing tastes

The 2003 and 2005 vintages of La Plume du Peintre Châteauneuf offer a clear contrast to the 2019 and 2022, and these two pairs provide a neat illustration of how times and tastes have changed in the region.

The 2003 and 2005 are huge wines of extreme ripeness, with toasty oak, potent alcohol and robust tannins – very much wines of their day. The alcohol in the 2003 feels particularly high, but the 2005 finds balance despite its proportions, and exhibits more freshness and harmony than the 2003, which is almost a caricature of Châteauneuf, but it’s undeniably complex and offers huge hedonistic pleasure.

The 2019 and 2022 are very different; picked at a more restrained level of ripeness, without such invasive oak treatment, they feel more precise and focused, if less high-spirited and exuberant.

La Plume de Peintre Châteauneuf-du-Pape vintages

2003: One third each of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre from lieux-dits La Crau and Bois de la Ville; aged in new oak barriques for 12 months.

2005: Pure Grenache from La Crau; aged in new oak barriques for 12 months.

2019: Pure Grenache from La Crau; aged in two-year-old barriques for 10 months.

2022: 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre, from lieux-dits La Crau and La Nerthe; aged in two-year-old barriques for 10 months.

Positive evolution

The 2003 vintage was like nothing the region had seen before – a year of intense heat and drought. Such extreme conditions were a novelty at the time, and they offered new opportunities to explore, opening up possibilities that chimed with prevailing tastes.

Many modern Châteauneufs of this era have since collapsed under their own weight, but the 2005 Plume du Peintre shows that some wines of this period excelled and will continue to provide pleasure for decades.

Today, most of us would rather enjoy a more balanced, fresher expression, and the winemaking approach in 2019 and 2022 has evolved to suit current appetites. Though still concentrated and powerful, they’re more approachable and precise than those earlier years, though Ambre wonders if they’ll age for quite as long.

Like early jungle music, the modern Châteauneufs are relics of their time, experiments with very mixed results. Most contemporary versions are more measured, no longer in thrall to extreme ripeness, and certainly easier to drink.

But the most successful wines of that era have a raucous fun and infectious enthusiasm that’s hard not to love.

Domaine de la Mordorée La Plume du Peintre

Related articles

• Walls: The best new Côtes du Rhône wines under £20
• 2023 Rhône Vintage Report on Decanter Premium
• Australian Grenache: Panel tasting results

The road to where Pepe Raventós is now is neither obvious nor straightforward. Born into one of Catalonia’s most storied wine families – linked to the very origin of the region’s sparkling wine tradition – he didn’t set out to become the heir of his family’s legacy.

But a combination of business challenges, a sense of duty and a late-found vocation brought him back to take the helm of Raventós i Blanc.

From a place of inevitability, defined by necessity, he built an idiosyncratic path, eventually becoming a brand himself – not least through much-touted collaborations with actor Cameron Diaz and chef and restaurateur José Andrés.

Today, ‘Pepe Raventós’ stands for stubborn advocacy of sustainability and down-to-earth sophistication. Behind the name, there’s a man who perhaps defied even the expectations he had for himself while embracing a lineage of innovative and entrepreneurial dissent.

Scroll down for five wines from Pepe Raventós

Groundbreaking ancestry

Having lived on the grounds of the Raventós estate of Can Codorníu, just outside Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (the epicentre of Spanish sparkling wine production), since at least 1497, the Raventós family is itself, arguably, part of the terroir of Penedès, so inextricably linked is it with the establishment and development of its viticultural identity.

The estate’s 90ha have been farmed for more than five centuries with the expected combination of Mediterranean crops – cereals, olive trees and of course grapes – amid woodland. However, a pivotal moment – for the family and the region – took place in 1872.

Following a trip to Champagne, Josep Raventós i Fatjó (1824-1885) decided to produce Spain’s first sparkling wine re-fermented in bottle, at Can Codorníu using the estate’s Xarel·lo grapes. This small step eventually led to the creation of the Cava powerhouse that took the name of the family’s homestead.

Josep’s grandson, Manuel Raventós i Fatjó (1893-1977), alongside his wife Montserrat Blanc, steered the company throughout the troubled first decades of the 20th century, laying the groundwork for their son’s momentous leadership.

With Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc (1922-1986; Pepe Raventós’ grandfather) at the helm, Codorníu expanded spectacularly during the 1960s and – largely thanks to his efforts, and with him as president of the Consell Regulador del Cava – the Cava DO was created in 1972.

Start of something new

However, disillusionment set in as the brand (and appellation) grew in volume and the connection with both terroir and the growers withered.

Raventós i Blanc eventually sold his share of Codorníu and, alongside son Manuel Raventós i Negra (b. 1947), founded Raventós i Blanc in 1986, hoping to give terroir and sustainable viticulture renewed prominence.

Josep died just a few days before his namesake winery opened, leaving the project solely in Manuel’s hands – until Pepe joined in 2001.

Father and son then became accomplices in a relentless quest to bring the sense of place of their sparkling wines to the fore, which culminated in the company’s desertion from the Cava DO and the creation of Conca del Riu Anoia – a proposed new DO of which Raventós i Blanc remains the sole producer – in 2012.

Unintended heir

Growing up, it wasn’t Pepe Raventós’ intention to join his father at the family estate. As the 21st generation of one of Catalonia’s foremost wine families, he wasn’t sure what made him tick. He went on to study business administration at Esade in Barcelona, ‘because that’s what those who don’t know what they want [to do] study’, Pepe says.

After completing a Masters in international management in the US, Raventós joined Catalonian residential care company Grupo SAR, overseeing marketing and sales. Although this allowed him to combine his academic training with a passion for social work, the family legacy came knocking.

Both his father and the business were going through a difficult period (which had already forced the sale in 1989 of Château La Fleur d’Aiguilhe – renamed Château d’Aiguilhe following the sale – a sister estate in the Côtes de Bordeaux), and Pepe was asked to step in – and up.

The rest, as they say, is history. Pepe sought the improvement of his wine knowledge, first with a two-year sommelier course at Barcelona’s hospitality school, then a Masters in viticulture and oenology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Internships with the likes of Loire maverick Didier Dagueneau, Hubert Lamy (St-Aubin, Burgundy) and Gaston Chiquet in Champagne followed.

These experiences lit the flame he’d been missing in his earlier years – and allowed him to develop a personal ‘philosophy’ through learning, untethered to inherited assumptions. ‘It’s a journey to produce ever-better wines that started back then and continues,’ he says. ‘It’s an ongoing process of learning and discovery.’

Back to basics

Carving his own place and persona upon his return to the Raventós estate – where he now oversees all aspects of the business – was informed both by his family’s indelible and complex legacy and his own unorthodox path.

‘Everything is evolution. The way of understanding our land and history and how to interpret the potential of our soils, varieties – all this has evolved since I joined,’ Pepe explains. ‘But the [Raventós i Blanc] project rested, from its inception, on two pillars: quality and activism.

When my grandfather left Codorníu and my father built the winery at our historical estate, the goal was always quality, based on the belief that we have a terroir [for sparkling winemaking] that is as good if not better than Champagne’s.’

At Raventós i Blanc, Pepe took his father’s focus on sustainability several steps further, championing biodynamic practices and regenerative agriculture. ‘What I’ve done is to overcome a period of “confusion” [in the Spanish wine industry] focused merely on productivity, and bring us back to the ancestral way of working and understanding our land.

‘To live and work in harmony with nature, seeking a balance between animals, plants and man. That’s ultimately what I’m trying to achieve. You might label it as biodynamic, regenerative… ultimately, it is ancestral knowledge,’ he concludes.

Horsepower

He evokes childhood memories as important reference points: ‘I remember my father had eight horses that ploughed all of the estate. We pioneered the [re]introduction of animal traction and are currently working 8ha solely with horses. My goal is to have five or six horses working the entire farm, supported only by an electric tractor.’

His convictions are reflected in the focus and unapologetic minerality that the sparkling wines of Raventós i Blanc – all vintage releases, produced with local varieties, certified organic and aged for a minimum of 18 months sur lie (on the lees) – have become known for, and in his unwavering belief that Conca del Riu Anoia deserves to be championed as a leading appellation for sparkling winemaking.

Some might consider Pepe’s demeanour to spring from hubris, others from a much-needed self-confidence and determination that many Spanish producers should use as inspiration.

Embracing challenges

Viticulture and winemaking aren’t the only areas Pepe has tended to – his leadership has also been about strengthening the brand and commercial viability of the business. ‘When I joined my father, the business was in ruins. I had to start making still wines to save it and stop losing money.’

Not one to leave challenges unmet or opportunities missed, Pepe came across and bought an abandoned property – Can Sumoi – that now serves as the production base for still wines.

The 400ha estate has also become a case study of sorts – a way for Pepe to apply his farming philosophy and sustainability practices holistically and at scale.

Further to Raventós i Blanc and Can Sumoi, Pepe also produces experimental releases under the Vins Pepe Raventós label.

‘These are wines I make in the garage, very low-intervention and very low volumes. It’s my lab of mistakes,’ he says. ‘All we learn from them then informs our work at Raventós i Blanc and Can Sumoi.’

Pepe quotes Che Guevara to justify his relentlessness: ‘Be realistic, dream the impossible.’ It is indeed at the crossroads of pragmatic efficiency and poetic rebelliousness that Pepe emerges as such an interesting figure. ‘The older I get, the more passionate I am about what we do.’

The demands imposed by climate change seem to further justify his efforts: ‘What these changes are telling us is that we need to rediscover and really focus on indigenous varieties. And to pay more attention to what happens in the vineyard as part of a complex [eco]system.’

Pepe Raventós’ quest is perhaps more the construction of an ethos – and a particularly interesting journey of self-discovery – than the development of a winemaking programme. The wines he produces might simply be a fortunate byproduct of an attempt to discover the meaning of ‘the good life’.

Contemporary and historic: Five from Pepe Raventós

Related articles

• Spain for foodies: Where to eat and drink now
• Familia Torres to invest €6m in winery dedicated to non-alcoholic wines
• From La Mancha to Washington: A fragile story of culture, clay and wine

Ever more mainstream, the long-held stereotype of natural wine as flawed and funky is full of more holes than Swiss cheese these days. As wine consumers have continued to embrace these wines for a combination of their farming and winemaking ethos, their punk rock bonafides remain intact.

‘I believe our awareness of climate change, the need to act more sustainably overall to alter our lifestyles and reduce our footprint has led to the popularity of organic, biodynamic and natural wine,’ says Marko Kovac of Karakterre, the natural wine salon highlighting Eastern and Central European wines.

‘If we’re choosing EVs over gasoline-powered cars, why not do the same when we consider what to consume? Beyond just environmental issues, we want to be healthier. Organic, biodynamic and natural wines, being free of many chemicals used in conventional farming, are indeed healthier – though we can’t escape the reality that they are alcohol in the end and should probably be consumed in moderation.’

A natural evolution

‘Yes, the movement has seen a significant shift from what in previous years has been perceived as a bunch of underground weirdos drinking the funky stuff – and that’s a great achievement,’ Kovac admits.

‘In the early days, there was a need to fight for the place at the table, being laughed at by the conventional wine industry and professionals, hence the notions of wine needing to be cloudy, without any sulphites added, and even welcoming of certain wine faults. It was maybe the only way natural wine could have made a name for itself.

‘However, we must admit that, in many cases, those same wines were in some cases truly undrinkable. In a way, everyone needed to grow up: the winegrowers, the industry, the market and the consumer. It was just such a radical message.

‘The formula obviously worked. Today, you find organic, biodynamic and natural wines on many tables across the globe. It is not an isolated movement anymore. It’s not just a trend. Everyone has “evolved”: the winegrower trading the faults for a more sensible product, the professionals adopting the category, and the market asking for these types of wines.

‘Of course, on both sides, one still sees extremes – wine professionals who refuse to enter the category and winegrowers who refuse to use sulphur. But the two worlds have come closer than ever. That’s evident through global wine lists and how even conventional wineries are shifting to more sustainable production.’

A place at the table

As the movement has taken up space on shelves in well-pointed bottle shops and fine dining wine lists, it has found champions in the kitchen who are true believers.

These chefs see a direct connection between the embrace of care and stewardship in the farming that goes into their ingredients in the kitchen and the like-minded practices in vineyards and cellars of natural winemakers.

Ana Roš of Hiša Franko

‘Personally, I’m drawn to natural wines because they align with my philosophy of staying close to nature,’ says Ana Roš of the three Michelin star Hiša Franko in Slovenia.

‘Just as I prefer minimal intervention in my food, I appreciate wines made with as little interference as possible. It’s important to me to know what I’m putting into my body, and natural wines provide that sense of integrity.

‘For the past 25 years, I’ve been drinking natural wines. It’s a legacy from my ex-husband’s (Valter Kramar) father, Franko, who opened Hiša Franko in the early 1970s. At that time, when natural wines were often called “wines with mistakes”, Franko was already collecting wines from pioneers like Valter Mlečnik and the Batič family. This passion for natural wines was carried forward by Valter, an ardent advocate and drinker of natural wines who has always believed in their importance.

‘At Hiša Franko, this legacy thrives. Our wine list is now almost entirely natural, and we offer two distinct wine pairings. The first, “Classy”, features refined, elegant wines with a more polished character. The second, “Funky”, celebrates the wilder side of natural wines – those that Valter loves most. It’s fascinating to see how guests divide themselves into these two distinct groups of preferences.’

Daniela Soto-Innes of Rubra

After famously leaving the iconic New York restaurants that she founded with chef Enrique Olvera, Cosme and Atla, Mexican chef Daniela Soto-Innes unveiled her long-awaited Rubra in Nayarit, Mexico last autumn. Located on the coast in Punta de Mita, the restaurant hosted its first wine dinner with pairings from Austria’s natural wine rockstars, Gut Oggau.

‘Wine has been one of my growing passions through the years,’ Soto-Innes explains. ‘The level of spiciness in my cooking, for example, has gone down a lot because I want the food to pair well with wine. I want the two to sing together.’

As a chef in New York City, she learned and discovered new wines in the city’s eclectic wine bar scene. Just before opening Rubra, she’d been on a whirlwind tour of the natural producers of Alsace and counts among her favourites Pierre Frick and Domaine Lissner.

‘All of our guests on the first evening were intrigued by the Gut Oggau wines. We selected them for our opening because their wines, like our food, are fresh and alive,’ says Soto-Innes, who works with her beverage director, Andrea Hernández, former sommelier at Quintonil, a two Michelin star restaurant in Mexico City.

Hernández curates a list focused on organic, biodynamic and low-intervention wines.

‘While not completely natural, 90% of our list are producers who work organically or biodynamically and our largest producer farms 60 hectares, so we’re supporting small, family farms. It’s a niche for our Mexican guests, and that’s exciting to show them something new,’ Hernández explains.

‘Natural wine goes so well with Mexican cuisine. Like our food, it expresses place, and the acidity frames our flavours and spices, much better than big Riojas or California wines traditionally served in Mexican fine dining.

‘Chef Dani and I are both spiritual people, and we both believe we have a responsibility to the environment and how we source food reflects that. So it makes sense that we’re drawn to natural producers connected to the land like Gut Oggau. We want to partner with people like that, who feel that greater sense of the world around them.’

What goes with Gaggan?

An experience dining at Gaggan in Bangkok‘s southeastern Watthana District is much more like a performance than a meal. Set up as a theatre in the round, guests sit in pitch black as Gaggan Anand and his culinary team perform under black lights, and a booming, curated playlist is picked to accompany the menu.

A neon sign in red cursive script on the restaurant’s far left wall captures Gaggan’s ethos. ‘Be a rebel,’ it reads.

How did one of the world’s most iconic chefs, who needs only go by one name, come to have a 100% natural wine list at his eponymous restaurant and nearly as famous Indian-Mexican fusion joint, Ms Maria & Mr Singh, just upstairs?

‘We needed a wine programme that would respond to my “madness” in the kitchen, to be honest,’ Gaggan tells me. ‘We thought, hey, we are doing all these crazy, highly personalised, progressive dishes, so our wine programme should follow this madness! It’s worked.’

Alongside his well-known and controversial dishes, like ‘Lick it up’ and ‘Rat’s Brains’ an array of the world’s top natural wines are paired.

‘Like the food, the wines we feature are equally personal and made by small family farmers just like those we get our ingredients from. And both our food and the wines are natural! Today, Gaggan is a rare upscale restaurant with a fully natural wine list, well it’s not a list per se, as much as a curated part of the dining experience.’

Sommelier Vladimir Kojic runs the entirely natural programme at both restaurants.

‘Vladimir will take you along on the wine journey as our chefs and I take you through each dish, aiming for the perfect accompaniment. In our minds, the wine is on equal footing with food.

‘We hope to help people understand that wine, like food, is deeply personal! It’s an expression of a person, a place, something integrated into our lives, not separate from our experience.’

Related articles

• Baudains: ‘Natural wines don’t stink’
• The ethical drinker – November 2024
• Organic vs natural wine: What’s the difference?

Côtes du Rhône Villages is well known for offering great value for money, not just for France but throughout the world. There is however a tactic you can employ to further maximise bang for buck if you’re in search of a bargain.

Firstly, select a top-performing ‘named village’. There are currently 21 of these villages that can append their name onto the Côtes du Rhône Villages label, but not all of these villages, or terroirs, are equal.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for Domaine La Cabotte wines

If you happened to read my article earlier this year on Côtes du Rhône Villages Massif d’Uchaux – a secluded, wooded hill of limestone and sandstone to the north of Châteauneuf-du-Pape – you’ll know that this is one of the most promising.

Secondly, choose one of the best producers within the appellation. You can be confident they’ll be producing cru-level wine, but with considerably lower prices. A good example of this is Domaine La Cabotte.

From Burgundy to the Rhône

Domaine La Cabotte is owned by Marie-Pierre Plumet d’Ardhuy and her husband Eric Plumet.

If the name d’Ardhuy sounds familiar, that’s because you might have encountered the wines of her father Gabriel’s estate, Domaine d’Ardhuy: 39ha of Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits.

A cabotte is a vineyard hut in which Burgundian vignerons store their tools.

Gabriel used to spend his summers in the Rhône. In the summer of 1981, he was cycling across the Massif d’Uchaux when he came across a ramshackle estate for sale.

Having wanted to own vineyards in the area for many years, he bought it immediately.

Gabriel invited Marie-Pierre, one of his seven daughters, to join him and renovate it. At the time, there were 10ha of vines along with olives and lavender plantations. She set to work replanting more vineyards, and today they have 32ha.

Biodynamics in action

She replanted five hectares of white varieties, but they produced wines that she often found to be heavy. When she converted the estate to biodynamics, ‘the whites were completely transformed, right from the first year,’ she says, showing more purity, minerality and acidity. The reds followed a similar course, albeit more slowly.

Marie-Pierre and Eric were joined by their son Etienne in 2016. He had previously worked at Domaine de Beaurenard in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where he was in charge of its biodynamic preparations.

The family bought a small vineyard in Châteauneuf in 2005, followed by another parcel of old vines in 2015; today they own 1ha there. ‘It’s a lovely appellation, somewhat mythical… and a good shop window,’ she says, and it helps to attract people to the estate that don’t know Massif d’Uchaux.

She says that land in Châteauneuf costs over €500,000 per hectare, whereas land in Massif d’Uchaux costs €60,000-€80,000 per hectare.

But despite the discrepancy in land prices – and appellation prestige – I wouldn’t necessarily place their Châteauneuf above their Massif d’Uchaux. Both are excellent, just in different styles.

‘Châteauneuf is the land of Grenache, it brings power and alcohol,’ says Marie-Pierre. ‘I prefer finesse and freshness.’

You can tell where her heart is.

The range

The domaine makes two Massif d’Uchaux cuvées: Garance and Gabriel.

Garance is the main bottling, made of 50% Grenache, with the rest made of equal parts Syrah and Mourvèdre. It’s fermented and macerated for two to three weeks, then aged in concrete for 12 months.

Gabriel is a parcel selection, equal parts Grenache and Syrah. It’s fermented and aged in amphora for around 14 to 18 months.

Garance usually leads with red fruits, while Gabriel is darker in profile, a touch spicier and more concentrated. Both are wines of depth and finesse, and can age for 10 to 15 years in good vintages.

The pure Clairette La Sauvageonne will satisfy fans of the grape with all its soft, textural freshness. It too is grown on chalky Massif d’Uchaux terroir, but since it’s an appellation reserved for red wines only, this white is bottled under the Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation.

La Sauvageonne and Gabriel retail for around £20 a bottle in the UK. You can pick up Garance for £17 – and we’re talking about a refined, ageworthy, biodynamic wine produced by a family-owned estate.

Great news for wine lovers like us. Less brilliant for the producers, who aren’t able to charge cru-level prices. The administrative cogs of the French appellation authorities are notoriously unhurried, but surely Massif d’Uchaux will eventually join the ranks of the other southern Rhône crus.

In the meantime, this is a great example of the value you can find in the Villages if you know where to look.

Walls’ reviews of Domaine La Cabotte wines:

Related articles

• Walls: Exploring Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret
• Laudun becomes the 18th cru of the Rhône Valley
• Walls: A tale of two Gallets

Pét-nat has gone mainstream. Even M&S, surely a barometer of the tastes of Britain’s middle classes, stocks one.

And it’s from England; which really should be no surprise seeing as this country’s speciality is sparkling wine.

Scroll down for six British pét-nats to try

What are pét-nats?

To show off the sheer diversity of the British pét-nat scene, last year Tim Wildman MW put on the inaugural ‘Brit Nat’ tasting in London.

This year there was the sequel with over 50 wines to taste. Wildman is the man behind the Lost in a Field ‘Frolic’ pét-nat made from grape varieties that once underpinned English winemaking, like Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner and Schönburger, and has become a champion for the category.

He also makes pét-nats in Australia and indeed the term comes from there – it’s short for ‘pétillant naturel’ (naturally sparkling). Those Aussies do love a snappy abbreviation.

Pét-nat is a broad category using three main winemaking techniques. The first is what is known in France as ‘méthode ancestrale’ and Wildman calls ‘interruption’.

This involves bottling a fermenting wine so it finishes in the bottle and the resulting carbon dioxide will be absorbed into the wine. These wines are occasionally disgorged to remove sediment.

According to Will Davenport in Sussex who has been making pét-nats longer than anyone else in England, they can be tricky.

‘You have to measure sugar level assiduously and then bottle at the right time. It works with a slow ferment but one year the ferment was so fast that the last bottles had much less sugar in so they had barely any fizz. Some years we get it right, some years we don’t make it.’

All this needs to be done at harvest time when there are tonnes of grapes coming in.

Bottoms Up

No wonder some producers use a method which Wildman calls ‘intermission’.

This involves starting with a base wine and then provoking a secondary fermentation. This is often achieved by adding unfermented grape juice, either a fresh batch or even frozen from a previous year – though sugar might be used instead.

‘The majority of pét-nats in the world are made this way,’ according to Wildman.

When this secondary fermentation takes place in bottle, the wines are sometimes referred to as ‘col fondo‘, a reference to the traditional, bottle-fermented Prosecco style.

Hugo Stewart at Domaine Hugo in Wiltshire describes it as the, ‘missing link between pét-nat and English Sparkling Wine’.

To make his, he adds the still fermenting wine from one vintage to the finished wine of another, and then bottles it under a crown cap.

Styles, grapes and regions

It’s hard to generalise about regional styles as there are wines like Wildman’s which are made from grapes harvested all over the country.

But, largely in England’s sparkling wine heartlands of Kent, Sussex etc, the wines tend to be made from classic French varieties.

They also tend to be more accessible to pét-nat agnostics like me. The further north and west you go, the more hybrids like Rondo and Solaris come in.

That said, Solaris with its heady peach and satsuma flavours seems to work especially well in a pét-nat – as it does with orange wines.

Production ranges from 100 bottles for Woodfine Interconnections from Beaconsfield in Bucks to 9,000 for the M&S pét-nat which is made by Defined Wine, a contract business that employs ex-Cloudy Bay winemaker Nick Lane.

And as you might expect from producers of different sizes around the country using different techniques and grape varieties, the wines were varied.

Many of the newly-bottled wines tasted (to me) a little simplistic, a character Wildman described in his own wines as ‘tank juice.’

He thinks the wines change after 12 months in bottle. Indeed tasting Wildman’s own wines, the 2022 was hugely superior to the rather raw 2023.

The verdict

On the whole, I found the best were those made by larger experienced producers like Davenport and London Cru.

Among some of the smaller producers, there was a lot of Brett and volatile acidity (VA), some very rough tannins and a little mouse taint.

There were at least three wines I found undrinkable. Plus the occasional bottle that gushed all over the floor on opening.

According to Wildman this last problem is caused by tartrate crystals in undisgorged bottles causing the wine to fizz uncontrollably when opened (they act as vectors for bubble formation).

Having said all this, the standard was higher than I thought they would be (perhaps because my expectations were low).

There were around 20 bottles I enjoyed, with a special mention going to the M&S one which offers outstanding value for money at £15.99.

Scores were generally low because these are not complex wines for pontificating over, they’re wines for drinking though they are expensive for such basic quality.

Overall the more conventional wines got the highest marks from me, but some people love the VA bombs.

Maybe it’s a fashion thing.

This article was amended on 13/11/2024 to clarify details around the key production methods.

Henry’s pick of British pét-nats

Related articles

• Pét-nat for beginners
• Dermot Sugrue’s bold next step
• The rise of English and Welsh orange wine

Delegates from the Paso Robles CAB Collective (PRCC) recently visited Bordeaux. They met with sustainability leaders to address challenges posed by climate change in cultivating Bordeaux varieties and to learn best practices from the historic French region.

‘With the changing climate in the world, it’s essential to share skills,’ said Marielle Cazaux, general manager and winemaker for La Conseillante, a historic, family-owned estate in Pomerol.

Different climates yet shared challenges

Despite the apparent differences between the regions – Bordeaux is wetter and prone to mildew, while Paso Robles often struggles with drought – both face the pressures of climate change. Even though the regions are quite different, ‘you can help each other find solutions because you’re coming at it from a completely different angle,’ said Caine Thompson, head of sustainability for O’Neil Vintners & Distillers and managing director of Robert Hall Winery. In Paso Robles, 39% of the approximately 16,000ha planted is Cabernet Sauvignon.

The PRCC was created to educate on the quality of Cabernet Sauvignon and red Bordeaux varieties grown in Paso Robles. The 29-member organisation is committed to sustainability, with all members either California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance certified or Sustainability in Practice (SIP) certified. From this visit, PRCC will report critical learnings and share actionable recommendations to members for implementing similar techniques and strategies in Paso Robles. ‘The idea is to put some of these learnings into action and create living case studies,’ said Thompson.

An opportunity for collaboration

This collaborative learning tour to Bordeaux, with visits to 15 châteaux, was an exploration of sustainability and a discussion on utilising regenerative farming to help combat mutual challenges in the light of climate change. PRCC members explored Bordeaux’s efforts in polyculture agroforestry systems within viticulture (viti-forestry), plus regenerative agricultural practices, including cover crops, dry farming, plot placement, pruning techniques and irrigation methods.

The impetus for the trip began with Thompson. In 2020, Robert Hall started a three-year trial of 17ha of regenerative viticulture compared to conventional control of 2ha as part of a regenerative organic conversion study. In that process, they conducted global regenerative research for like-minded growers and wineries with similar philosophies, including agroforestry, which was particularly interesting to Thompson. The research led him to Bordeaux, where over 75% of the vineyards are certified organic, biodynamic, or sustainable.

Agroforestry (viti-forestry as it is known in a vineyard) integrates trees and native plants into a farming system. Agroforestry involves planting around the boundaries of a vineyard, in corridors between vineyard rows, or planting within vineyards in a more randomised way. Thompson says that this intentional use of trees adds diversity and shade, allowing their roots to access water and nutrition deeper down into the soil profile. They help open cracks and crevices for the grapevine roots and create corridors for beneficial insects. They saw this in Bordeaux at Château Haut-Bages Libéral and Château Cheval Blanc.

Starting from this autumn, Robert Hall will establish the first inter-planted vitiforestry system in the US. ‘This is a revert to traditional farming methods to add diversity to help mitigate climate change through this poly system approach,’ said Thompson. The goal is for this to become a key study for vitiforestry in Paso Robles broadly and then expand that into their newly acquired Ram’s Gate property in Sonoma.

Facing the future

The very thread that connects the two regions, the shared Bordeaux varieties, may be the thing that separates them. With the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) approving the use of six new varieties in 2021, Paso Robles could also diversify its plantings as a response to climate change and seek grapes that are more drought-tolerant and heat-resistant. Those six varieties in Bordeaux were explicitly chosen for their naturally high acidity, intense aromatics, and good resistance to mildew and grey rot. Without regional planting restrictions in the US, this process will be more subtle and slow-moving than in Bordeaux. Still, it is on growers’ minds in Paso Robles and throughout California.

Further collaboration opportunities were identified. In 2017, the International Viticulture and Enology Society (IVES) was created to promote the dissemination of free research results in Open access to scientists and wine producers. IVES partners and members include UC Davis, Fresno State University, Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), Napa Valley Vintners, and 40+ wineries worldwide.

‘That would be an excellent opportunity to meet the Paso Robles CAB collective during the IVES science meeting and a great way to inform Paso Robles growers about the latest research results,’ said Cornelis van Leeuwen, professor of viticulture at Bordeaux Sciences Agro and Bordeaux University’s Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin.

This group of Bordeaux producers may visit Paso Robles to reciprocate the information sharing. ‘Paso looks to be very collaborative and dynamic. I would love to go to Paso Robles with a group of French producers and reciprocate their learnings,’ said Cazaux.

Doug Filipponi, co-owner and chief operating officer for Ancient Peaks Winery and the current president of PRCC, affirmed: ‘We would love to host them here in Paso Robles to allow us the same opportunity for hospitality.’

Related articles

• Sustainability: How green is your wine?
• Napa sustainability certification body to require phaseout of Roundup
• Bordeaux oenologist recommends Refošk grape for climate change

Beaujolais has long been misunderstood. The root cause was the introduction of Beaujolais Nouveau in the 1950s, which has been both a blessing and a curse for the region as a whole.

In recent years, however, there has been a quality revolution in Beaujolais, and serious wine lovers owe it to themselves to taste some of the top examples.

Because of the striking diversity of its terroir, the Beaujolais cru of Morgon is among the best places to start discovering the delights of the region.

The crus are standout single villages and are endowed with a great terroir and a long tradition of quality. Whether you are a long-time fan or a recent convert, you will find top quality and superb value in this village, with styles ranging from approachable and easy-drinking to concentrated and surprisingly age-worthy.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 20 top Morgon wines to try

The taste and style of Morgon wines

With a few exceptions, Beaujolais means Gamay, a grape that accounts for 97% of the plantings in the region. This unjustly maligned variety gained notoriety in the 14th century when Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, tried (unsuccessfully) to ban its cultivation in his lands, calling it, in his decree of 1395, a ‘very bad and very disloyal vine [that] produces a great abundance of bitter wine’. If only he knew!

While it is true that in some circumstances the vine can over-produce, when yields are limited and the grape is grown on its preferred soil (granite or schist), the results can be delicious.

Overproduction can lead to dilute, insipid wines and the popularity of Beaujolais Nouveau enhanced this tendency. The rush to turn grapes into wine in a couple of weeks also prompted producers to cut corners by using techniques such as heating the must to speed extraction (thermovinification).

The results were fruity, light and innocuous, and although the wine sold well for a time, sales have dropped by half since its heyday in the 1990s, according to French magazine Les Echos.

Fortunately, Nouveau is not the only style either the region or Gamay has to offer. The best wines can be deeply coloured and fragrant, with plummy fruit and complexity from floral notes, a hint of saline minerality and an edge of brambly wild herbs from the use of whole bunches.

Often the alcohol is moderate, acidity is low and the tannins are silky and soft: eminently drinkable wines.

Morgon’s best wines share these virtues yet age well, too. The idea that they must be consumed within the year is a misconception. Several years ago, I enjoyed a bottle from 1934 that had gracefully stood the test of time for more than 80 years.

History

Beaujolais once enjoyed great prestige. Burgundian winemaker (and Beaujolais native) Philippe Pacalet says the Mommessin family bought the Burgundy grand cru Clos de Tart in 1932 because ‘they couldn’t afford land in Moulin-à-Vent’.

The Great Depression and World War II ended that prestige, however, and the post-war years saw the rise of Beaujolais Nouveau.

Among those pushing against this trend was the Beaujolais négociant, chemist and author Jules Chauvet (1907–1989). Chauvet’s scientific research into the action of yeast and the carbonic maceration technique earned him the title ‘the father of natural wine’.

Chauvet soon gathered several winemaker disciples, including Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Guy Breton. This quartet of winemakers were based in and around the appellation of Morgon, and their savvy American importer Kermit Lynch took to calling them the ‘Gang of Four’.

Terroir and climats

Morgon is one of the 10 Beaujolais crus, a series of village-level appellations clustered in the north of the Beaujolais region, centred on granite and schist soils, that sit at the top of the quality pyramid.

Morgon was one of the first crus to be recognised with an appellation in 1936, along with Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent. It was also among the first to acknowledge sub-divisions, called climats, within the appellation.

Unlike Burgundy, where a climat is most often composed of a single lieu-dit (named place), the climats in Morgon group together several lieux-dits with similar characteristics. Morgon is the only Beaujolais cru to use this climat system.

The use of these climats, however, has complicated the growers’ quest for broader recognition. Beaujolais crus such as Fleurie have applied to the INAO for premier cru status for some of their vineyards.

While plans appear to be moving forward slowly, the authorities have told Morgon vignerons that their climats must be simplified before the same can be done for them.

The climats of Morgon

Les Charmes along the western edge of the appellation includes some of the highest elevation sites and sandy granite soils that produce a perfumed, lighter style.

Corcelette, north of Les Charmes, has lighter granite soils but less sand; the wines can be very aromatic and deeply coloured.

Côte du Py is a dome-shaped hill that rises to 350m, with volcanic subsoils covered with schist, which gives the wines a unique flavour, full body and density. The intertwining of blue schist with iron oxide from the volcanic strata underneath provides a friable soil called ‘roche pourrie’ that is perfect for Gamay.

Douby is to the northeast of the village, on granite soils that border Fleurie.

Grand Cras, at the southern edge of the appellation, has another outcropping of schist surrounded by granitic sand and scree.

Les Micouds, east of the village of Villié-Morgon, is on well-drained, east-facing slopes that ripen easily and produce a lighter style of wine.

Winemaking

The Gang of Four all shared a devotion to Chauvet’s natural precepts, such as fermenting without sulphur and the use of his technique of carbonic maceration. In this method, grapes are placed as whole clusters in a sealed tank and covered with carbon dioxide to produce an oxygen-free environment.

They are left to macerate and begin to ‘ferment’ from the inside out. However, this process is not a fermentation as such, since yeast is not yet involved. After several weeks of maceration, the grapes are crushed, and the juice is fermented customarily. The results deliver lush wines with forward fruit and supple structure that delight the hedonist.

Winemaking in Morgon is not limited to carbonic maceration, however. Some winemakers use whole clusters without sealing the tank (semi-carbonic maceration), and the Burgundian influence has led some, such as Fabien Duperray of Domaine Jules Desjourneys, to adopt the Burgundian method of destemming some or all of the harvest.

Several Burgundy producers also produce Beaujolais this way, such as Louis Jadot at Château des Jacques. With such a variety of styles and the presence of such quality-driven producers, there is something for every wine lover in Morgon.

Eight names to know

Domaine Marcel Lapierre

Domaine Marcel Lapierre was founded in 1909 by Michel Lapierre, whose son Camille joined him at the winery in 1925. Camille’s son Marcel was born in 1950, and took over the domaine in 1973. Under the influence of Jules Chauvet he decided to vinify without sulphur, and he farmed using organic principles from the 1980s.

Marcel’s son Mathieu joined the domaine in 2004 and oversaw official organic certification; he was joined by his sister Camille in 2013. The wines are made using classic carbonic maceration of nine to 35 days, according to the cuvée.

Domaine Jules Desjourneys

Fabien Duperray is a breath of fresh air who is among France’s foremost fine wine agents. In 2006, he purchased a Beaujolais estate in the village of La Chapelle de Guinchay. Duperray began organic conversion immediately, and was certified in 2009.

Although the domaine is certified organic and follows biodynamic principles, he does not subscribe whole-heartedly to the Chauvet system or the ‘Gang of Four’ precepts, since he customarily uses a maximum of 30% whole clusters in the fermentation. His blended Morgon and single-climat bottlings from Micouds and Grand Cras are definitely worth seeking out.

Domaine Laurent Gauthier

The Gauthier family has been growing grapes since 1834, and today the domaine is run by Laurent Gauthier and his two sons, Jason and Elie. The family farms 23ha, mainly in Morgon, and obtained organic certification in 2023.

The fermentation is done in a semi-carbonic style, and no sulphur is added until bottling. The most serious wines at this domaine are the single-vineyard Morgons, which ferment for 10-14 days before ageing until the next harvest in large, older oak upright casks.

Domaine Jean-Marc Burgaud

Burgaud created his property in 1989, and farms 17.5ha in total today, including 12.5ha in Morgon and another 5ha of Beaujolais Villages in Lantignié. Most of his vineyards are planted with old vines (50-70 years old). The fermentation is done as whole clusters using a semi-carbonic process.

The single-climat bottlings from Cras, Charmes, Corcelette, and Côte du Py have slightly extended maceration. The maturation is done exclusively in tank, save the Javernières and the cuvée he calls James (after James Bond), both aged in used casks for a year.

Château des Jacques

Château des Jacques was originally the property of the Sornay family, who used it principally as a residence. Their successor, Amédée Rousseau, established the property (located in Moulin-à-Vent) as a wine estate along Burgundian production models. The domaine was purchased in 1996 by Burgundian négociant Louis Jadot.

Jadot added to its acquisition in 2001 by purchasing 27ha of land in Morgon in the climats of Corcelette and Côte du Py. It has continued the winemaking traditions of the estate, destemming the grapes, fermenting slowly, and ageing in cask (25% new) until the next harvest.

Domaine Mee Godard

After training as an oenologist and making wine in several French wine regions, Korean-born vintner Mee Godard visited Beaujolais almost by chance and fell in love with the region. In 2013, she acquired a few hectares in and around Morgon, which she has since grown to 7.8ha.

Godard uses organic techniques, and the domaine is in conversion. She picks fairly early and sorts rigorously to achieve very modest yields for the appellation. Godard vinifies the grapes almost completely as whole clusters, punching down and pumping over in concrete tanks for 3-12 days to deliver her solid, complex wines.

Domaine Jean Foillard

Jean Foillard began to work his family’s vineyards in 1981 and soon adopted the methods of Jules Chauvet. The grapes are macerated at low temperatures over several weeks before crushing and finishing the alcoholic fermentation.

The pride of the domaine is 8.6ha in Côte du Py, where the oldest vines are over a century old. The wine from there is bottled as Cuvée 𝛑 (Pi), also known as Cuvée 3.14. This very rare bottling can top £400 per magnum and is one of the few Beaujolais wines that trade regularly at auction.

Domaine Guy Breton

At just under 7ha, Domaine Guy Breton is modest in size but not reputation. Breton took over from his grandfather in 1986. He is based in Morgon, where the wine from a hectare of the oldest vines is bottled as P’tit Max, including some more than a century old.

The range is completed by the Morgon Vieilles Vignes (made with ‘only’ 80-year-old vines) and several cuvées produced from grapes outside the village. The grapes are fermented as whole clusters with a fairly short maceration in order to produce a lighter, fresher, easier-to-drink style.

20 top Morgon wines to try:

Related articles

• Regional profile: Moulin-à-Vent celebrates its centenary
• Discovering white Beaujolais: 10 wines to try
• Beaujolais: Fleurie premier cru plan backed by winemakers

Though the holiday island of Lanzarote seems an unlikely source for artisan wines made by hip and happening young winemakers, the island’s fast-developing wine scene is worthy of attention.

Lanzarote has produced wine since the Spanish conquistadors colonised this Atlantic outpost in the 15th century.

Scroll down for a selection of wines from Lanzarote

From the volcanic ashes

The industry all but disappeared as wines from Portugal and mainland Spain rose in popularity, but an ongoing renaissance is making the most of the island’s extraordinary volcanic landscape.

The Timanfaya National Park enthrals first time visitors to Lanzarote. Huge lava fields and miles of volcanic ash have laid undisturbed since a series of volcanic eruptions in the 1730s.

The eruptions carpeted one-third of the island, burying fertile ground beneath a pitch-black carapace where seemingly nothing lives or grows.

It is here that most of Lanzarote’s vineyards are located.

Ditches and deserts

This geology alone demands new thinking on vine cultivation, but there is an added problem: Lanzarote is also a desert, seeing just 150mls of rain per year.

The island’s unique solution is to plant each vine in its own shallow pit, known as a ‘hoyo’.

Digging out these hollows allows the roots to reach the subsoil through a layer of volcanic ash that can be up to three metres thick.

Above ground, low stone walls (‘abrigos‘) protect from the fierce trade winds. With as little as three hundred vines per hectare, this is low-yield viticulture in the extreme.

The winds, however, are also the secret weapon against drought. The combination of the hoyos and volcanic material captures enough of the moisture that is carried on the winds to sustain the vines without irrigation.

These conditions – isolated, dry, warm with constant breezes – mean little pressure from disease, and an estimated 95% of the island’s vineyards are farmed without chemical fungicides.

Volcanic character

These are very old vines too. Phylloxera never reached the islands, so Lanzarote boasts many ungrafted, 100-year-old vines.

Volcanic soils impart a particular mineral signature on the wines made from them, and ‘volcanic wine’ is very much in vogue.

Wines from Italy’s Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius are prime examples, but so too are those from many countries on the Pacific’s ‘Ring of Fire.’

Like the best of these, the volcanic wines of Lanzarote display an intriguing flinty, smoky and ozone-like character.

The Grape Varieties

Lanzarote is proud of its historic varieties and little else makes its way into bottles.

Malvasía Volcánica accounts for around 70% of all wine production. Distinct from other Malvasias, it is a cross between Malvasia (Malmsey) first brought to the island by the Greeks, and the local Marmajuelo.

Listán Negro has been grown in the Canary Islands since the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s and is embraced as a native grape.

It should not be confused with Listán Prieto, another Castilian grape that arrived at the same time and which went on to the Americas where it is known today as País in Chile, Criolla Chica in Argentina, and Mission in California.

Listán Blanco is less widely planted than Listán Negro, and is a synonym for Palomino of Jerez.

Diego mostly features as a blending component. Also known as Vijariego, it can add a green apple and herb bite to blends.

The Bodegas

El Grifo is one of Lanzarote’s big players. It is a real survivor having been in continuous production since 1775. On my first visit to Lanzarote over 30 years ago its wines were perfectly serviceable, but unexciting.

Today El Grifo has upped its game, spurred on by the excitement around new, small wineries making terroir-driven wines.

If visiting Lanzarote, you will find that bigger names like El Grifo, Bermejo and Vega de Yuco feature in supermarkets and on every restaurant list.

Make no mistake, they make good wines that are well worth exploring, but the greatest interest for the wine enthusiast lies in the new breed of artisan producers.

The Artisans: Five Lanzarote producers to know

Titerok-Akaet

The bodega launched in 2017, but with access to much older vines. Farmed organically, Marta Labanda and Juan Daniel Ramirez use minimal SO2 and central to their philosophy is the recovery and preservation of old vines.

Puro Rofe

Since 2017 this project has produced some of the most interesting wines on the island. Founder Rayco Fernandez sources grapes from local organic growers, but with a commitment to terroir-driven wines and sustainable farming.

All ferments are spontaneous, some in amphora, and wines are unfiltered, unfined and made with minimal sulphur.

Jable de TAO

Another new, terroir-driven producer since 2021, sourcing fruit from old vineyards. They are working steadfastly to research the island’s soils and micro-climates.

The wine tasted here, called Tenesar, is a perfect example. From vineyards of marine sand and volcanic ash just two kilometres from the coast, the saline note is unmissable.

Cohombrillo 4/24

Owner Eamon López O’Rourke gave up the unlikely job of captaining a tourist submarine to establish his bodega in 2021.

Focused on natural wines, his annual production is only around 5,000 bottles. Farming is organic, with no additives used in the winery.

Bodega Erupción

Also dating from 2021, third generation winegrower Amor Lopez farms sixteen plots across the island.

Working with ungrafted, 100-year-old vines, ferments are all spontaneous and her winemaking is ‘hands-off’.

Bodega David Fernandez

This is a brand new project from Lanzarote native David Fernandez. Aged only 29, the first wines are just appearing in the market.

He is based in the north of Lanzarote, as are some of his vineyards, which he is rehabilitating after years of neglect. All natural wines, he will release single parcel cuvées, with a focus on individual terroirs. Definitely wines to keep an eye out for.

The Wines

Few of these wines are available from UK retailers, but the Wine Shop Lanzarote exports to the UK.

If you are visiting the Playa Blanca area, the wine shop of Kamezi Boutique Villas has one of the island’s best selections from small producers.

Top wine picks from Lanzarote

Related articles

• Expert’s Choice: The Canary Islands
• Spain’s exciting island wines
• A new level of identity for Canary Island wines

‘It all started in a class I was taking in Burgundy in 2016,’ says winemaker Katrina Rank about her winemaking partnership with de Villaine: Composition.

On that day in Burgundy, Rank had asked Bertrand de Villaine if he’d ever considered making wine from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, a proven sweet spot for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

As it turned out, de Villaine, part of the family that owns and runs the most famous domaine in Burgundy – Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – had first fallen in love with wine not in Burgundy as one might expect, but in Willamette.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the Composition 2022 vintage

‘

de Villaine and Rank in the Composition barrel room. Credit: Composition

A French icon’s Oregon roots

In 1995, a young Bertrand de Villaine was a college business student who accepted a one-semester exchange programme at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon.

‘In fact, I had the chance to meet many people in Oregon when I was there as a student in the mid-nineties,’ de Villaine recalls. ‘These were some of the winemakers who are now recognised for the quality of what they have helped establish.’

‘People like David Adelsheim,’ he continues. ‘These people started working there in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. It was not long after Drouhin had started producing wine there when I arrived.’

‘I’m not a prophet,’ de Villaine explains, ‘but I just saw these people doing so much at such a pivotal time for that region. These were really the founders who were doing the difficult work. Work which was done here in Burgundy thousands of years ago.’

‘Of course, this was my first wine training, to be honest, because, at that time, I was not even thinking of being part of the wine industry,’ de Villaine admits.

His experience with David Adelsheim as a young student in the Willamette Valley was pivotal. ‘I always say that it was the place that planted the seed, the idea of wine in me. It’s sincere because I didn’t have any connection with wine at that moment except meeting some winemakers in Oregon.’

The headstrong American

Katrina Rank came to Napa Valley in 1999 and studied art before eventually transitioning to an oenology and wine curriculum. Rank started making wines in the Chalone AVA in Monterey, California, which had been founded by winemaker Dick Graff in the 1960s .

Graff’s Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays showed the way forward for fine Burgundian varieties in California. When Rank’s winemaking career began in earnest, the persistent state of drought in California was casting that promise into doubt.

Rank began to cast her eyes northwards to other cool climate regions where she could get the results she wanted.

‘By the time I started making wine there [in California], the drought was almost in its fifth or sixth year. And so, I already had eyes on Oregon and moving the operation,’ Rank says.

Meeting in Burgundy

The meeting of Rank and de Villaine was pure serendipity. As it happened, de Villaine – like many Burgundians before him – had already begun to ponder the possibility of an Oregon project when Rank popped up with her suggestion.

‘There was the seed of an idea that had been around for a long time, but meeting Katrina was the catalyst for an Oregon project to become a reality,’ says de Villaine.

‘The happenstance of Bertrand mentioning that he and his wife were considering doing something in the Willamette Valley was undeniable,’ Rank says. ‘It was something where they were scratching at the surface, not necessarily realising the possibility of actually making it happen. I said, look, “it’s all right there”.’

‘We met up a couple of months later in Oregon in 2016,’ Rank reveals. ‘Before we met, I had spent a good amount of time on our sourcing and researching vineyards because that was a focus of what we would be doing. And so that by the time Bertrand arrived, I had already brought it down to about three after going through about 15 vineyards.’

Composing the wines

There was a cultural push and pull to the project. ‘It was my American, “let’s make it happen”,’ says Rank, ‘to Bertrand’s, “let’s slow down a little bit, Katrina. It’s not a race”.’

‘I wanted to see it all,’ says Rank, ‘I wanted to look from top to bottom, and Oregon has so much growth potential. Initially, we sourced from one vineyard for our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That was Winter’s Hill, which Bertrand felt very comfortable with, given the Drouhin family’s relationship with that site.’

‘Since the 2021 vintage,’ Rank continued, ‘we source from two other vineyards, and we’re delighted with how the wines have turned out.’

The Chardonnay comes from a single vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills, older dry-farmed and biodynamic vines. The Pinot Noir comes from one of Oregon’s legacy sites in the Chehalem Mountain appellation, which is confusingly named Chehalem Mountain Vineyard.

Dick Erath planted it during the founding of the Willamette Valley, and it remains planted on its own-roots and biodynamically farmed.

Despite the distance, the language barriers and the odd philosophical difference, the foundations are universally agreed upon when it comes to making great wine.

‘We try to do what we both understand,’ de Villaine says. ‘The combination of soils and weather, the terroir; this is really the framework that we must work within.’

Rank was heavily involved in the winemaking when the brand launched in 2016, but the baton has been passed to Thomas Savre of Lingua Franca, who has the duo’s complete confidence.

The wines themselves are wonderfully composed. Elegance and site come to the fore in two wines, each expressing some of the Willamette Valley’s best-matched sites for their respective varieties.

The stellar 2022 wines from Composition

Related articles

• Chardonnay from Oregon’s Dundee Hills
• Oregon’s 00 Wines: Producer profile and 18 wines to try
• Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a special place for Riesling

Katherine Cole is the author of five books on wine, as well as host and executive producer of James Beard Award-winning podcast The Four Top.

Katherine Cole profile picture credit: She Saw Things

The first anti-industrial, anti-chemical farming movement, predating organics by a couple of decades, biodynamics was a timely reaction to the agrarian population’s recent abandonment of cover crops, rotation and composting in favour of chemical fertilisers made from ammonia – the same substance that had just contributed to unprecedented death and suffering in the trenches of World War I.

A century later, biodynamic viticulture is equated with quality, and young enthusiasts continue to find Steiner’s ecologically motivated messaging compelling. Claire Jarreau, head winemaker at Brooks in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, recalls that she decided at the age of 27 to devote her career to biodynamic wine because ‘it felt very progressive’. Certification by the international biodynamic federation Demeter fits, she adds, with the concepts of ‘health, wellness and transparency that are important to the younger generations’.

Steiner was remarkably forward-looking in his holistic view of farming and his concern for the planet. He foresaw, for example, the development of mad cow disease (BSE), and predicted the negative impacts of ‘conventional’ farming.

But his expertise didn’t stop at agriculture. He was a noted philosopher who wrote on Goethe and Nietzsche. He was a spiritual leader with an enormous following. As an educator, he started up the still-popular Waldorf School system, and as a healer he developed anthroposophic medicine in the wake of the 1918 flu pandemic. He co-founded the Weleda skincare line and was a noted architect (not professional) and choreographer. A century after the birth of biodynamics, the volume of Steiner’s body of work remains staggering. Among many other things, he authored 28 books and delivered more than 6,000 lectures over the course of his lifetime. It strikes me that Steiner, in his ability to churn out intelligent content on any number of subjects, seemingly on demand, was the OG generative AI. And, as with generative AI search results, one must keep a sharp eye out for Steinerian detours into nonsense. One moment, you’re reading sensible farming advice, and the next, Steiner has lapsed into the language of the occult – gnomes, undines, sylphs, fire spirits and our, er, Aryan forefathers from the sunken civilisation of Atlantis.

This brings us to the hard truth that, tucked in among Steiner’s lectures, is a collection of idiotic, preposterous and truly repugnant statements about race. Spend a little time in the Rudolf Steiner Archive, and you’ll find some search results worthy of a rogue AI chatbot.

Lauren Johnson-Wünscher, a 38-year-old American-born wine writer and International Wine Business MBA living in Berlin, has written about trying to reconcile Steiner’s more abhorrent beliefs with her admiration for many biodynamic wines. ‘I’ve come to terms with what it means to drink biodynamic wine and be a Black woman,’ she confides. ‘I’m able to separate Steiner’s racist beliefs from his biodynamic teachings, but I find pleasure in ensuring that his legacy receives fair and complete exposure.’ Biodynamic growers, she adds, should be vocal in denouncing racism.

Kenzie Bindrup, the 28-year-old project manager at Oregon’s Winery Lane Collective, puts Steiner’s work in the same category as Michael Jackson’s music, saying: ‘I respect the art but not the artist.’ A Korean-American, Bindrup grew up Mormon and says she is comfortable picking and choosing ‘what fills up my cup’.

‘I’ve been reading his lectures on butterflies and bees this past month,’ Bindrup adds. ‘For me, it’s about intentionality and mindfulness – about the earth, insects or humans. I’ll leave the woo-woo and problematic stuff and take the parts that feel right in my heart and gut.’

In my glass this month

Rudolf Steiner was born in Međimurje, a pastoral sub-zone of the Croatian Uplands. On a recent visit there, I fell for Pušipel: Furmint in Hungary. A favourite example was Dvanajščak-Kozol’s Prestige Mohokos Pušipel 2021, a minerally white with notes of lychee, white peach, spice and white pepper. Mohokos is one of the region’s top vineyards – in both repute and elevation – with unusually calcium-rich soils.

Related articles

• Katherine Cole: ‘Yes, we are all doomed to die. But wine won’t do us in’
• Hugh Johnson: ‘There is real excitement to be found among neglected grape varieties’
• Andrew Jefford: ‘Without the younger generation we’ll lose farming as it exists here’

I met Alois Lageder and head winemaker, Jo Pfisterer, in April this year at Summa, the annual wine event which Lageder host at their property in Magré, in the Alto Adige in northern Italy.

Alois is in his early 70s; tall, with slightly receding, wiry hair, a polyglot with a consummate command of English, charming, quiet mannered, a vegetarian, and the ruddy complexion and tweedy jackets of a country gentleman. He has been running the Lageder estate and winery for exactly 50 years this year.

He is the fourth generation of the wine family, founded in the 19th century by his great- grandfather. By tradition, the oldest son of the Lageder family is always called Alois. Alois III died young, leaving the estate and winery to the supervision of his wife and oldest daughter, until his son was old enough to take over.

After a degree in economics and studies in enology, Alois IV assumed the management of what was then a traditional, solidly established, family business (the kellermeister was his brother-in-law) – he was only 24.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for the Löwengang Chardonnay

Holistic

Alois grew up in a family with a culture of respect for nature (his mother kept a biodynamic vegetable garden) and he says it was natural to want to extend that to the estate when he took over. He read Steiner in the 1970s, but confesses: ‘I didn’t understand too much of it at that time,’ and he put biodynamics to one side until he felt ready to undertake the complex task of converting the 50 hectare estate to Steiner’s principals; a process which lasted through the 1990s.

Demeter certification came in 2004, and Lageder was later to become president of this biodynamic association, from 2016 to 2022. Alongside the conversion in the vineyards, Alois also saw an urgent need to put the vinification facilities on an ecological footing.

The revolutionary, holistic, eco-compatible cellars came into operation in 1996, and they remain today one of the most advanced of their kind in Italy with – among other features – zero-carbon emission, no pumps, all natural building materials, and temperature regulation using geothermal energy.

The estate has 55ha of its own vineyards, located in various areas of the Adige valley, and sources grapes from around 90 long-term suppliers, some of whom are certified organic or biodynamic, and the rest conventional.

Wines from non-certified growers are bottled separately, but the range – which comprises over 30 different lines – currently has only six wines which are without certification.

Shifting style

It has been said that Lageder’s Löwengang Chardonnay was to the Alto Adige what the Super Tuscans were to Tuscany in the early 1990s – a demonstration that the region was able to compete on the world stage with a classic international variety.

There was an element of chance in the way it came about: Lageder recounts that Robert Mondavi was on a visit to the estate in 1981 and, upon tasting the wines from the property, enquired how they were aged.

‘In large barrels, as we always have done,’ was Lageder’s reply. ‘Have you thought about barriques?’ asked Mondavi. ‘Try it and I’ll come back next year to taste the wine.’

That was exactly what happened, and after a period of experimentation, the first official vintage of the new style Löwengang Chardonnay came out in 1984. It is the wine which more than any other traces the evolution of winemaking at the estate, from the international style of the vintages of the 1990s, which drew comparisons with France and California at the time, to the more terroir-oriented, mineral, low intervention wines, post-Demeter.

Pergolas and new oak

Löwengang Chardonnay is typically sourced from 8ha of the 15ha available between estate properties and long-term contract growers. The majority of the plots are on the calcareous soils on the west side of the Adige, although there are also grapes from the high slopes above Salorno on the opposite side of the valley. All the vineyards are certified biodynamic, and 60% are pergola-trained in the traditional way.

Over the years, there has been a drastic reduction in the amount of new oak used in the winery. Lageder states that ‘In the early years we were buying 130 new barriques a year, now it is down to 30.’ Currently, only around 10% of the wood used for Löwengang is new.

Accompanying this, there has been a reduction in the amount of battonage, and the tendency to move the wine as little as possible during ageing. ‘In the past, we used to rack the wines at the first signs of reduction; now we tend to leave them alone to come around by themselves,’ says Lageder.

Spontaneous fermentation was introduced in 2004. Alcohol levels are constant at around 12.5%, and even in hot vintages rarely exceed 13.0%.

Impressive longevity

The longevity of Löwengang Chardonnay is amazing. The older vintages have lost some intensity, but never freshness. There is not a shadow of oxidation in any of the wines tasted, and the level of quality is incredibly consistent across vintages.

The wines appear more subtle in cool and wet years such as 1992, and expansive in hot and dry years such as 2015, but they always seem capable of giving the kind of pleasure that is hard to reduce to a points score.

Tasting Löwengang Chardonnay

Including a cuvée of old vintages – the Inedito II. Wines are listed youngest to oldest

Related articles

• Expert’s Choice: Northern Italy’s Schiava
• Premium white blends of Friuli and Alto Adige
• Alto Adige for winelovers

As the sun glimmered on the Hudson River, glinting off skyscrapers and filling the 60th floor of the Manhatta building with light, masterclass guests hung on legendary Rhône winemaker Michel Chapoutier’s every word.

Head of his family’s M Chapoutier winery, he launched into an impassioned, swooping discussion, weaving soil analysis, ampelography, the golden ratio, epigenetics (the ability of the plant to adapt its own genetics), the emotional intelligence of plants, rootstocks, vintage conditions, food pairings and his winemaking philosophy into an engaging, compelling and evocative performance.

Only the Jimi Hendrix of wine could capture an audience in such a way.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the eight wines tasted at Decanter’s M Chapoutier masterclass

Unlocking the secrets of terroir

If there is any winemaker qualified to talk about terroir, it is Michel Chapoutier. With his Sélections Parcellaires wines, he aims to showcase the unique song that different soils and vineyard sites can sing when given the chance.

To wine lovers today, this may seem an obvious conviction for a winemaker to have. After all, it is often a central part of their narrative. But, said Chapoutier during the masterclass, 40 years ago this wasn’t the case; generally soil wasn’t considered that important in the notion of terroir.

So he set out, not to try and make the best wines, but to try and take the best snapshot possible of an individual terroir. ‘Quite comfortable for a lazy winemaker like me,’ he told guests.

While there are 17 Sélections Parcellaires wines in the M Chapoutier universe – across the appellations of Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph, Cornas, Condrieu and Châteauneuf-du-Pape – it was the Hermitage iterations that attendees at DFWE NYC 2024 were treated to on Saturday 8 June. Each was an individual expression, a soaring aria, of a tiny vineyard parcel.

The intricate patchwork of Hermitage hill

Through two whites and two reds, each across two vintages, Chapoutier explained to guests the unique characters each single-vineyard plot can express.

M Chapoutier, De L’Orée, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2018

M Chapoutier, Le Méal Blanc, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2018

M Chapoutier, De L’Orée, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, Le Méal Blanc, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, Le Pavillon, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2014

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite Rouge, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2014

M Chapoutier, Le Pavillon, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite Rouge, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

Biodynamics

Having converted all of his vineyards to biodynamic farming in the early 1990s, Chapoutier has often been called a maverick. During the masterclass, he compared chemical farming to having a headache and taking an aspirin. It takes care of the symptoms but not the underlying problem.

Organic farming does the same, but instead of using the chemical molecule, it uses the natural molecule. Biodynamics, on the other hand, questions why you have the headache in the first place,; what the origin is.

One of the first things he noticed as an obvious result of converting to biodynamics was an increase in the wines’ natural level of acidity.

As well as explaining why biodynamics has such an important impact on his wines, Chapoutier stressed how the use of ambient yeasts for fermentation is also crucial to expressing the uniqueness of his terroir.

‘Wine is an aromatic symphony,’ he said. ‘With selected yeast, it’s like playing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with only the violin. But if you use wild yeast, you have a full symphony orchestra.’

According to Chapoutier, as well as soil, climate and human influence, vintage plays an important role when talking about terroir. What made this masterclass particularly fascinating was the ability to taste wines from differnt vineyard sites but from the same vintage side by side, as well as from an older vintage.

Food pairing potential

A winemaker who loves to cook, Chapoutier gave tantalising food-pairing suggestions for each of his wines.

The noble bitterness inherent in the Marsanne grape (the sole player in both the De L’Orée and Le Méal whites), lends itself particularly well to pairing – ‘a bridge for the marriage between wine and food’, he said.

Chapoutier suggested pairing De L’Orée 2018 with lamb curry, for example, or to take the pairing to another level with the traditional Chinese dish of century eggs. Le Pavillon 2014 he proposed lièvre à la royale (a French dish of hare slow cooked in red wine, heart, liver, lungs and blood), or roasted woodcock.

DFWE NYC 2024: the M Chapoutier masterclass wines

Related articles

• Walls: Exclusive first taste of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires 2023
• Walls: M Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne vertical
• Matt Walls: M Chapoutier Chante-Alouette vertical tasting

For as much buzzy jargon as there is in the world of wine – small production, sustainable, organic, New World, natural, among them – the terms are quite definitive. In the last decade, however, the increasingly popular discussion around a new phrase has caused some confusion among consumers and even winemakers: minimal intervention.

Many winemakers believe that for a wine to be considered low or minimal intervention, it all starts with vineyard practices to optimise the terroir and purity of the fruit, which is emphasised by implementing organic and sustainable practices.

DWWA results out 19 June!Be the first to know: Subscribe to the DWWA newsletter

Seeking specificity

In Virginia, Maya Hood White, winemaker at Early Mountain Vineyards, views the term ‘minimal intervention’ as encompassing the whole process from farming through to the cellar; for the former, she stresses the minimisation of aggressive chemicals, mindfulness of fuel usage and tractor passes.

‘Irrigation is also an intervention that alters the essence of the fruit and then the wines,’ says Paul Sloan, winemaker at Small Vines. Their high-density planting allows Small Vines to dry farm, which translates to a ‘more pure sense of place’, according to Sloan.

While these farming practices aren’t new, the attention surrounding their influence on low or minimal-intervention wine is what’s bringing them to the forefront.

Sam Bilbro from Idlewild Wines explains: ‘If we make really good vineyard decisions, we can make very few touches in the winery because we have beautiful and healthy fruit to work with in the cellar.’

There’s no wine without some intervention

This is probably where we should acknowledge that winemaking, by definition, is intervention.

‘The grapes neither jump from the vine into a vat nor from vat to barrel to bottle,’ says Maggie Harrison, winemaker at Antica Terra, about the necessary go-between of human action that’s been part of winemaking since the beginning of time.

Perhaps this is why it’s so challenging to define – with no precedent or global regulation surrounding the term, low or minimal intervention means different things to different people. ‘It’s a spectrum,’ says Hood White, much like many things in life, which makes it. ‘A delicate balance explaining what we do or don’t do in our production processes while not looking to project judgement on other producers.’

As technology and science have advanced, winemakers have realised that a subpar harvest can still be salvaged; imbalances can be solved through manipulations such as fining, filtration, chaptalisation, stabilisers and additives.

‘It is easier, cheaper and less laborious to intervene afterwards in the cellar with chemistry than to farm well in the first place,’ says Sloan. Since many wineries don’t control their vineyards: ‘The only way they can compensate for flaws is with chemistry.’

For this reason, Sloan reverts to why low-intervention practices should start in the vineyards. ‘We choose to prevent problems in advance by farming well, using proper site selection, trellis design, tight spacing and prompt harvest date decisions.’

Recognising that every wine has its challenges, Bilbro echoes Sloan. As winemakers, he says, it is their job to locate the potential problem points of each variety and mitigate those issues.

He adds that in conventional winemaking, if a wine is prone to stalling at the end of fermentation, they could add synthetic products to aid the yeast. However, in minimal intervention winemaking: ‘We could stir the wine to suspend the remaining active yeast and keep it warm (bring it out to the sun a bit each day) to help keep the yeast active through the finish.’

A fuzzy definition

Though Bilbro is aiding the process, it still fits into Sloan’s definition of minimal intervention. ‘Having the lowest amount of human-made or artificial inputs or enhancements in both the farming and the winemaking process.’

While this definition broadly summarises minimal intervention, the term can still be confusing for most consumers who don’t understand what is regulated or legal to use in farming and wine production.

This is why the term is often misused and misrepresented by consumers. ‘It is so disappointing to listen to a producer talk about their low intervention winemaking when you know the high input, commercially farmed vineyards they are purchasing their fruit from,’ says Hood White.

This is why she encourages consumers to ask questions and emphasises the message of how a lower intervention approach ‘always begins with farming’.

Purity remains elusive

Even still, large-production wineries aren’t the only ones that ultimately might adjust their wines post harvest.

Harrison explains that if a winemaker is adding acid it’s ‘because they truly believe it will make the wine in our glass more balanced, longer-lived, more complete’. It’s part of the winemaking process, and if a winery isn’t fortunate to have estate vineyards they can meticulously watch over, decisions must be made.

As winemakers are craftspeople, adds Harrison, they shouldn’t be chastised for doing their best work, even if that includes making adjustments in the cellar.

Until minimal intervention is globally defined or regulated, each winemaker will have their personal perception and ability to label their wines based on what this term means to them and how they produce wine according to it.

For the time being, it’s up to the consumer to engage with producers they prefer to help inform their own understanding of terms like minimal intervention and what they expect in wines that use that sort of marketing or labelling.

Related articles

• How to read wine tasting notes – Ask Decanter
• Andrew Jefford: ‘Without the younger generation we’ll lose farming as it exists here’
• Andrew Jefford: ‘Biodynamically grown, artisanally crafted – and free of chemicals, of course. Not so’

Every year, Michel Chapoutier launches his Rhône single-vineyard wines way before his neighbours, and bang in the middle of the Bordeaux en primeur campaign to boot. You have to admire his chutzpah. Chapoutier never was a shrinking violet, and his wines are just as bold.

I’ll be visiting the Rhône in October this year to taste the 2023 vintage in more detail, working my way through every appellation, both north and south. In the meantime, this tasting always acts as a tantalising scent on the wind, a whisper of what’s to come.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the 2023 Sélections Parcellaires

One producer’s experience of a vintage will never mirror another’s, and we shouldn’t assume that Chapoutier’s experience is indicative of the region as a whole. Speaking to the owners of large houses such as Chapoutier at this juncture is useful, however, as – unlike small estates – they have a broad view over the whole of the Rhône Valley.

The northern Rhône

I spoke to Michel’s son Maxime, who is gradually taking over more and more of his father’s responsibilities. He said the winter of 2022/2023 was fairly dry, which is less than ideal after the drought conditions of the 2022 growing season. After an early cold snap, the season got off to a typical start in March, presaging a September harvest.

‘It was challenging through spring,’ says Chapoutier, due to regular small showers and warm weather. It created ‘a humid atmosphere, which was optimal for powdery mildew, so we had to be very vigilant,’ he says, particularly in Côte-Rôtie. He says it impacted quantity more than quality however, and their overall volumes were slightly down on 2022.

The defining climatic event of the vintage was the heatwave between 10 and 20 August, with temperatures above 35°C every day, ‘one of the longest and warmest heatwaves of the decade,’ says Chapoutier.

‘Within a few days the vines were shutting down,’ he continues. Some outside bunches on Hermitage suffered sunburn. They brought forward picking dates, and quickly galvanised their team of pickers, starting with Marsanne in lieu-dit Le Méal in Hermitage on 22 August. All the white grapes were picked by early September.

Some reds were picked at the beginning of September, but torrential storms around the 15 September caused delays before they could bring in their later-ripening fruit. It made for an unusually long harvesting period.

The southern Rhône

Maxime says that conditions in the southern Rhône were similar, with a little more rain in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and at the right moments. With no hail and no powdery mildew, it made for a generous harvest, resulting in ‘Grenache that tastes like Pinot.’

They’ve started using more stems in their Châteauneufs – 30% to 40% whole bunch – ‘to give some saltiness and decrease the level of alcohol,’ says Maxime. They decided to produce ‘a more infused style of Grenache’ this year. The results are impressive, attractively pale in colour, light in tannin, with a digestible, floral nature.

This year sees the first release of a new Sélection Parcellaire Châteauneuf cuvée called ‘La Grenade’. It’s from sandy soils in the lieu-dit of the same name to the east of the appellation, not far from La Crau. It’s a fine and floral expression that’s both drinkable and refreshing; fans of a lighter style of Châteauneuf should snap it up.

Maxime says ‘it’s a once in a decade vintage’ for them in Châteauneuf, comparing it to the superlative 2016. That was also a good – if not quite so exceptional – vintage in Côte-Rôtie, and again Maxime thinks it’s a fair comparison. For Hermitage, he says ‘it’s hard to say… it could be like 1991,’ which was an excellent year in a more Burgundian style.

Discover a special line up of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York on 8 June 2024

Assessing the wines

In the northern Rhône, to compare the wines stylistically with 2016 makes sense, though I’m not convinced 2023 has quite the same intensity. It does have a similar fineness and florality particularly with wines such as Le Pavillon, Ermite, Les Varonniers and Neve. Le Méal is richer and more potent.

Overall, this isn’t a concentrated vintage like 2015, structured like 2017 or thunderous like 2019; it leans more towards 2018.

Reds have the edge over whites; the Marsannes are rich and opulent, in a similar vein to 2022. They don’t match the freshness and intensity of 2019, 2020 or 2021 – but this is a very hard run to follow.

The reds are likely to age on their balance rather than structure or concentration, and given their fairly moderate acidities I don’t expect 2023 to be a terribly long-lived vintage here. Ermites of both colours will prove the exceptions.

Looking south, both their Châteauneufs are excellent. It’s not possible to infer much about the southern Rhône vintage more broadly on the back of two wines, but thanks to the quality on display here and Maxime’s enthusiasm I look forward to tasting more.

At this early stage, scores should be taken as a rough estimation only. Les Granits rouge, Le Clos, La Mordorée, Les Greffieux, Coteau de Chéry and Croix de Bois weren’t available to sample. I look forward to tasting more widely and bringing readers a complete, in-depth vintage report in November.

New York Masterclass: Tasting M Chapoutier’s Hermitage Terroir Secrets

Taste a special line up of M Chapoutier’s Hermitage Sélections Parcellaires at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York

See here for more information on the M Chapoutier masterclass in New York

Matt Walls’ exclusive first taste of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires

Related articles

• M.Chapoutier masterclass at DFWE NYC
• Walls: M Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne vertical
• Matt Walls: M Chapoutier Chante-Alouette vertical tasting

Some of the best biodynamic wines are produced by small-scale, independent growers all over the globe, while other examples incorporate prestigious labels.

Below, you’ll find some great biodynamic wines reviewed by Decanter experts to help you raise a toast to the wider movement for environmental protection on Earth Day 2024 – on Monday 22 April.

Taking inspiration from scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner, biodynamics is rooted in a holistic vision of vineyard management, respectful of soil and nature and promoting a form of ecological harmony.

It is also associated with lower intervention in the winemaking cellar, to a stronger extent than organic approaches.

As with organics, some wineries choose to pursue certification, while others have long adopted biodynamic principles without seeking such ‘official’ certifications, which come from bodies including Demeter and Biodyvin, and whose logos adorn the bottles of wines which meet the various criteria.

As Decanter’s Amy Wislocki wrote in her article of biodynamics in winemaking, ‘both Biodyvin and Demeter have rules on growing and vinification that can be stricter than organic alone – for example, less use of copper sulphate per hectare, and the use of natural yeasts for fermentation’.

Châteaux Palmer, Pontet-Canet and Climens in Bordeaux are leading proponents of biodynamic wines, but others in the region have been embracing the methods, as Simon Woolf highlighted in this article.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, the highly regarded chef de cave and executive vice-president at Louis Roederer, owner of Cristal, has credited biodynamics with enhancing a ‘fight for freshness’ in Champagne vintages, in particular. He has previously spoken of how biodynamic approaches encourage greater attention to detail in the vineyard and critical thinking.

Some producers have said biodynamic approaches enhance the expression of terroir in the glass, although the skill and expertise of the winemaker is inevitably a big factor in terms of overall wine quality, while higher costs can be a downside of biodynamics.

Best biodynamic wines: a selection of top bottles to seek out

Related articles

Sustainability in wine explained

Andrew Jefford: ‘Biodynamically grown, artisanally crafted – and free of chemicals, of course. Not so’

Bordeaux’s wild side: top organic and biodynamic producers

 ‘The 2021 vintage was a beauty for the Sonoma Coast winegrowers. These are wines with great freshness and intensity. The benchmark producers, who are making some of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the world have found briliant conditions and are crafting collectible bottles from 2021. ’

The 2021 vintage is one filled with gratitude for winemakers on the ‘true’ Sonoma Coast. An incredible rebound from the disastrous and deadly 2020 marked by wildfires and a global pandemic.

Wonderful concentration, healthy yields and nearly perfect clusters were all part of the story with a happy ending in 2021.

It was a mystery that a third consecutive drought year could result in such healthy yields. Still, winemakers were willing to accept it. Ted Lemon of Littorai called it a ‘head-scratcher’ one that, in the end, has produced brilliant, beautiful wines from the Sonoma Coast.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Sonoma Coast 2021 red and white wines

Sonoma Coast 2021: Top red wines of the vintage

Peay Vineyards, Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir, West Sonoma Coast

Littorai, BA Theriot Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Occidental, Running Fence Vineyard, Cuvée Catherine Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Hirsch Vineyards, Raschen Ridge Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Ernest Vineyards, Clearly Ranch Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Sonoma Coast 2021: Top white wines of the vintage

Cobb, H Klopp Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Littorai, BA Theriot Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Peay Vineyards, Estate Chardonnay, West Sonoma Coast

Hirsch Vineyards, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Wayfarer, Chardonnay, Fort Ross-Seaview

The moody skies at Occidental. Credit: Ana Carolina Quintela

Mellow and moderate

The 2021 vintage in Sonoma was mostly unremarkable in terms of weather events. It was an almost textbook growing season, and after the tragic wildfires of 2020, the fairly ordinary was an extraordinary relief.

The year 2021 began arid and parched, though quite cold on the Sonoma Coast. The vines ended their dormancy by budding out in mid-March, following a more typical pattern.

A warm beginning to May got the ball rolling quickly, with a few days climbing into the lower 80s (26°C). Those temperatures quickly settled down into the typical 60-70 degrees of a Sonoma summer, setting the tone for what would be a consistent and moderate growing season. While much of the American West Coast was locked in the grips of the June ‘heat dome,’ Seattle saw 107°F, but temperatures barely reached into the 90s (32°C) in Sonoma’s coastal areas over those few days.

While it was a moderate-to-cool summer on the Sonoma Coast, it was extremely dry. Windy weather during bloom, along with the ongoing drought, might have combined to reduce fruit set and the eventual yields from vintage 2021, however, for most growers it didn’t turn out that way.

Thick skins and small berries have led to some delicious, concentrated wines. Vigour was kept under control by the drought conditions, and things ripened evenly and consistently across the Sonoma Coast appellation.

A vexing appellation

While many of the wines of the Sonoma Coast are ethereal bottlings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, known for their tremendous clarity and transparency, the AVA itself is really anything but.

The Sonoma Coast AVA can be confusing to understand geographically. Reaching from the far western edge of the West Sonoma Coast to Mendocino County the appellation wraps around, and all the way inland, to Chalk Hill. In the south, it extends to Los Carneros and San Pablo Bay. It fully encompasses all of Fort Ross-Seaview and Green Valley of Russian River Valley. It also contains nearly all of the broader Russian River Valley and more than half of the Petaluma Gap and Chalk Hills AVA.

It is so large and varied in weather and geology as to be almost meaningless for any generalisations.

‘The general Sonoma Coast appellation is larger than Texas,’ winemaker Ross Cobb jokes. ‘A few of us (initially Carroll Kemp of Alma Fria, Cobb and John Raytek of Ceritas) agreed that we should do something to differentiate the true coastal part of Sonoma from the “so-called” Sonoma Coast AVA. So we wanted to break off from that and explain those cooler, coastal elements, the unique weather, soils and history that the West Sonoma Coast shares. To be honest, all of the naming is still a little confusing because of all the overlapping AVAs.’

A group of winery owners, including Andy Peay, Ken Freeman, Ted Lemon, and Jasmine Hirsch, formed an early iteration of the current West Sonoma Coast Vintners board. The AVA application was stalled during COVID-19 and finally became official in May 2023.

West Sonoma Coast at a glance

Established: Announced by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on May 22, 2023, the 19th AVA in California

Elevation: 400-1800 feet (~120-550 metres)

Climate: The West Sonoma Coast is marked by heavy coastal fog and the significant influence of the Pacific Ocean. On average, it is about 10 degrees cooler than the broader Sonoma Coast AVA. The proximity to the coastline means that daytime temperatures are cooler, and the nights are warmer.

Boundaries: The boundary extends to the Pacific Coast on the west and inland between five and seven miles on the eastern edge. The southern boundary is the northern edge of the Petaluma Gap AVA, and the northern boundary is the Mendocino County line.

Key Varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and some Syrah

Nested AVAs: Fort Ross-Seaview AVA is completely contained within the West Sonoma Coast

See the Sonoma Coast 2021 score table

Sonoma Coast vintage ratings

2021 5/5

The 2020 vintage was a disaster in pretty much all of Northern California, and the Sonoma Coast was no exception. This made the 2021 vintage feel as though it were heaven-sent. Both growers and winemakers were rewarded with a vintage of outstanding quality and healthy yields. The wines tend to have great concentration and smaller berries, yet sufficient yields. They offer freshness, brilliant fruit, characteristic salinity and a noble, savoury character. The 2021 vintage also awarded the wines an abundance of structure, granting them superb ageability.

2020 1/5

A picture-perfect vintage was all but destroyed by wildfire smoke from the high-pressure and wind events that saw the LNU Complex Fires and the Glass Fire start in September and into October. The fires were highly destructive, destroying homes, forest land, and the wines that were growing there. Most Sonoma Coast wineries did not produce red wines in 2020; those that did saw varied impacts from smoke taint. Some Chardonnays presented a lone bright spot for most producers.

2019 5/5

The 2019 was a high watermark vintage for the wines of the Sonoma Coast. Low to moderate yields drove concentration in the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit, resulting in wines of intensity that balance the finesse of the coastal sites in the appellation. There is an undeniable elegance that marks this cooler year in its cooler reaches of the Sonoma Coast.

A 2022 vintage preview

In addition to tasting the 2021 wines on the Sonoma Coast, I visited some producers who had bottled and were soon to release their 2022s. Ted Lemon at Littorai tasted me through barrel samples of all of his 2022 wines.

‘2022 was another drought vintage, and it was developing similarly to 2021,’ says Rob Fischer, winemaker at Marine Layer. Yields were pretty moderate, certainly below average.’ There was a tremendous heat dome event in Northern California in early September, and the Sonoma Coast was no exception. 2022 tells two tales: the stuff that was picked before Labor Day and everything afterwards.

‘We were calling our growers saying “Water, water, water!” with the big, imminent heat coming,’ Fischer continues. ‘It’s cooler out here on the coast, but it was 110°(Fahrenheit) at our winery in Healdsburg.’

The vintage is one to buy, showing brilliance and resilience in spite of the late-season heat dome that divided winemaking decisions. While the heat spike certainly had significant impacts inland, those on the ‘true’ Sonoma Coast seem to have come through it with vivid wines of place.

Sonoma Coast 2022 preview: Top 10 wines

RAEN, Royal St Robert Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Littorai, Richardson Ranch Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Peay Vineyards, Pinot Noir, West Sonoma Coast

Small Vines, TBH Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Wayfarer, Mother Rock Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview

Ernest Vineyards, Estate Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

RAEN, Lady Marjorie Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Peay Vineyards, Maritima Estate Chardonnay, West Sonoma Coast

Hirsch, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Faila, Platt Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

See the Sonoma Coast 2022 score table

Sonoma Coast 2021: The top-scoring wines

The following wines scored 95 points or above and are listed white then red in score order.

Related articles

• Sonoma travel guide: The perfect three-day itinerary
• Sonoma County AVAs: Overview and 10 wines to try
• Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon: Producers, styles & wines to try
• Buy tickets for Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC 2024

The California coastline may be synonymous with sunshine, but equally pervasive is the blanket of fog that unfurls from the sea most days. A consequence of cold wind sweeping over warm ocean currents, it’s a hauntingly beautiful phenomenon known as ‘sea smoke’.

Just a few hours’ drive from Los Angeles, the Sta Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County are a semi-desert region at the 34th latitude. An arid, southerly locale, ‘it’s a seemingly unlikely place to grow great Pinot Noir,’ says Victor Gallegos, general manager of Sea Smoke Estate Vineyards.

Yet, buoyed by sea smoke and the unique geography of Santa Barbara County, Sea Smoke Vineyards has helped establish the Sta Rita Hills AVA as one of America’s foremost Pinot Noir regions.

Scroll down to tasting notes and scores for Sea Smoke’s latest releases

A unique geographic anomaly

Along most of the California coastline, mountain ranges run parallel to the ocean, forming vast shields that shelter inland regions from cold coastal wind and fog. Santa Barbara, however, falls in a rare stretch of traverse mountains that run perpendicular to the ocean.

The narrow corridors of its hills and canyons serve as funnels, directing maritime winds and fog deep into the interior.

Despite its southerly latitude and sun-drenched California terroir, this coastal influence renders the Sta. Rita Hills AVA is a ‘Region 1’ viticultural area akin to Chablis, Tasmania or Champagne, according to the Winkler Index.

Intense sun exposure combined with moderate temperatures allows grapes to ripen over extended growing seasons. The wines they produce are intensely flavourful while maintaining acidity and freshness.

The Sta Rita Hills’ unique climate, topography and rich clay soils have transformed the AVA into a nexus of California’s wine illuminati. Alongside Sea Smoke, producers like Brewer Clifton, Sanford & Benedict, Piedrasassi, and Sine Qua Non have cemented the region as sacred ground for America’s most celebrated expressions of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah.

But the Sea Smoke Vineyard is a particular sweet spot within the AVA, with vines planted exclusively on south-facing slopes overlooking the Santa Ynez River at elevations ranging from 66 to 219 metres.

Directly exposed to the sun, the estate’s vines harness the full spectrum of the valley’s offerings – the intensity of southern California sunshine moderated by high elevations and the chilling effects of coastal fog and wind. Its flagship Pinot Noirs are luxuriantly ripe yet brim with vitality and grace.

Rise to Fame

Sea Smoke was founded by Bob Davids, an entrepreneur who made headlines when his toy company, Radica Games, was acquired by Mattel for US$230 million in 2006.

In 1999, Davids acquired a former horse farm in what was then the Santa Ynez Valley AVA (the Sta. Rita Hills AVA wasn’t carved out until 2001) and planted the first 40ha of vines.

Many attribute the winery’s rise to its appearance in the 2004 wine-country dramedy Sideways. But they had a waiting list virtually from inception, owing to enthusiastic press reviews as early as the first vintage in 2001.

Even today, 80% of their wines are sold direct to consumers through a mailing list. ‘The waiting list is about 4,700 people today, which is kind of low,’ says Gallegos. ‘At its peak, it was more like 9,000.’

The remaining 20% is sold by allocation through traditional distribution channels. Without fail, the wines have sold out every vintage.

Unapologetic yumminess

Put simply, Sea Smoke is defined by its ‘yumminess’, Gallegos explains, an unapologetically voluptuous, fruity style he likens to ‘lushness, texture and mouthfeel’.

Vinifications are separated by vineyard blocks and clones. But the two flagship Pinot Noirs, the Southing and Ten, aren’t linked to any specific plots. Instead, they’re meticulously crafted barrel selections aimed at capturing two distinct facets of the house style.

Each December following élevage (ageing), Gallegos and winemaker Don Schroeder begin a three-month process of blind tasting and grading barrels based on overall character, structure, mouthfeel and oak expression. The graded lots are assembled into a complex flavour palette from which final blending decisions are made.

‘The first thing we ask is, “is this a Southing-type barrel, or is it a Ten-type barrel?”,’ explains Gallegos.

Southing is Sea Point’s more elegant, bright-eyed and pure-fruited expression of Pinot Noir. Ten, named for the estate’s 10 Pinot Noir clones, is muscular and grippy. ‘It’s meant to be robust, something that appeals to a Cabernet lover with more of an oak component,’ Gallegos says.

Longtime fans may remember Botella, their entry-level bottling of Pinot Noir. ‘Essentially, it was Sea Smoke’s declassified wine,’ Gallegos says. ‘Anything that didn’t fit Southing or Ten ended up in Botella.’

But as the vineyard matured, Botella was discontinued as Gallegos and Schroeder ‘found it more and more difficult to find barrels for it,’ he says.

Sea Smoke at a glance

Founded: in 1999 by Bob Davids. First vintage in 2001.

Winemaker: Don Schroeder

Director of Vineyard Operations: Julian Malone

Location: Sta Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara, CA

Production: 20,000 cases [240,000 bottles]

Key wines: Southing Pinot Noir (8,000 cases), Ten Pinot Noir (8,000 cases), Chardonnay (3,000 cases), Sea Spray Blanc de Noir (1,000 cases).

Area under vine: 172 acres (69.61 hectares)

Elevations: 218 feet to 720 feet (66 to 219m) above sea level

Soil: A base of semi-siliceous shale with calcareous strata and diatomite. Top soils of rich Botella, Gazos and Lopez clays.

Embracing change

Despite the winery’s enduring cult success, its forward, powerfully fruity wines have been divisive too. In a 2007 article for GQ, Alice Feiring declared their Pinot Noir as one of the most overrated wines in the world – ‘an overly fruity, mushy, and slightly gelatinous wine,’ she wrote.

And in recent years, as cool-climate regions like the Sta Rita Hills AVA have become hotspots for a distinctly spry, racier style of winemaking, Sea Smoke’s lush, even bombastic, style has fallen out of favour with many.

But their modus operandi has never shied from hedonism. ‘If you think about the continuum of Pinot Noir from the Old World to the New World,’ says Gallegos, Sea Smoke pushes the needle ‘to something like 75% towards the New World’.

Simultaneously, the brand has not been immune to change. Longtime observers refer to a shift in house style with the departure of Kris Curran, the initial winemaker in 2007.

At the time, Gallegos explains, ‘we were looking for little more complexity and balance in the wines. Earlier harvests dialled back alcohol levels from 15.5% abv to 14.5%.

In the cellar, more wine is fermented with native yeasts isolated from the Sea Smoke Vineyard. And the proportions of new French barrique have been scaled down in favour of larger-format, neutral 600 litre demi-muid and 1,000 litre foudre.

While its characteristic voluptuousness is intact, the contemporary style is brighter, fresher and more nuanced than one might remember from two decades ago.

Despite the changes, ‘we never lost sight of that lushness and yumminess that makes Sea Smoke distinct,’ says Gallegos, ‘but I would say our winemaking became a little more precise’.

A quiet conversion to biodynamics

Most impactful in its evolution has been the estate’s quiet conversion to biodynamic farming.

‘We started with a test plot in 2005 and after three years, the light bulb went off,’ says Gallegos. ‘There’s just this energetic quality – this palate focus, like a through line in the wine.’

The entire estate has been farmed biodynamically since 2013 but the transition wasn’t overtly stated until 2017, says Gallegos.

And while the estate is Oregon Tilth Certified Organic, they opted not to pursue a Demeter Biodynamic certification due to complications in producing enough manure on-site.

‘We farm biodynamically because we like what it does for the wines, and it’s the right thing to do as stewards of the land,’ he explains.

Beyond Pinot

Sea Smoke is first and foremost a Pinot Noir producer, but its Chardonnay and sparkling wine have gained notable acclaim too, sometimes unintentionally.

‘We never wanted to be a Chardonnay producer,’ Gallegos admits. ‘Chardonnay was our poor, blonde-headed stepchild,’ he says. ‘So much that we called it “Gratis” and gave it away to list members as a thank you.’

Gratis, Gallegos admits, was made, without much attention, a prototypical ‘in-your-face California Chard’. But as demand for Chardonnay increased, Gallegos and his team reevaluated their approach towards greater complexity, balance and finesse.

Sea Smoke’s labour-intensive foray into sparkling production was considerably more deliberate. Sea Spray, its traditional method blanc de noirs made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, takes nearly five years to produce.

Its southerly latitude and solar intensity produce a style of sparkling wine that’s wholly unique, explains Gallegos.

‘Even at very low brix, we get a lot of flavour accumulation and really interesting berry and fruit characters that give an impression of sweetness,’ he says. This flavour intensity ‘gives us a lot more space to do a no-dosage sparkling and pull it off well,’ he adds.

Keeping things small

Despite an oversized reputation and expansive 400ha estate, the company’s operations have remained intentionally modest. A quarter of a century since its founding, only 69ha are planted with vines, and production remains steady at 20,000 cases. Quality over quantity has remained the mantra.

The entire team consists of only 10 people, says Gallegos, and among their core leadership, the average tenure of employment exceeds 20 years.

The winery has no tasting room and declines requests for vineyard tours. Its social media presence is sporadic at best. And ‘in 22 years, we’ve never spent a dime on advertising,’ Gallegos says.

The wines, after all, speak so boldly for themselves.

Tasting notes for Sea Smoke:

Related articles

• The rich history of Louis M. Martini
• Sonoma Coast’s Flowers Winery
• Paso Robles’ Saxum Vineyards

In Clive Coates MW’s seminal work ‘The Wines and Domaines of France’, Château Pédesclaux is referred to as an ‘under-achieving classed growth’.

Stephen Brook, in ‘The Complete Bordeaux’ notes that this Pauillac fifth growth had a ‘dreary reputation’, with the wines of the 1980s and 1990s lacking interest.

However, following the purchase of Pédesclaux by French-Swiss real-estate investor Jacky Lorenzetti in 2009, there has been dramatic investment in both vineyard and production facilities.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Château Pédesclaux vertical tasting

The aims of the new ownership were illustrated at a vertical tasting of nine recent vintages, held in London last month (January 2024). The vintages: 2014-2022 showed significant improvements in quality, although there is still more work to be done.

History

Chateau Pédesclaux was established in 1810 by a wine-broker of the same name, before being sold in 1891 to Gabriel de Gastebois, under the management of Lucien Jungla.

The latter purchased the estate in 1951 and began to restore the property. Over several decades significant financial issues impeded efforts to rejuvenate Pédesclaux – in 1996 the property faced bankruptcy – yet the Jungla family weathered the storm before finally selling the property to Lorenzetti in 2009.

Lorenzetti sold his hugely-successful property empire – at the time the largest real-estate company in France in 2007, before focusing on some of his other passions – wine, food and Rugby Union (he is also president of top 14 Rugby club Racing 92).

Lorenzetti initially purchased the 75 hectare (ha) St-Estèphe Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel estate Château Lillian-Ladouys in 2008, before acquiring Pédesclaux in 2009. Emmanuel-Cruse, co-owner of Château d’Issan joined the team in 2010 and in 2013 Lorenzetti purchased 50% of the Margaux third growth.

Finally, in 2021, St-Estèphe fourth growth Château Lafon-Rochet completed the headline acquisitions. Cruse is now general manager for the wider group, while highly-respected oenologist Eric Boissenot has been Pédesclaux’s consultant since 2013.

Ground work

The focus at Pédesclaux was initially on the vineyards with the estate always having a very diverse portfolio of plots in Pauillac.

The main concentration of vineyards is centred around the château, with additional vineyards to the north neighbouring Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Clerc Milon, to the south adjoining Château Lynch-Bages and to the far-west of the appellation (around the village of Artigues) adjacent to vineyards belonging to Château Latour.

The vineyard at Pédesclaux – initially 26ha – has now grown to 53ha with the purchase of plots belonging to Pauillac’s Châteaux Béheré and Haut-Milan. A key focus has been a drive towards organic viticulture, encouraging microbiological diversity and deeper root-networks through a combination of mineral fertilisation and grass cover crops, together with the elimination of chemical treatments.

In 2014, a completely new, gravity-fed, production facility became operational, together with dramatic changes to the original château building. But is all this investment delivering results in terms of wine quality? The initial impression is that Pédesclaux is moving in the right direction.

Clear progression

The wines were introduced by communications director Augustin Lacaille and property director Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen, who termed the estate’s overall plan as ‘cabernisation’. Bache-Gabrielsen highlighted the extensive soil studies across Pédesclaux’s plots, identifying 19 differing soil types.

Since then, the focus has been to get the right varieties in the right location, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc accounting for 70% of the total varietal mix for the first time in 2016. Merlot is reducing in influence while Petit Verdot (introduced after the purchase of Château Béheré) is playing a wider role.

Since 2015 biodynamic viticulture has been introduced, with the use of five and 10 hectolitre micro-vinification tanks allowing separation of parcels. In 2018, 50% of the total vineyard (49ha) was organically farmed. In 2019 official conversion to organic farming commenced, with certification achieved from 2022.

The wines in the vertical tasting showed a clear progression, with highlights being the trio of 2018, 2019 and 2020, along with the expected high-quality vintage of 2016.

Tannin quality is improving with extra finesse and ripeness evident in the later vintages. One surprising feature is the relatively high pH in several vintages (2019: 3.8, 2020: 3.88 and 2022: 3.86).

Bache-Gabrielsen was not unduly worried about the higher levels of pHs but it may be a factor when considering longer-term ageability.

No more doubt

Château Pédesclaux is benefitting from the investments made under the Lorenzetti family ownership and, from the wines tasted, the estate is delivering in its quest for ‘freshness and balance’.

Twenty years ago there were several commentators questioning whether Pédesclaux’s fifth growth status could be justified. Based on the wines produced in recent years this is certainly no longer in doubt.

Quite how far the estate can progress is for future debate and this remains a ‘work in progress’. But the signs are positive and this is one Pauillac classed growth which is well-worth considering, both for quality and value.

Château Pédesclaux vertical: 2014-2022 (plus 2009)

The wines are listed youngest to oldest

Related articles

• Château Pédesclaux certified organic 
• Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti: producer profile and tasting
• Cité du Vin receives funding boost from Sotheby’s auction

Well? Are you going to do it? Put like that, maybe not. Yet all I’ve done is to welcome you to my kitchen table, and poured you a £8,905 serve (7.5cl) of the 2008 Domaine Leroy Musigny. I told you the truth – but was insufficiently precise. You were wary. Rightly so, since my description might also have described a poison.

You sniff and sip the Burgundy, now decanted into hand-blown crystal; doubtless it’s wonderful (I’ve never tried). What a relief! Biodynamically grown, artisanally crafted – and free of chemicals, of course.

Not so. As I said, it’s a complex mixture of chemical compounds. Water, ethanol, glycerol, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides: all these are chemical compounds or families of compounds. Chemistry is all around us. It’s the study of matter, its properties and its interactions. Organic chemistry anatomises life itself. Yet this vast subject and its necessarily complex nomenclature terrify – so we run.

We ‘don’t want chemicals in our wine’, even though wine itself is a mixture of chemical compounds. We need and trust salt, and season our food to excess – yet ‘sodium chloride’ rings alarm bells. We rhapsodise the acidity in a fine Mosel Riesling, but frown at E334 in desserts, jams, jellies and sweets. (It’s tartaric acid, the most distinctive and significant acid in wine.) Carbon dioxide (or an atmospheric excess of it) has come to be seen as toxic – unless it’s beading Champagne, Coke or Perrier, or creeping across the stage as dry ice (all 250kg of it) in Phantom of the Opera. No one wants stinking June vineyards laden in copper sulphate. Thank goodness, though, for traditional Bordeaux mixture, which helps organic wine-growers keep fungal diseases at bay. (Bordeaux mixture is copper sulphate mixed with quicklime.) Harmful sulphur dioxide should be kept out of wine if possible, no? A handful of dried apricots, by contrast, makes a healthy, antioxidant-packed snack. Eight dried apricots may carry up to twice the SO2 of an average bottle of red wine; sulphur dioxide, moreover, is a natural by-product of fermentation.

‘I don’t mind nature’s chemistry,’ you reply; ‘I just want the chemistry to stop there. I’m going to drink wine, to take it into my body, so I want it to be pure and natural.’ Never been ill, then? Most of the drugs that keep our bodies healthy are synthetic chemical substances. One day, synthetic chemicals in your body are going to save or prolong your life.

The problem is not chemistry, but its misuse. As wine consumers, we would be best placed to assess this misuse by engaging with the subject rationally rather than hysterically.

It may be that (resources allowing) biodynamics is the best way to nurture a high-quality vineyard. If so, there will be sound biochemical reasons for that. Resorting to picturesque explanations sets our thinking back, unless these are expressly couched as poetry (a beautiful truth beyond reason).

The addition of chemical compounds (SO2, say) to a complex mixture of chemical compounds (like wine) strikes me as a neutral act. If they disfigure wine, as misguided additions do, they constitute misuse. If they permit wine’s finest sensual qualities to emerge with maximum clarity, or extend wine’s life (which nature intends to be short and sour), they are used well. The difference is best called calmly, using our noses, mouths and digestive systems.

The most lethal chemical compound in wine is ethanol – but it’s that which, for at least 9,000 years, humans have craved. Ethanol illuminates wines from within, brings drinkers together, ensures that wines like Musigny (whose singular beauty must certainly possess a biochemical profile) inspire. Embracing ‘the central science’ – the link between the physical world and living things – is essential to understanding. Chemistry deserves a better wine rap.

In my glass this month

No Leroy Musigny, alas – but there are other fish in the sea. Here’s a wine that looks as exciting as it tastes: The Oddball Saperavi 2019 from Australia’s Hugh Hamilton. I love this Georgian grape variety, the world’s finest teinturier (a red grape with red juice), and the Hamilton family’s McLaren Vale reading captures all its cascading black-fruit excitement, vigour and exuberance. If you find the tannins of Georgia’s Saperavis intimidating, try Oddball. Ample texture – but absorbed by the gleaming lacquer of fruit.

Related articles

• Andrew Jefford: ‘Places and origins build the architecture of scent, shape and flavour in a wine’
• Andrew Jefford: ‘The wine was so refined and choice that I swallowed, greedily’
• Andrew Jefford: ‘Dirk’s an imaginer, an experimenter, a disruptor’

Founded by Montreal-based Michelle Bouffard, DipWSET, Tasting Climate Change is international in scope. Held 22-23 January 2024, the 4th edition of this trade-oriented, biennial symposium brought in 30 experts from around the world to lead seminars and panel discussions for an audience of almost 400.

Bouffard led with a reminder that 2023 was the world’s warmest year ever recorded. She referenced the record forest fires across Canada, widespread loss to fungal disease in Europe and dire drought in Catalonia. ‘Even though we need to acknowledge the challenges, these aren’t the reasons I am here,’ she said.

Turning swiftly to the conference’s objective to explore solutions, she shared a report by France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), suggesting that agriculture, which includes viticulture, has the potential to sequester 41% of its carbon emissions through proper soil management.

The role of soil

Taking the relay, keynote speaker Marc-André Selosse, professor at Paris’ Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, gave a dense presentation of the composition and choreography of dirt. ‘Low water isn’t necessarily the problem,’ he stated, pointing instead to the ability of soil to retain water. Modern practices like ploughing, tilling and using pesticides and mineral fertilisers have diminished this and crucially reduced soil’s capacity to store carbon.

Carbon sequestration is one of the main goals of regenerative agriculture, a trending topic in the world of wine. Michel Gassier from Famille Gassier described the approach as pragmatic rather than dogmatic. It takes all the good ideas from ancestral to modern practices such as organic and permaculture to improve soil, increase biodiversity and restore ecosystems. ‘It is the only system we found that isn’t necessarily more expensive than conventional farming,’ he said.

Joining Gassier was Joseph Brinkley from Bonterra Organic Estates. With 344ha, Bonterra is the largest Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) winery in the US and fewer than 20 worldwide. ‘The strength of ROC is the social aspect,’ Brinkley explained. Besides farming practices, it includes a strict audit of how employees are treated, including receiving an essential living wage.

The importance of certifications

Beyond ROC, the numerous certifications were evaluated, with Bouffard noting that organic alone isn’t a guarantee of sustainability. Anne Bousquet from the multi-certified Domaine Bousquet in Argentina shared that B Corp, which assesses environmental, social and economic sustainability, was the most difficult to attain. ‘Certification is like a marriage rather than an engagement,’ she said. ‘It assures clients and retailers that what we say we do, we do.’

Regional certifications were recognised as having the most significant potential to accelerate change. Admired by industry peers as the ‘gold standard’, Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) – established in 1995 – was one of the first sustainability initiatives launched in the global wine industry.

The country has achieved SWNZ certification for over 96% of its vineyard land through a collective effort. Speaking on behalf of SWNZ, Meagan Littlejohn considered the entire lifecycle of a winery’s carbon footprint, asserting that ‘25% of emissions come from exporting and 75% from production’. She argued that New Zealand wines still represent an environmentally sound choice despite the distance they typically must travel, as low production emissions more than compensate for those from transportation.

The weight of the bottle

Bottle weight alone is the most significant contributor to a winery’s carbon footprint – 30%, according to Tom Owtram of Sustainable Wine Roundtable. ‘We have to bust the myth of heavyweight bottles being directly connected to quality,’ he said. To this end, Stratus in Ontario has moved all premium wine from 750 to 370g bottles. From the Comité Champagne, Pierre Naviaux reported that the new standard Champagne bottle has been reduced from 900 to 835g. ‘This sounds tiny, but multiplied by 300 million bottles, that’s about 17,000 tons of CO2 we are saving annually,’ he said.

A first-time partner in Tasting Climate Change, the government-owned Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ) is one of the world’s biggest importers of wines and spirits. ‘Our buying power confers on us a responsibility and the ability to influence our suppliers and partners,’ said President Jacques Farcy. He reported that in 2022, nearly 85% of wine under CA$25 (representing 40% of total sales) came in lightweight bottles, lowering the carbon footprint by 6,000 metric tons.

Clonal diversity and a place for hybrids

Further sessions included focuses on varietal innovation and fighting fungal disease. ‘Aiming for zero disease is not sustainable,’ said Matthieu Beauchemin of Domaine du Nival in Québec. Olivier Sebe, who owns Domaine La Clausade in southern France, agreed: ‘We have to change our production to tolerate 20% loss.’ Here, Bouffard suggested drinking less but better to help producers be sustainable.

Both Beauchemin and Sebe farm organically and grow hybrids. For Beauchemin, hybrids are a necessity in Quebec’s humid climate. Conversely, Sebe planted fungal-resistant pilzwiderstandsfähig (PIWI) varieties to avoid spraying copper. While acceptance and interest in hybrids are growing, Europe’s appellations have long banned them – though even this is changing. In 2022, the French Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) allowed mildew-resistant hybrid Voltis in the Champagne AOP for experimental purposes.

Nevertheless, lecturer and researcher at the Ecole Supérieure des Agricultures in Angers, Etienne Neethling, questioned if focusing on new varieties is jumping the gun, particularly when addressing heat and drought. ‘Can diversity of clones be a climate solution, especially in maintaining local wine identity?’ he asked. Most vineyards in France are planted with a low diversity of clones. He cited Chenin Blanc as an example – 4 clones represent 94% of plantings since 2005, yet 400 exist.

‘A polyclonal population gives a greater chance that one of those clones will be able to adapt to climate change,’ Neethling said. He compared plantings of multiple clones to a team of great players, each possessing different strengths and increasing protection against whatever direction the climate takes.

The issues with climate change are complex, and dealing with them is even more so. Conferences like Tasting Climate Change are crucial to furthering solutions. Yet staging a summit of this scale comes at an environmental cost. To offset the 53.38 tons of travel-related CO2 emissions, Bouffard contributed CA$1601.40 through NatureLab World to be invested in global projects such as tree plantations. ‘Compensation is not the answer,’ she recognised. But it is the best option for now.

Related articles

• Spanish wine harvest 2023: Record insurance payout for growers expected
• Italian & Spanish wine harvests 2023: Crops to plunge to six-year lows
• Climate change a threat to Sherry’s flor yeast, study says

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) unveiled its stable of 2021 wines in London on 7 February 2024.

Detailed tasting notes and scores will be published on Decanter Premium in March, when Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent Charles Curtis MW attends the domaine’s US tasting. 

Ahead of this, Decanter spoke with DRC’s co-directors Bertrand de Villaine and Perrine Fernal as well as Adam Brett-Smith, managing director of the domaine’s UK agent Corney & Barrow about challenging vintage conditions in 2021 and what that means for collectors of these exclusive wines.

Charles Curtis MW’s in-barrel tasting notes for DRC 2021

Low yields

No discussion of 2021 can escape the subject of yields. Put simply, they were miserably small. A vicious frost between 6-8 April caused immense damage, followed by cool summer and a lot of disease pressure, resulting in the lowest yields in over 50 years.

‘If character is indeed tempered in the crucible of adversity, then the domaine’s 2021s are about as perfect an example of this as you will find,’ Brett-Smith pronounced.

Certain sites were hit harder than others. In Grands-Echézeaux somewhat respectable yields of 21.6 hectolitres per hectare were obtained. In Corton it was down to 5hl/ha and in Corton-Charlemagne just 4.8hl/ha. 

By contrast, the 2020 yields in Corton-Charlemagne were 49.3hl/ha. For many wines produced by the domaine, production is down by 50% or more from 2020’s output.

Nonetheless, despite these challenges, the critical impression of the 2021s as a whole is of a freshness and delicacy (in the best examples) lacking from the more robust, ‘solar’ vintages of 2018-2020.

The winemaking

A tiny crop meant harvesting was lightning quick. Picking began in Grands-Echézeaux on 23 September and finished in Echézeaux on 2 October. Most plots were picked over just two to three days, and Romanée-Conti was harvested in just a day (25 September).

Despite the poor weather, the late burst of warmth had allowed sufficient ripeness for the use of 100% whole cluster fermentation in all of the wines.

The domaine has long used high proportions of whole clusters in its vinifications – ‘the stems are the bones, grapes are the flesh’, as de Villaine said, though 100% is rare. 

Extraction was extremely gentle and although the wines were aged in 100% new oak until the malolactic fermentation was finished, barrel ageing was curtailed and the wines moved back into stainless steel to avoid masking the delicate fruit with too much wood.

De Villaine said he thought that, ‘technically’ the vintage ‘has the elements for long ageing’. Fernal noted that the 2008 vintage – a not dissimilar one in nature to 2021 – had surprised many with how well it was showing at a recent tasting. 

Price and allocation

Small vintages invariably lead to price rises and such is the case with the 2021s. The average price increase across the range is 10%, with the higher increases applied to those sites – such as Corton, Corton-Charlemagne or Richebourg – which suffered the greatest drops in yield.

Where yields were higher, the rise has been kept to around 9%. The price of Romanée-Conti, for example, has risen from £3,870 a bottle for the 2020 to £4,250 for the 2021, an increase of 9.8%. Then again, the price of La Tâche has only risen 9.2% and its yields were down from 29hl/ha in 2020 to just 8.6hl/ha in 2021.

Not that prices will deter many. Demand for the domaine’s wines is such that they are all hugely over-subscribed. 

The future looks more positive though, de Villaine noting that both 2022 and 2023 were ‘much better’ in terms of quantities. 

And what do they taste like? While Charles Curtis MW will delve into far more expert detail, the 2021s bear the mark of a cooler vintage: the fruit character is more obviously red, the acids are high and fresh – teetering just the right side of tart – and the tannins so refined as to be barely there. The use of whole clusters is also evident in the omnipresent notes of black pepper, truffle and herbal bitters that add lovely complexity to the nose and palate.

Related articles

• Demand for Burgundy 2022 better than expected
• Burgundy 2021: full report
• Burgundy grand cru prices are falling, says Liv-ex

When David Lett came to the Willamette Valley in the 1960s, he found cool, forested hills along the Willamette River. It was here in 1965, that he would plant some of the valley’s first vines. He would soon be joined by the Sokol Blossers and Dick Erath, who also planted vines on these foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range.

Just over 10 years later, a blind tasting in Paris, the 1979 Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiad, would change Oregon and American wine forever. Lett’s Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir from 1975 would be among the top wines tasted (of 330) from around the world.

These results, and the consistent quality of wines produced by Lett and his contemporaries, inspired Domaine Joseph Drouhin to eventually plant vineyards in the Dundee Hills in the late 1980s. Thus validating the ‘New World’ upstarts and their commitment to Oregon’s viticultural potential in the eyes of Burgundy.

These days Chardonnay is on the rise, with the Willamette Valley producing some of the best examples of the variety in the United States and beyond.

Special Soils

The Red Hills of Dundee is the official name of the hills as a geological entity, according to the US Geological Survey.

However, the Red Hills moniker can’t be used by the AVA or wineries because of the term being used in a Southern Oregon AVA: Red Hill Douglas County.

The rust-coloured hue of the soils in Dundee comes from the iron-rich basalt bedrock and its degradation, forming the soils of the Dundee Hills over aeons.

The origin of the Jory soils series, which can be found throughout western Oregon, came from ancient lava flows from the eastern part of the state 15-17 million years ago.

The origin of these red soils predates the Missoula Floods, which shaped so much of the Pacific Northwest’s geology.

The impact on winegrowing is owed to Jory soil being more acidic than alkaline and its ‘Goldilocks’ qualities when it comes to water drainage and temperature regulation.

Well-draining but with enough water retention that dry-farming is viable. The soil’s insulating properties keep the vines’ roots warm enough through the winter and cool them down in the hot summers in the Willamette Valley.

Dundee Hills at a glance

AVA Established: 2005

Original Vines: David Lett pioneered the Willamette Valley from the Dundee Hills planting vines on 22 February, 1965

Vineyards in the AVA:98

Wineries in the AVA: 28

Total hectares planted to vines: 900ha

Soils: The Dundee Hills is uniformly comprised of the Jory soil series. A red soil of degraded basalt

Key wine varieties: Pinot noir (69.5%), Chardonnay (5.75%), Pinot gris (2.23%)

Climatic conditions

The Dundee Hills range from 60-325m (200-1,067ft), a series of foothills of the Oregon Coast Range, which are buffeted by Pacific Ocean winds coming from the west.

The Columbia Gorge acts as a wind tunnel to the north of the Willamette Valley, funnelling hot air from eastern Oregon and Washington in the summer and cold air in the winter.

These winds are largely blocked by the Chehalem Mountains to the northeast of the Dundee Hills.

Keeping things steadier than many surrounding parts of the Willamette Valley.

These moderating factors include the Willamette River just to the east, which creates a cooling effect during the hot summer. As a result, vineyards in the Dundee Hills tend to have a more moderate, steady growing season.

Six Dundee Hills Chardonnay producers

Anderson Family Vineyards

Cliff and Allison Anderson own an 8ha (20 acre) parcel atop a steep, ancient basalt slide on the northeastern edges of the Dundee Hills.

Sitting at around 92 metres with some of the slopes in excess of 40% gradient. The 30-year-old vines of two Dijon clones, (76 and 96) on these steep slopes create wines of serious complexity. Most of their fruit is contracted to some of the Willamette Valley’s top growers (but they don’t let go of any of the 96 clone Chardonnay).

Chardonnay from their ‘South Block’ has gone to Bergstrom’s Sigrid and the Antica Terra Chardonnays.

They select specific parcels for their proprietary label and use strictly gravity, seriously old barrels (many over 15 years) and patience.

The ultra-small production Anderson Family wines fly under the radar except with those really in the know in the Willamette Valley.

‘An important part of our fermentation regime relates to the life cycle of yeasts,’ Cliff Anderson tells me. ‘With our slow ferments, the yeast goes through many iterations. The old cells autolysize, and new cells are born.

'As the old cell membranes break down, they release complexing elements into the wine, similar to a late-disgorged Champagne: toasty, brioche and hazelnut. The long exposure to yeast cells is a major component of a wine’s texture. Where it gains density and viscosity. We want our Chardonnays to have weight.’

Bergström

Swedish immigrant John Bergström came to the Portland area as a 17-year-old hailing from agricultural roots in a northern Sweden logging outpost.

He and his wife Karen Bergström both had successful medical careers and sought a family legacy that was a return to John’s farming roots. The Bergströms bought just over 5ha in the Dundee Hills in 1996.

Their son Josh, along with his parents, would go on to establish Bergström Wines upon his return from Beaune, where he completed his studies in viticulture and oenology.

The Bergström approach is based on biodynamic and regenerative farming in the vineyards and crafting vineyard and single-block bottlings that give their wines a real sense of place. ‘Singular fine wines should speak volumes in their regional expression,’ says winemaker Josh Bergström. ‘This is achieved, for us, through natural, healthy, and non-industrial practices.’

Cameron

Cameron Winery’s renowned vineyard is known as Clos Electrique, a nearly 1ha site of mostly own-rooted Pinot Noir, which was planted in 1984 and Chardonnay, which owner John Paul planted in 1987.

Paul developed a relationship with Chardonnay after meeting Dominique Lafon in Napa Valley in 1980 (where Paul was the assistant winemaker at Carneros Creek). ‘When I went to visit the cellars of Lafon the next year, Dominique pretty much blew my mind with the wines that I tried. Several years later, I was able to visit the cellar of François Jobard, and my deal with Chardonnay was sealed.’

‘I had, with the help of Mary Edwards (then at Matanzas Creek), collected a large number of old white Burgundy clones around California,’ Paul continues. ‘Ones that UC Davis had not destroyed, as well as some “suitcase clones” bestowed on me by notable growers in California. One of the defining attributes of these old clones, besides miserable cluster sizes and yields, is their high acidities at ripeness.’

‘This gears them to the methodology of Jobard and Lafon,’ Paul continued. ‘Which is allowing the ambient yeast from the vineyard to do the fermentations and then leaving the wines on the yeast for almost two full years. In the case of Jobard, leaving them completely untouched. Which is the method that I follow. At bottling, we select the most outstanding barrels from the lot for inclusion into the Clos Electrique designation.’

Domaine Drouhin

Robert Drouhin’s daughter Véronique arrived in Oregon in 1986, perhaps chasing her father’s obsession with that 1975 Eyrie South Block Reserve Pinot Noir. Which had placed in the top 10 in the 1979 Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiad. Robert recreated the tasting the following year at his home using several of his own wines. The pesky Oregon Pinot placed second, beaten only by one of Drouhin’s own 1959 bottlings.

Véronique would work the harvest in 1986 with three of the most important families in the Willamette Valley today. The Letts of Eyrie of course, the Casteels of the Eola-Amity Hills Bethel Heights estate and the Adelsheims.

Just prior to arriving at the first International Pinot Noir Celebration in 1987, Robert purchased a plot of land atop the Dundee Hills. Among the 53ha of vines, there are only five or so of Chardonnay. Véronique remains the winemaker, and her brother Phillipe Drouhin manages the Oregon estate vineyards.

Domaine Serene

The Evenstad family came to the Willamette Valley in the late 1980s, purchasing a 17ha piece of high-elevation property in the Dundee Hills. They would plant Pinot Noir vines in 1993 at the estate Mark Bradford vineyard, at an elevation of 200m. In 1997, the Côte Sud Vineyard was purchased; the site, planted in 1990, gave Domaine Serene its oldest vines and first Chardonnay. This would also be the first vintage of Chardonnay made by Domaine Serene.

Eyrie Vineyards

Eyrie Vineyards is the legacy brand for the Dundee Hills, the Willamette Valley and really all of the Pacific Northwest. David Lett’s pursuit of cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that stand toe-to-toe with Old World expressions launched an entire region. The legacy has since been passed onto his son Jason. Their old-vine Chardonnay comes from the oldest vines in the Willamette Valley a Draper selection field blend on their own roots. A collection of vines that no longer really exist anywhere else.

In many ways, the wines of Eyrie Vineyards are historic in their own right; these bottles represent the beginning of it all.

Jason makes two Chardonnays – both are barrel selections. The ‘top wine’, The Eyrie, is chosen from barrels which show the greatest potential for ageability. At the same time, the Estate Chardonnay is a selection of barrels that may show a more immediate drinkability. The Chardonnay ferments one year in the cellar on its own yeasts. Since each barrel moves at its own pace, on its own lees, they can show up very distinct from one another after fermentation.

Oregon Chardonnay from the Dundee Hills:

Wines are listed alphabetically by producer in score order

Related content

Willamette Valley 2021: Chardonnay report and top-scoring wines

American Chardonnay: The top bottles worth seeking out

Premier Cru Chablis 2022: Top-scoring wines

At the forefront of this campaign is the elimination of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. It has been the subject of controversy and debates over its potential environmental and health impacts.

Numerous studies have cast doubt on glyphosate’s safety, revealing residues in soil, water, plants, animals, and even humans. The associated risks extend to pollinator declines, biodiversity loss and ecosystem dysfunction. Despite divided views among international regulatory bodies, the urgency centred around vineyard soil, vine health and wine quality takes centre stage in Napa Green’s ‘whole systems’ approach to sustainability and climate resilience.

‘If not now, when? Currently, we have 25 certified growers and roughly 40 growers actively transitioning to certification,’ said Anna Brittain, executive director of Napa Green. ‘Together, these farmers and wine growers represent over 2,800 hectares of vineyards.’

Stringent requirements

Of around 20 sustainable wine-growing certification programmes in the world, Napa Green stands alone in its lofty goal to eliminate synthetic herbicides.

‘Our ambitious 2026 vision and strategic plan has the goal to hit 8,000ha certified or enrolled in Napa Green Vineyard, as well as [making] at least 33% of Napa County vineyard acreage glyphosate or Roundup-free by 2028,’ Brittain continued.

Napa Green’s goal is to phase out all synthetic herbicides.

What is Roundup?

Developed by Monsanto in 1974, Roundup became a breakthrough weed-control mechanism for agriculture and a household name for the residential garden market.

Despite recent findings of glyphosate’s link to cancers and other clinical manifestations in humans as well as soil toxicity, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has claimed that the chemical poses no risks when used according to instructions on the label.

While Bayer, who acquired Monsanto in 2018, welcomed the EPA’s statement, the company started removing glyphosate herbicides from the home gardening market this year to manage the continuing risks of litigation. However, Roundup continues to be widely available for commercial agriculture worldwide.

In the legal arena, a federal appeals court ruled in November that California cannot enforce a cancer warning on Roundup product labels, counter to the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s 2015 classification of glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.

Glyphosate and the soil biome

‘We have heard and read many studies on the use of glyphosate in vineyards but more importantly, we have seen its effects,’ said Kendall Smith, viticulturist at her family’s White Rock Vineyards.

Smith is referring to the damage that glyphosate poses to the beneficial microbial organisms in the soil, such as fungi, lichens, amoeba and protozoa, which are the building blocks of soil health. ‘The removal of plant life within and under the vine rows increases soil compaction, it impacts fertility, biodiversity and water infiltration,’ Smith continued.

Napa Green supporters such as fourth-generation RAEN winegrower and owner of Monarch Tractor, Carlo Mondavi, couldn’t agree more.

‘Glyphosate is the number one herbicide used across the globe. There is so much used, it’s alarming,’ said Mondavi. ‘When you look at what this does to organic matter and soils, it’s troubling.’

Mondavi explains that nutrient deficiencies or imbalances due to reduced organic matter may also impact yeast metabolism, impeding healthy and natural winemaking fermentation.

The real struggle lies in changing the way farmers have been operating for nearly a century. Modern agriculture has promoted synthetic herbicides. Monoculture has led to a decrease in biodiversity. Weeds have become the unsightly enemy.

Changing habits

‘Our great grandparents didn’t farm like this,’ says Mondavi, who comes from generations of synthetic herbicide-free farming.

However, alternative methods are not without issue. Manual labour is expensive. Heavy tractor use in the rainy spring season can cause compaction and soil disturbances.

Like glyphosate, gas-powered tools are products of fossil fuel, creating sustainability challenges of their own. Equipment can be expensive and not as useful in rocky or hilly terrain. The low efficacy of organic herbicides means that continuous applications are necessary.

But Napa Green offers useful resources including the Weed Management Toolkit found on the organisation’s website.

‘We also established a pool of matching funds that growers can apply for to support phaseout, and we are planning a series of training workshops to assist members in this transition,’ said Brittain.

‘It’s not as hard as people think it is,’ said Salvestrin Winery winemaker and viticulturist Natalie Winkler, about moving toward toward organic farming. Over her 14 years in farming, she has transitioned several vineyards to organic and regenerative farming through her company, Traditional and Biodynamic Vineyard Consulting.

‘If you have vegetation that is mowed and controlled, that’s really not a problem,’ she said. Winkler claims that sheep grazing is a great tool, especially in the spring when the soil is too wet for large equipment.

White Rock Vineyards abandoned herbicides in the late 1990s, embracing diversification with fruit and olive trees, plants, insectary rows and animals. Introducing plant diversity can contribute to diverse root structures, fostering a more resilient and dynamic soil ecosystem.

According to Ben Mackie, Napa Green’s vineyard programme manager, soil health begins to rebound soon after the last herbicide application. Mackie has been designing and implementing regenerative farming systems in a variety of ecosystems for more than 15 years.

‘Fungal hyphae, bacterial diversity and invertebrates like earthworms need time to repopulate,’ Mackie said. ‘This process can be jump-started with applications of compost or compost tea under the vines, and use of nutrient-adding cover crops.’

Economics at play

Some of the main reasons for resistance to phasing out glyphosate are increased labour, equipment and fuel costs. Napa Green offers valuable case studies that cover the ‘how and costs’ of an herbicide-free vineyard by members who share useful information about weed varieties, undervine weed management costs, sheep grazing and more.

Mondavi emphasises the importance of making sustainable practices economically superior for widespread adoption. And while practising pre-industrial agriculture is a smart and effective option, incorporating modern technology – such as electricity – can be beneficial, too.

‘Mowing is 100% reduction of the chemical,’ said Mondavi, who advocates regenerative and organic agriculture with the help of smart electric tractors. ‘The savings are immense, especially for farmers who have a significant amount of land.’

Adding to the economic conversation, Winkler points out the myriad of benefits associated with improved soil and vine health over time – a return on investment with increased nutrient cycling, organic matter levels, soil organic carbon and water retention.

‘When we observe what follows after the elimination of glyphosate-based herbicides, what we gain is better vine functionality and an overall increase in soil fertility. This directly affects vineyard longevity and [the] ability to withstand adverse environmental conditions, which are becoming more common,’ said Winkler.

Terroir and aesthetics

Besides offering solutions to vineyard managers on organic and regenerative practices, Winkler also suggests educating the wine consumers’ aesthetic expectations of vineyards.

‘A vineyard floor where there is only the vine is not a healthy situation,’ said Winkler. ‘That’s a monoculture. The more biodiversity you can bring in with cover crops and native vegetation, the more diverse your microbial species are the healthier the soil can be.’

‘And how can you argue about terroir? As the chemicals are undermining the soil microbiome, they are essentially taking away the “terroir” and sense of place – the very things that wine lovers and wine producers talk about all the time,’ said Brittain. She stresses that terroir is a reflection of the land’s microclimate as well as its underground ecosystem.

The journey to eliminate glyphosate from vineyards represents a pivotal moment in the wine industry’s commitment to sustainability. Napa Green’s ‘whole systems’ approach aims to not only showcase the true essence of the vineyard site but also to preserve the environment and pass down healthier vineyards to future generations.

Related articles

• Global Reference Framework for wine sustainability launched
• California’s ban on pesticides by 2050 sees the state’s wineries embracing ‘slow wine’
• Wine bottles: A heavy price

The region’s vintners welcomed the 2021 vintage after what was a cataclysmic year in 2020, marred by wildfire smoke. The heat dome phenomenon was the signature event of the growing season. Yet, as in the Willamette Valley further to the north, it occurred early enough in the summer not to impact the vintage’s final wines. Yields were below average, and the dry conditions marked the beginning of a drought that is still ongoing in this part of Oregon.

Overall, the wines from 2021 in Southern Oregon are riper in style, and the white wines show brilliant balance. While many of the red wines have yet to be released, they are tending towards opulence and ripeness overall.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 21 top wines from Southern Oregon in 2021

Warm but not hot

‘The 2021 growing season started somewhat inauspiciously in the Applegate Valley,’ said Nate Wall, winemaker for biodynamic Troon Vineyard. ‘We had a cool March, which ended with a late April spring frost. We prune our vines quite late, at the very end of winter, in an attempt to delay bud break for this exact reason.’

‘The good news here was the cooler spring also delayed bud break in most varieties,’ Wall continued. ‘There were only a handful of vines susceptible to the effects of the frost when it occurred. We had a much drier than normal spring, leading to a slightly drier than normal summer. This really kept disease pressure low, so we could slightly back off on our already minimal organic spray program.’

‘The vintage was one of the five warmest on record in the region,’ commented climatologist and owner of Abacela winery, Dr Greg Jones. ‘It was also very dry, starting the slide into drought conditions we have seen over the past couple of years, and that continues today.’

‘The major weather event of the 2021 vintage came over three days in late June. A heat dome over British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest,’ Jones continued. ‘All-time temperature records were broken by 5-10 degrees. Weather stations throughout Southern Oregon broke records during this time as well, with temperatures reaching 45-47°C.

‘Fortunately, the plant growth and fruit development stages at the time [post-flowering] were such that there was not as much damage to the vines or developing berries as anticipated. Plus, growers were well aware of the coming heat wave from forecasts and used irrigation to hydrate the vines during the event.’

The growing season settled in nicely after the heat dome with steady, somewhat cooler temperatures than average in Southern Oregon.

‘From mid-August until late September, the weather was steady and seasonal, with an average high of 28° C and no major heat spikes. Weather during harvest was dry and allowed for the picking of clean fruit of excellent quality. We saw moderate alcohol levels and good acidity overall,’ Brian Gruber of Irvine & Roberts Vineyards reports.

The resulting wines

‘The conditions of 2021 resulted in slightly more hedonistic wines,’ Wall reported. ‘That cooler summer allowed for really nice ripening, so we had these ripe, concentrated fruit flavours with more approachable tannins. This was due to more phenolic ripeness and slightly less whole cluster tannin.’

‘So the wines, on the whole, have been very well received. I am not sure if there will be a slight sacrifice to the long-term ageability of these wines because of this amalgamation of factors – time will tell.’

Southern Oregon 2021: Top-wines tasted

Related articles

Oregon’s Willamette Valley 2021: Vintage report and top-scoring wines

Willamette Valley rising stars: eight names to know

Corollary unveils plans to become Oregon’s first exclusively sparkling wine production estate

‘To know where you are going, you must know where you’ve come from,’ commented Louis-Michel Liger-Belair as we began our most recent tasting. His level of success, however, requires more than self-knowledge, and the talent and hard work of the present generation deserves no small share of the credit.

Scroll down for Charles Curtis MW’s notes and scores of 10 wines from Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

History of the domaine

The domaine was founded in 1815 by Louis Liger-Belair, a general under Napoléon, and grew under the administration of his adopted son Louis-Charles, who married Ludovie Marey of the venerable Marey family of winegrowers.

By the death of his son Edgar, the family domaine had reached 60ha, including sole ownership of La Romanée, the original La Tâche, La Grande Rue and many other vineyards. Edgar’s son Henri passed away in 1924, and his wife Suzanne retained ownership until her death in 1931.

At this point, the story takes a darker turn. Comte Henri and his wife were survived by 10 children, two of whom were not adults at the time of her death. Not all of the siblings were content to wait until the rest were adults for the settlement of the estate.

In this case, French law compels the estate to sell the assets and disburse the funds – all vineyards were to be sold at auction. Luckily, the eldest son Michel (Louis-Michel’s grandfather) and his brothers, Philippe and Just, pooled their resources to save vines in Vosne-Romanée premier crus of Les Chaumes and Aux Reignots, as well as their magnificent grand cru monopole La Romanée from the auctioneer’s gavel.

Sadly, Count Michel passed away during the Second World War and his son Henri joined the army in 1947, eventually rising to the rank of general. During his long military career, he rented the vines out to sharecroppers, including the Michaudet family, then three generations of the Forey family.

These sharecroppers made the wine, which was then bottled and marketed by négociants. The most well-known of these was Bouchard Père et Fils, who sold La Romanée from the mid-1970s until it was retaken by Liger-Belair beginning in 2002, but the wine has also been marketed by C. Marey et Liger-Belair, Edouard Delaunay, Thomas-Bassot, Maison Leroy and Maison Albert Bichot.

Comte Henri’s son, Louis-Michel, was born in 1973. He describes his childhood as ‘excessively happy’ while noting that his father the general insisted he ‘always do better’.

Although the family moved often, they would return for the summer to work on their château in Vosne-Romanée, and Liger-Belair recalls many happy hours, announcing at age eight that he would take over the château and become a vigneron.

Perhaps remarkably, his father did not oppose him but insisted on a rigorous education. Louis-Michel complied, completing degrees in agricultural engineering and oenology and a master’s degree in business before training in Gevrey with Rossignol-Trapet.

Diversity of the heritage

Training complete, Liger-Belair set about recovering his family vineyards from their métayage (sharecropper) agreements. His first vintage was 2000, and he made the wines from the village-level Vosne vineyards Clos du Château and La Colombière, which are adjacent to the château, and premier cru Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes. He began producing Aux Reignots and La Romanée in 2002.

In 2006, he expanded his range with a métayage agreement with the Lamadon family, who had previously been sharecroppers for his father.

The Lamadons owned 5.5ha of vines, including the parcels in Echézeaux, as well as the Vosne-Romanée premier crus of Les Suchots, Les Petits Monts and Les Brûlées, and in the Nuits-St-Georges premier cru Aux Cras, along with some village-level vines in Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges, including Aux Lavières, opposite Aux Murgers in the northern side of the village near Vosne.

In 2012, he acquired the Clos des Grandes Vignes monopole from the Château de Puligny. This vineyard is also in the Nuits appellation, but in the village of Prémeaux-Prissey, east of the Route Nationale (the only premier cru in Burgundy so located).

The jewel in the crown is the Lilliputian grand cru La Romanée, a monopole of the domaine. La Romanée is the smallest appellation in France and lies just up the slope from Romanée-Conti as the vines climb more steeply toward their summit.

The vineyard owes its existence to the Liger-Belair family, since in the 18th century only a portion of it was called En La Romanée. It was not one vineyard, but at least six (or more) small parcels. One of these was the property of the wife of the first Comte Louis, and the balance of the parcels were purchased by his son Louis-Charles.

Continuing further up the slope towards the wood brings one to Aux Reignots (or Raignots), named for the footpath that leads to the Abbaye de St-Vivant de Vergy in the Hautes-Côtes; here the angle is steeper and the soil thinner.

Unlike La Romanée, Aux Reignots is not a monopole; however, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair is by far the largest owner, with a total of 0.73ha, including one large parcel just above La Romanée and 3.6 ares leased from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. In style, the wine has a diamond-like finesse and brilliance as opposed to the richness and luxury of La Romanée in recent vintages. The wines are completely different, yet both are lovely.

Changes in the vines and the wines

Since he first began to re-establish the family domaine, Liger-Belair has demonstrated a strong commitment to working in harmony with nature. He has been ploughing with a horse since 2002 and practising biodynamics throughout the vineyard since 2008. The estate has been certified organic since 2011 and biodynamic (by Biodyvin) since 2012.

Louis-Michel believes in continuous improvement but notes that one can only change some things over time. He describes the process as thus: ‘Making a wine is much more than winemaking. It is 250 small decisions. If one puts 10 decisions on the table each year and decides how to improve, then in 25 years, one will have addressed all 250 small decisions.’

Over time, these decisions have led to the development of a distinctive Liger-Belair style. Louis-Michel points out that in 2003 he still had the assistance of Henri Jayer, and as they worked through the massive heatwave of that year, they slowly began to reduce the number of punch downs in the winery.

By 2009, Liger-Belair had bought a new grape press and stopped, or at least greatly reduced, the number of times the grapes were punched down. Today, the estate uses a vertical press for the reds and a horizontal press for the whites. Much of the Pinot is destemmed, but the proportion of whole clusters is slowly increasing.

The grapes are cooled to allow a maceration before fermentation, which is done at a relatively warm temperature. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphur.

Continued growth

It was announced at the end of 2021 that the Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair would begin to farm the vines belonging to Nathalie Pacareau, the cousin of Nicole Lamarche. Lamarche took over the winemaking when her father retired in 2007. Following his passing in 2013, she and her cousin Nathalie assumed the direction of the family estate.

By the end of 2021, however, Pacareau had decided to join forces with Liger-Belair, thereby adding more than 2.5ha of prime vineyards. The holdings include more than a hectare of grand cru, including those in the Clos de Vougeot (near the château), Grands-Echézeaux and Echézeaux (Champs Traversins), plus another hectare of premier cru territory, including Suchots, Malconsort and La Croix Rameau.

The rapprochement with the Lamarche estate added volume. It also pleased Liger-Belair deeply because the holdings in Malconsorts and Grands Echézeaux were similar to parcels his family owned before the sale of their estate – it was almost as if they were coming home.

A commitment to Vosne-Romanée

The Vosne-Romanée village-level wine from Liger-Belair is a blend of 13 different parcels, vinified separately and assembled after blending. It is a true reflection of the Vosne terroir, unique to Liger-Belair: ‘I am an artist like any other, and enjoy the possibility that many producers can work from a similar palette and end up with a completely different result,’ says Louis-Michel. Yet his work is inimitable.

The Liger-Belair family has been in Vosne for over 200 years. Louis-Michel remains devoted to the village, noting that he had an opportunity to expand to other parts of the Côte d’Or but chose to focus on Vosne and devote himself to the village that had given him and his family so much.

He declined to farm a parcel of Chambertin because he wasn’t from Gevrey: ‘My clients are here for wines from Vosne.’ Liger-Belair explained that terroir is not only the sub-soil, soil, vine material and climate, but also the history of the place – who planted what and how it was managed. It is the history of the vignerons, a history deeply intertwined with that of his family. Few villages are fortunate enough to have such an eloquent defender.

See Charles Curtis MW’s notes and scores of 10 wines from Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

Related articles

• Regional profile: Nuits-St-Georges & 22 wines tasted
• Join Charles Curtis MW for a superb Burgundy masterclass at DFWE London
• Mâconnais: Value heroes of Burgundy plus the 20 wines to seek out

With a changing climate, new appellations defining nuances in terroir, and ever-growing insights into soil-vine interplay, more attention is paid to Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma than ever before.

Cabernet Sauvignon has been planted in Sonoma since the late 19th century. In the early 1970s, wineries such as Jordan and Silver Oak made the variety central to their portfolio. After the Judgement of Paris in 1976, attention shifted to the Cabernets of Napa, but the grape’s popularity still carried on in Sonoma.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 12 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon wines worth seeking out

Cabernet plays a vital role in the mosaic of Sonoma varieties. It is often described as savoury and mineral-driven, with a darker fruit profile and more austere tannins in its youth. Warmer appellations such as Alexander Valley, Knights Valley, and Dry Creek Valley AVAs contain the most significant plantings.

Still, a smattering of vineyards can be found in cooler appellations, such as the Waterhorse Ridge Vineyard in the foggy coastal area of Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. And as the climate changes, producers continue to explore the potential for Cabernet.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the region’s producers focusing on Cabernet:

Anakota

If Verité is Pierre Seillan’s homage to Bordeaux, then Anakota is his nod to the Grand Crus of Burgundy. Cabernet Sauvignon is expressed through two different vineyard bottlings: Helena Montana and Helena Dakota.

Knights Valley is one of the warmest appellations in Sonoma and is known for Bordeaux varieties. Cool breezes from the ocean temper the heat but the Mayacamas mountain range block the fog intrusion or marine layer that blankets other areas.

Contrary to the common belief that a climate gets warmer the further south you go, the opposite is true in Sonoma. South leads to the cooling winds through Petaluma Gap and the San Francisco Bay. But venture north, and vineyards, landlocked by the mountain ranges, see more heat.

For Anakota, it’s a tale of two terroirs: the Montana Vineyard, at about 24 hectares, is predominately sandstone and volcanic ash, while the Dakota Vineyard, a mere 4.8 hectares, attributes the red hue of its soils to the high iron content. Both vineyards were planted in 1997.

Harvest usually wraps up by the second week in September. ‘It could be a long growing season if our goal were to force maximum ripeness in the fruit,’ says Trey Christy, marketing brand manager. ‘But Pierre’s always looking for that balance, that tension in the wines. He wants the natural acidities, he wants the firm tannins, and the fruit in the wine to balance that, not outpace it.’

Hamel Family Wines

Half of a hectare of Cabernet Sauvignon on the Kenwood property purchased by the Hamels in 2006 led to their winemaking odyssey.

Cabernet comes exclusively from two sites. Nuns Canyon Vineyard resides at 366 to 488 meters on the western slopes of the Mayacamas, while Hamel Family Ranch sits at a lower elevation. Both contain volcanic soils dating back three to five million years, with some variations at each site, but the soils overall provide great drainage and are rich in iron.

Hamel Family farms biodynamically and implements dry farming. Typically, the estate sees 700mm of rain from November through April, then drought conditions in the growing season. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon is well-suited to Sonoma because it is a drought tolerant cultivar that can stay balanced in a warm and dry environment and make elegant wines in those conditions,’ says John Hamel II, director of winegrowing.

When it comes to Cabernet’s future, Hamel sees potential in the eastern part of the county and around the Mayacamas. ‘Sonoma’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean to the west and the bay on the southern end allows for a moderation of the heat accumulation and provides excellent diurnal shifts throughout the growing season,’ Hamel says. ‘With conditions becoming more erratic with climate change, and in general warmer and drier patterns compared with historical averages, the proximity to the coast will hopefully continue to be an asset for moderating heat peaks and providing refreshing humidity.’

Skipstone

Skipstone sits on 81 hectares, 11 of those under vine, in the proposed Pocket Peak appellation in Alexander Valley. Originally planted in 1993, grapes were sold to other wineries before entrepreneur Fahri Diner bought the estate in 2001. The first Skipstone vintage was bottled in 2005.

Philippe Melka has served as consulting winemaker since 2006, and in 2022, Laura Jones, who previously worked at Aubert, Cliff Lede, and Domaine Armand Rousseau, among others, joined as head winemaker.

Part of the terraced vineyard sits on a 50% gradient slope, a level of steepness that can’t be planted today, according to Sonoma County of Agriculture rules. Due to their placement, the backside of the vine sees more morning sun. ‘We love the exposure, and the shallow soils on the hillsides really make the vines work and help concentrate the fruit,’ says Jones. Sophia’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, a barrel-select wine, comes from blocks of old vines on this portion of the property.

The lower portion of the slope called the Faultline Vineyard, is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. Between 2003 – 2009, about half the vineyard was replanted with clones and rootstocks better suited for the site.

Certified organic in 2008, Skipstone received its sustainable certification in 2018 while simultaneously began implementing biodynamic practices.

Skipstone Vineyard in the fog. Credit: Skipstone

Stonestreet Estate Vineyards

‘I think people who truly understand Sonoma County world-class expression, Bordeaux varieties, understand that in many cases, time is your ally,’ says second-generation proprietor of Stonestreet Estate Vineyards Chris Jackson. Thus, the foundation for the ambitious program to hold back the release date of wines by ten years.

The native flora and fauna give the wines a distinct herbaceous character, which unfurls over time, according to Stonestreet’s winemaker Kristina Shideler.

‘I think part of the ageing of the Cabernets, in particular, is how they start to reveal, aromatically, parts of the mountain,’ she says. The Rockfall Vineyard, for example, reveals notes of violets, Shideler describes, along with blue fruits and aromas of tea.

Fruit comes from mountain vineyards within Alexander Valley, which sits as high as 731.5 meters above sea level. At this elevation, a marine inversion layer means vineyards are generally warmer at night than the valley floor. At the same time, exposure to the sun creates thicker skins with a higher tannin content. This is steep, rocky terrain battered by coastal winds.

The specific characteristics of the terroir spurred winemakers from Aperture Cellars, Foley Family Wines, Stonestreet Estate, and others to petition for a new AVA called Pocket Peak, further solidifying Cabernet’s place in the Sonoma grape canon.

Verité

Founded by Jess Jackson of Jackson Family Wines and French vigneron Pierre Seillan, the focus has always been on Bordeaux blends as expressed through three cuvées: La Joie, Le Desir, and Le Muse.

Now at the helm of the next generation – Chris Jackson and Helene Seillan, who is slowly taking over from her father – the estate continues to follow the philosophy set by the previous generation of creativity and freedom of expression.

Fruit comes from four sub-appellations in Sonoma County—Alexander Valley, Knights Valley, Chalk Hill, and Bennett Valley—sourced across approximately 50 lots. Within these sites, they farm by what they call the ‘micro cru’ concept.

‘There are blocks that are literally divided into two or three sections, where the row goes all the way down, but we actually stop halfway,’ says Seillan of their harvesting techniques.

Seillan compares the vinification of each cru to raising a child just to be themselves, allowing each’s unique qualities to stand on their own. Lots are then blended, and the ratio changes every vintage in order to create their signature wines. ‘What’s so amazing is we don’t have any limits,’ says Seillan. ‘It’s a very Old World way of making wine and of viticulture. But at the same time, we have so much liberty to create.’

Verité’s Alexander Valley Vineyards. Credit: Jackson Family Wines

Waterhorse Ridge Vineyard

Fort Ross-Seaview AVA on the Sonoma Coast is primarily Pinot Noir country. Still, Waterhorse Ridge Vineyard boasts 0.8 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and serves as the source of fruit for Enfield Wine Co. and Unturned Stone. Sitting at 518 meters in elevation, the vineyard was planted in the late 1990s and, to this day, is farmed organically. It’s somewhat of an outlier geographically, but vintners say stylistically, it aligns with the markers of great Cabernet.

‘The high-elevation, coastal climate produces Cabernet that has the fullness of colour, flavour, and mouthfeel at a moderate level of ripeness,’ says Erin Mitchell at Unturned Stone. ‘Grown here, it can show off the powerful fruit that California Cabernet is known for, along with bright acidity and a herbal character similar to what you might find in a classic Bordeaux wine.’

Is this the future of Sonoma Cabernet? John Enfield believes interest in cool sites like this is on the upswing. ‘As the climate continues to warm, medium to cooler climate sites that were previously considered marginal for Cabernet will begin to thrive,’ he says. ‘A broader range of styles, both in winemaking and vineyard sites, and a meaningful uptick in quality as some of these sites will become more celebrated.’

12 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon wines worth seeking out

Related articles

• Greatest vineyards: Decanter names 12 ‘to rule them all’
• Into the future of American wine
• Producer profile: Trothe, plus seven wines tasted

Soil has been described as the Cinderella of sustainability. It is, as a recent scientific study put it, the most important but least understood part of the earth’s biosphere. Much of life on earth lies beneath our feet. Soil holds an astonishing diversity of animal life, from earthworms and insects to microorganisms and bacteria. Underground networks of plant roots and fungi interact in mutually beneficial ways, exchanging carbon for nutrients and water – a complex ecosystem, critical to maintaining healthy soil for plants to grow in.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores of 12 ‘regenerative’ wines to try

The science of soil is complicated; there is much we don’t understand. But we know enough to grasp that our survival depends on it, and exhaustion of the world’s soils from intensive agriculture has got alarm bells ringing. According to the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of the earth’s soil is degraded and 90% of topsoil is at risk of degradation by 2050. Speaking at the World Living Soils Forum in 2022, Ronald Vargas of the FAO stressed the challenges of raising awareness: ‘We stand on soil, but we don’t see or value it.’

Monocultures such as growing grapes for wine pose a particular challenge because, as South African producer Johan Reyneke puts it, ‘they have to be propped up’. To produce healthy grape harvests, most vineyards have become dependent on limiting ecosystem biodiversity through the use of chemical treatments, which disrupt so-called ‘mycorrhizal’ soil networks connecting plant roots and fungi, thereby reducing soil health.

When Reyneke started growing grapes, he was determined not to use chemicals. ‘I was very idealistic and didn’t really know what I was doing,’ he says. ‘I just wanted to do the right thing. Someone told me I was organic by neglect and I needed to become organic by design. That was the turning point.’ Two decades on, Reyneke is a leading advocate of ‘regenerative’ practices in viticulture, part of a wider global movement to change the way we farm.

Paradigm shift

Like organic and biodynamic viticulture, regenerative viticulture is based on agroecological principles. And, like them, it promotes biodiversity and discourages use of synthetic treatments. But it takes sustainable thinking further. At its core is a paradigm shift of approach to vineyard management, replacing an ‘extractive approach that depletes soil’ to ‘one that restores the land’ as Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, who runs courses on regenerative viticulture at the Dartington Trust centre for learning near Totnes in Devon, puts it.

‘The cost of not working in a biodiverse way is that we are degrading a finite resource,’ says Stephen Cronk, co-founder and president of Maison Mirabeau in Provence. Cronk, Howard-Sneyd and other like-minded activists launched The Regenerative Viticulture Foundation (RVF) in 2022. As with other recent initiatives, including California’s Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) and the Regenerative Viticulture Association (RVA) established by Catalan producer Familia Torres, it promotes viticultural practices that ‘reboot’ natural ecosystems.

Mimi Casteel, an RVF trustee and pioneering regenerative wine-grower in Oregon, believes we need to ‘think of vineyards as being like a body, and of the importance of shoring up the body’s immune system. Once vines are part of a natural system, they are much more resilient.’ Fellow RVF trustee Ivan Massonnat of Domaine Belargus in Anjou sees things similarly: ‘We have distorted the relationship between mankind and nature: we have to take a more holistic approach and try to create a diverse ecosystem.’

In northern Spain, Torres is currently applying regenerative approaches across about 40% of its vineyards. ‘The beauty of regenerative viticulture is that you can apply it on any vineyard,’ says general manager Miguel Torres Maczassek. ‘There is a cost to changing practices and putting more organic matter into soils; the transition can take several years, but you reach a point where the ecosystem stabilises and it can manage by itself, costs reduce, and you get higher-value grapes.’

At Chêne Bleu in the Vaucluse in southeast France, Nicole and Xavier Rolet spent years regenerating land around a medieval priory. Nicole feels they ‘kind of wrote the songbook on regenerative viticulture’. They are convinced that healthy bee populations play a key role in the productivity and resilience of vineyard ecosystems, boosting biodiversity by spreading natural yeasts and cross-pollinating plants. ‘Microbiomes are credited with transmitting a sense of place to grapes, so if that is important to you in wine, you must allow the ecosystem to flourish,’ she says.

In Provence further south, Jessica Julmy has set out to transform Château Galoupet in similar ways since LVMH bought the estate in 2019. ‘We reached out to agroforestry experts: what can we plant where? Not only to move away from monoculture but to create natural corridors between vineyard and forest. We want to regenerate flora and fauna in the forest and see the impact on the vineyard: how do we bring bees? We are working with cover crop experts to find a perfect blend of seeds for our soils: how do we bring back organic matter and humidity?

Ecosystem balance

While the concept of regenerative agriculture has been around for a while, it has only recently become a buzz phrase in the wine world and there is some confusion about how it differs from other existing agroecological approaches. Jessica Villat, an expert in strategy, regenerative agriculture and engagement, wrote a thesis on the subject at Harvard. For her, what makes regenerative viticulture distinctive is its ‘absolute focus on living soil’: feeding the soil to feed the vine. ‘Rather than asking what’s wrong with the vine, we need to think in terms of the whole ecosystem – which natural levers to pull to enable it to be in better balance,’ she says.

Regenerative producers employ a range of ‘natural levers’ to bring ecosystems into balance, such as composting, growing different cover crops, boosting wildlife and introducing animals into vineyards to control grass and provide manure. Massonnat is working with veteran Anjou wine-grower Jo Pithon to fix imbalances in his soils using organic compost. In her vineyards, Casteel runs pigs fed on biochar, a carbon-rich biomass, which enhances the fertilising effect of their manure and fixes carbon in the soil, improving its structure and water retention.

But regenerative viticulture avoids being overly prescriptive. ‘It is not a clipboard and checklist approach like biodynamics,’ says Rolet. Nick Gill of Greystone Wines in New Zealand’s Waipara region makes a similar point: ‘People are reluctant to put regenerative agriculture in a box. Every piece of land is different and it makes no sense to curtail solutions that may be appropriate in particular places.’ Casteel sees it as ‘a toolbox to empower growers to feel like a part of their landscape, to understand what has been lost that is stopping the ecosystem functioning at its highest level and what to put back to keep the cycle going’.

Improving soil

For Franco Bastías, head of agriculture at Domaine Bousquet in Argentina, ‘organic and biodynamic viticulture are about keeping things natural; with regenerative viticulture, it’s the challenge of improving, not just preserving, the soil’. And, he says, ‘you can measure the improvements through soil analysis and yields’. Bastías says that his vines are more resilient and his yields have not suffered. ‘We have the same or better yields than conventionally managed vineyards in the region.’

A major tenet of regenerative viticulture is to avoid disturbing soil as far as possible. Tilling the soil, which is widely practised in organic and biodynamic viticulture, helps to control weeds but damages the structure of the soil, disrupts microbial life and releases carbon. ‘It’s important to avoid disturbing the soil, because soils with high levels of microfungi are healthier and more productive,’ says Pablo Borelli, an agronomist who works on regenerative farming in Argentina.

Advocates see many advantages to a regenerative approach. As well as saving treatment and irrigation costs, minimising tillage improves biodiversity and soil structure, increases water retention, lowers soil temperatures and reduces topsoil erosion. There is evidence, too, that healthy, undisturbed mycorrhizal networks can help plants to resist pest attacks.

‘People have come to think of interventions such as spraying and irrigation as normal, but they’re not,’ says Jason Haas, co-proprietor of Tablas Creek in California. ‘If your system is in balance, they’re not necessary. Every year my vines are a little healthier and have more natural resilience.’

Mitigating climate change

Haas also sees it as a hedge against the growing impact of climate change. ‘In winter, cover crops and reduced tillage minimise surface erosion, encouraging the water to slow down and penetrate to deeper layers during major rainfall events. In summer, the increase in organic matter and microbial activity allows soil to hold more moisture, thereby helping the vines to withstand drought and heat spikes.’

For Casteel, it is one of the advantages of working with biochar-fed pigs: ‘Summers are becoming unbearably hot here, with very little rain,’ she says. ‘Biochar can hold many times its weight in water, which helps us get through the dry season without irrigating.’

Perhaps the biggest idea that distinguishes regenerative farming from other agroecological practices is that it could be a critical factor in mitigating, or even reversing, climate change. To limit global warming to 1.5°C, the world needs to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and this is integrated into soil and remains there for decades, if undisturbed.

Claire Chenu, a senior soil scientist at French national research institute INRAE and professor at AgroParisTech, says: ‘Current estimates are that it is possible to store between one and two billion additional tonnes of carbon in soil per year, which would offset a third of global CO2 going into the atmosphere.’

Certification

Without an established set of rules, there is a danger of ‘greenwashing’. Many, but not all, vine-growers embracing regenerative practices are already certified organic or biodynamic, and new regenerative certification schemes are now appearing. Tablas Creek was the first winery to obtain Regenerative Organic Certification from the ROA in 2020 and some other US wine producers have followed, along with Bousquet in Argentina. In Spain, the RVA has piloted a new certification scheme. Torres expects up to 25% of its wines to be certified under it in 2023-2024. However, certification for regenerative viticulture remains at an embryonic stage.

Do wines made in regeneratively managed vineyards taste better? Its advocates certainly feel so. ‘We’re pretty convinced,’ says Haas. ‘The wines have more character, better balance and more energy. The past five years have seen our best run of quality, despite different weather conditions. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.’

Massonnat in Anjou says the wine from vineyards that have been managed regeneratively is ‘more energetic and precise’. Gill feels that Greystone’s Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir, fermented outside, in between the rows of vines where the grapes were grown and under the influence of indigenous yeasts, has a special ‘energy and tension’. Kees van Leeuwen of Bordeaux Sciences Agro believes the physical properties of soil are key to overall vine health, but sees no direct link between better soil and wine quality. ‘People want to believe that the more microbial activity in the soil, the better the wine, but the relationship is not as straightforward as that,’ he says. ‘Microbial activity is certainly good for sustainability, but not necessarily for wine quality. The heavy clay soils in some of the finest estates in St-Emilion and Pomerol, for example, have relatively little microbial activity because aeration is restricted in this clay. That does not stop them producing great wines.’

Reyneke acknowledges that ‘we don’t have a good understanding of the impact of the soil’s microbial content on quality’, but adds ‘we have noticed that wine from our regeneratively managed parcels tastes completely different. And those parcels are richer in microbial populations.’ Research from outside the wine world suggests relationships between plants and fungi in the soil can affect the taste of fruit. If there is a correlation between microbial activity and wine quality, it would, says Reyneke, ‘take the concept of terroir to a new level of understanding’.

The regenerative viticulture movement is still in its infancy, and not everyone sees the point of adding another category of sustainable viticulture. Is this just old wine in new bottles? Perhaps. However, in a world facing soil degradation and climate crisis, a toolkit that helps viticulture to flourish as a contributing part of a healthy ecosystem, rather than at its expense, while also sequestering carbon and increasing climate resilience, can only be a positive thing.

Joy’s 12 wines try from the vanguard of regenerative viticulture

A selection of wines from leading producers who follow regenerative principles: some are certified regenerative, but most are not.

Related articles

• California’s ban on pesticides by 2050 sees the state’s wineries embracing ‘slow wine’
• New group promotes regenerative viticulture in climate battle
• Biodiversity in the vineyard – looking to the future

Frédéric Zeimett, CEO of Leclerc Briant, and Hervé Jestin, cellar master, have made strenuous efforts to revitalise this boutique Champagne house, founded in 1872 and purchased in 2012 by an American couple, Denise Dupré and Mark Nunnelly.

Zeimett, a former supply director at Moët & Chandon, has a clear vision of the future of the house (he launched a new cuvée from a single vineyard, Château d’Avize, earlier this year). Jestin, former cellar master at Champagne Duval-Leroy, is probably one of the best winemakers in the region and the biggest biodynamics enthusiast in Champagne.

Scroll down for notes on the latest Leclerc Briant Champagnes: Abyss Rosé 2018 and Le Clos des Trois Clochers 2016

Subaquatic

Together they have developed a cuvée called Abyss. The concept is to submerge Leclerc Briant Champagnes in the ocean, off the island of Ushant in Brittany, ‘to capture a universe where land and sea spirits come together’, says Zeimett.

This year sees Leclerc Briant release the first rosé iteration of cuvée Abyss. It is a blend of 85% Chardonnay, and 15% Pinot Noir elaborated as a red wine. Bottles were submerged in the sea in September 2021 for 10 months after being disgorged in July 2021 without dosage.

The 2018 vintage is considered a success according to Champagne’s trade association body, the Comité Champagne. The summer was scorching hot and dry, breaking the record set in 2003. Fortunately, the vines suffered no water stress. Harvest took place in ideal conditions and the year was generous, with high alcohol levels.

I don’t know if submersion is a benefit to the wine, but I have to admit that this wine has much tension, iodine and saltiness when compared to all the other wines I tasted from the 2018 vintage (either bottles not yet disgorged or vins clairs).

Single vineyard focus

Alongside the first opus of Abyss rosé, Leclerc Briant has released a new vintage of the single-parcel cuvée Le Clos des Trois Clochers. This is a tiny vineyard of only 0.4ha, planted with Chardonnay and situated in Villers-Allerand, a premier cru village in the heart of the Montagne de Reims. The calcareous soil imposes a mineral-driven, pure and tense style.

The 2016 vintage was difficult for winegrowers. With floods and hot weather, downy mildew was everywhere. The rain stopped early in July and gave way to a sunny, dry summer, allowing the harvest to take place in good conditions. Like many vintages in Champagne, it was saved by great weather at the end of the season.

Leclerc Briant’s Abyss Rosé 2018 retails for £300 in the UK and is available through The Finest Bubble. Le Clos des Trois Clochers 2016 retails for around £150 and is available through a number of retailers. See the tasting notes below for stockist information.

Yohan Castaing rates and reviews the latest Leclerc Briant Champagnes:

Related content

Leclerc Briant: the biodynamic house every Champagne lover should know

Underwater wine ageing: Why are wineries doing it?

First taste: Dom Ruinart 2010

Some Cornas estates, like Domaine Clape, feel as ancient and unchanging as the granite hills themselves. Others, like Domaine Alain Voge, go through periods of flux.

When this is due to vineyards being ripped out, bought or sold, then the whole profile of an estate can be altered. That’s not the case at Voge. Instead, it’s due to the coming and going of people and the unavoidable change that entails.

I visited Lionel Fraisse, the current managing director at Domaine Alain Voge, to taste a selection of its Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes and St-Péray Fleur de Crussol wines. I wanted to see how these relatively affordable classics have changed over the years, and how they’re looking today.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Domaine Alain Voge wines

Alain Voge (1939 – 2020)

The late Alain Voge took over the family farm in 1961 after returning from Algeria. Like most estates during that time, the Voge family didn’t just grow grapes. They had fruit trees, a vine nursery and a distillery. But by 1980, Alain had given up these sidelines to concentrate entirely on making wine.

He was a relatively early adopter of organics, gaining certification for his Cornas vineyards in 2000. But shortly after, he started having problems with his health. In 2004 he had a liver transplant and stepped back from the day-to-day running of the business.

Twenty years of change

Alain employed Albéric Mazoyer, who had previously worked with Jean-Luc Colombo and Michel Chapoutier, as managing director (Chapoutier remains a partner in the business to this day). Albéric retired in 2018, handing over the management of the estate to Lionel Fraisse.

Lionel is the nephew of Robert Fraisse, respected local winemaker and long-time friend of Alain. To begin with, Lionel chose a different career, working in academic publishing. But in 2012 he decided to return to his roots.

‘It was my mid-life crisis!’ he says. He contacted Alain, who promised to show him how to make wine as long as Lionel joined the estate.

Describing the changing style of the wines, Lionel says that in the 1970s and ’80s, chaptalising was widespread. In the ’70s, some even added tannins – an idea that sounds crazy for Cornas but it was an ‘interventionist era’, he explains.

He says that Albéric steered the estate towards a more hands-off winemaking approach, and also favoured a more extracted style. Today, although labelled as organic, the estate works biodynamically.

The main change Lionel has made is to reduce the use of new oak in both the red and white wines. He wants to promote a more ‘vertical, fresh style,’ he says.

‘Alain’s vision was to stick to an artisanal size,’ says Lionel – the winemaking and élevage is still carried out in houses in the heart of the village of Cornas. They farm just 8ha of Cornas vines, 4ha of St-Péray and 1ha of St-Joseph.

Les Vieilles Vignes, Cornas

Les Vieilles Vignes isn’t the top cuvée – that would be Les Vieilles Fontaines, a single-vineyard selection of 80-year-old Syrah from lieu-dit La Fontaine that’s only made in the best vintages.

When Les Vieilles Fontaines isn’t made, however, the grapes go into the long-running cuvée Les Vieilles Vignes, which is made annually. It’s more accessible in terms of both price (around £50 retail in the UK) and availability, but can age and develop with real interest.

Les Vieilles Vignes is a blend of several different lieux-dits dotted around the historic granite slope (Combe, Patou, La Côte, Tézier, Mazards and Chaillot), and the older vines from St-Pierre on the plateau.

There’s 20% whole bunch, a three-week maceration, and then the wine matures for 20 months in oak (barriques and demi-muids), 10-15% of which is new.

Fleur de Crussol, St-Péray

Alain was always a lover of the Côte d’Or, and with this cuvée, ‘he brought a bit of Burgundy to St-Péray,’ says Lionel.

The first vintage was 1999 and the idea, which was new to St-Péray, was to ferment and mature still wines in small oak barrels.

Of the three St-Péray cuvées made at the estate, Fleur de Crussol is the most ambitious. It’s made from a plot of 80-year-old Marsanne from lieu-dit La Côte, just above Hongrie. It was planted by Lionel’s great-grandfather, the appropriately named Auguste Marsanne.

Originally, 100% new oak was used but this has been gradually reduced and is now down to 20%. In addition, the domaine has moved from using exclusively barriques to 50% barriques and 50% demi-muids.

Domaine Alain Voge’s style – then and now

Over the past 20 years, the style of Cornas at Domaine Alain Voge has walked a line between the very traditional and the very modern.

Today, use of stems and new oak are both relatively discrete, making for a fairly fruit-forward style in youth that isn’t too robustly textured. Compared to its peers, it tends towards freshness and definition rather than muscle and heft.

Nonetheless, it speaks clearly of Cornas, and ages well, even in challenging years like 2014 and 2003. In great vintages, it can represent a smart buy considering the price.

The evolution of Fleur de Crussol has been more dramatic. The quality of the fruit has never been in doubt, but even as recently as the late 2010s, the barrel ageing has been excessive.

Since then, the domaine has dialled back on the use of oak, and the crystalline purity and salinity of the fruit has been correspondingly accentuated. This remains an oaked cuvée, but today it’s a well-balanced one.

The 2020 vintage marks an exceptional year at Domaine Alain Voge, for both Les Vieilles Vignes and Fleur de Crussol.

I’m hoping that it also represents an even keel for this domaine that has seen so much change in the past 20 years. If the style and quality of the 2020s represent a new normal, then the future looks bright.

Tasting Domaine Alain Voge wines: Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes & St-Péray Fleur de Crussol

Related content:

Walls: Tavel and its unexpected revolution

Terra di Monteverro: Every vintage of this mini SuperTuscan

British Columbia Syrah: Canada’s rising star

The Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainable viticulture.

They converted their 100ha estate to organics as early as 1950; biodynamics in 1974. And when it comes to facing the climate crisis, they’re not standing still; refurbishing cellars, planting trees, championing ancient varieties and developing new techniques in the vineyard.

Winemaker César Perrin explains…

‘The main reason we decided to construct a new cellar was to reduce the amount of energy we use. The climate is warming and every year we’re having to ramp up the cooling system. At three metres underground, however, the temperature stays between 12 and 14 degrees all year round naturally, so we wanted to make the most of these cool conditions by moving our cellar below ground.’

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for six Château de Beaucastel wines

‘We’ve built two huge subterranean tanks to fill with rainwater. We can chill the water using energy created by solar panels and keep the cellar cool with a system of windmills worked by the mistral. And we’re using all the earth that’s dug out to build new walls.’

‘And we’ve also had to adapt our methods in the vineyard. If you come here in May, the grass between the rows grows a metre and a half tall. Then we flatten it down and it creates a kind of carpet, helping to reduce soil temperature and keeping it moist. After five years of observation, we’ve concluded that soils that are grassed over are seven to eight degrees lower in temperature than soils that have been ploughed.’

‘We’ve planted 4,000 trees at Beaucastel. It brings shadow to the vines. But we have to find species of trees whose roots dig down deep into the soil because otherwise they create competition for water with both the vines and the grass between the rows. We’ve planted big trees, small trees – around 30 different types. But never pines – their roots spread too close to the surface.’

‘Another innovation we’ve developed is spraying the vines with liquid clay. It helps to hold back photosynthesis a little. It’s 100% natural, it’s clay from the estate, the same clay you use for pottery, it sticks to the plants naturally.’

‘Grenache is a fantastic variety; it can produce great wines. But the problem is alcohol. We know nobody wants wine at 16%, so we’re increasing plantings of varieties like Mourvèdre and Counoise. The blend now contains 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Counoise – soon to be 15% Counoise – along with Syrah, Cinsault, Terret Noir and Vaccarèse along with some white varieties. Counoise gets ripe at 12.5%, it’s our Pinot Noir. Originally it was used for its acidity, but today it’s also useful in helping us to reduce alcohol levels in the blend.’

‘We’re really proud of our grandfather Jacques for having the foresight to plant so much Mourvèdre and Counoise. And in turn we’re hoping that all these projects we’re undertaking will make our children proud of us.’

See tasting notes and scores for six Château de Beaucastel wines:

Related content:

Walls: Tavel and its unexpected revolution

Lilian Bérillon: vine supplier to the stars

Walls: Tasting the classic 2001 Guigal La Las

Organics

Organic are a set of farming and food production standards to which producers must abide to be granted organic certification. These aim at reducing the environmental impact, promoting biodiversity and ensuring animal welfare.

Among the fundamental guidelines of organic farming and production, in the context of wine, are:

• Strictly no use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides or fertilisers (of the 300 or so pesticides permitted under EU law, just 20 are permitted under organic standards, all of which derive from natural ingredients)
• Use of natural fertilisers only
• Strictly no use of GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) yeasts
• Sulphite addition is permitted (in the EU) but the total levels allowed are lower than those for non-organic wines: 100 mg/L for red wines (vs. 150 mg/L for conventional wines) and 150 mg/L for whites and rosés (vs. 200 mg/L)

Organic practices must have been in place for at least three years before certification is granted.

Organic certification is regulated by government bodies although the certification process itself is, in many countries, outsourced to external approved agencies. Still, the requirements to be met are those inscribed in the law, which means that a product classified as organic in a given country might not automatically receive the corresponding stamp across a border. For example, in the USA, in contrast with the EU regulations outlined above, organic wine cannot have any added sulphites – if sulphites are added it can only carry the ‘Made with organic grapes’ mention.

[Note that any wine might be produced using organic grapes but not be itself organic if the production standards in the cellar do not follow the required guidelines.]

Biodynamics

More than a set of agricultural practices, biodynamics is a philosophical approach to living, ultimately reflected in the work in the fields and cellar. The principles of biodynamics are based on the theories outlined in 1924 by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) which defined a holistic, homoeopathic approach to agriculture. His work emerged in response to a request from farmers observing degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting, they believed, from the use of chemical fertilisers. But it is also imbued with a strong level of symbolic meaning, sometimes criticised for compromising the scientific validity of biodynamics, not least due to Steiner’s connections with German nationalism. This is why many producers adopt the farming practices associated with biodynamics, acknowledging their clear beneficial impact on soil and plant health, while remaining critical of some of its philosophical aspects.

Biodynamics are based on the belief that everything in the universe is interconnected through shared energy forces which emit a universal resonance. All things, animated, inanimate, as well as celestial bodies (planets, comets, stars, meteors, ..), are, according to the theories of biodynamics, constantly pulsing and influencing each other with these energies. The farmer and winemaker therefore needs to work with, rather than against, these universal energies by understanding their natural flow and cycles. The tasks in the vineyards and cellar (planting, pruning, ploughing, picking, fermenting, and bottling) need to be timed according to the biodynamic calendar to harness the vital forces of earthly and celestial cycles (namely planetary, solar, stellar, and especially lunar).

From a purely technical perspective, biodynamics is stricter than organics. For example, while in organic winemaking the use of cultured (non-GMO) yeasts is allowed, a biodynamic wine can only be fermented using natural ambient yeasts. It also only treats the vineyards with specific homeopathic preparations.

Biodynamic certification is not government regulated. It is overseen and granted by private institutions, notably Demeter International and Biodyvin (more details below).

Sustainability

Sustainability is a wide term that refers to the awareness of the long term impact of human activities on the planet. As such, organics and biodynamics make use of practices that have sustainability at their core, in that they are concerned with minimising the negative environmental impact of farming and food production, promoting soil health and guaranteeing animal welfare.

However, while looking mostly at the work in the vineyard and cellar, with a particular attention to environmental consequences, there are wider aspects they do not touch upon.

On the other hand, there are sustainability programmes which take a broader look at how companies operate, looking not just at farming and production but also at the impact of the whole supply chain, energy consumption and even social responsibility. As an example, the International Wineries for Climate Action are a group of leading producers with a shared strategy to become carbon neutral across all the whole wine value chain, as shown here:

There are different sustainability programmes around the world (see below), that set strategic guidelines across all the different facets of production and operations. Some have a clear environmental focus (therefore often overlapping with government organic certification) while others are more holistic, touching, for example, on corporate responsibility, long-term energy saving goals or carbon neutrality.

Most of these programmes are state regulated and/or recognised and therefore the certification is legally defined and can be displayed on the labels.

A word on natural wine

At this point you might be wondering what natural wine is. Is it organic? Or biodynamic? It can be either or neither. “Natural wine” is not a legally or technically defined term and is used in different ways by different people, therefore not indicating any particular set of practices or requirements.

The so-called “Natural wine movement” refers, loosely, to a style of low-intervention winemaking popularised by different groups of producers, sommeliers and consumers. Some of these wines are organic and biodynamic certified but not all – and not necessarily. In general, “natural wines” are spontaneously fermented, bottled unfined and unfiltered (hence often looking cloudy). However, many commercial, large-scale conventional producers have used the term ‘natural’ on labels to try and position some of their ranges differently and attract a specific audience, without this being reflected in any specific “low intervention” winemaking.

On the other hand, many producers who follow organic and/or biodynamic practices might not have certification due to either the complexity and cost of the certification process(s), making it even more difficult to really know what’s inside the bottle.

An overview of sustainability certifications and the symbols you can expect to find on the wine bottle/label:

EU Organic certified

The certification granted by the European Union, through control agencies or bodies, under the same rules across all member states.

More info

USDA Organic Certified

The American government’s certification organic certification standards. In contrast with EU-certified organic wine, USDA-certified organic wine cannot have any sulphites added. If it does it should be labelled as “Made with organic grapes” and sulphite levels kept under 100 mg/L.

More info

Demeter International

The first biodynamic certification organisation to be created. It certifies all practices and products, not just wine.

More info

Biodyvin

A biodynamic certification body for European wineries only.

More info

Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE)

Certification created by the French Ministry of Agriculture. It recognises environmentally-friendly approaches to farming.

More info

Terra Vitis

The Terra Vitis certification is similar to HVE but was created by a group of producers and industry associations and is independently regulated.

More info

Respekt

Austrian-based, self-regulated association of Austrian, German, Hungarian and Italian producers following biodynamic practices.

More info

Sustainable Wines of Great Britain

Sustainability certification for WineGB members only. The stamp may only be used on the labels of bottles if the wine is made in a scheme-approved winery from fruit grown in a scheme-approved vineyard.

More info

Sustainable Wine South Africa

A joint venture between the Wine and Spirit Board (WSB), the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) scheme and Wines of South Africa (WoSA).

More info

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

An industry-wide certification programme led by New Zealand Winegrowers.

More info

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia

A relatively young program created to help grapegrowers and winemakers demonstrate and improve their sustainability credentials through the environmental, social and economic aspects of their businesses.

More info

California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance

A San Francisco-based nonprofit organisation created by the California Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

More info

LIVE

Independently certified the sustainable practices of winegrowers in the Pacific Northwest.

More info

Certified Sustainable Wine of Chile

A cross-section certification program (environmental, corporate, commercial) created by Wines of Chile

More info

Related articles

Organic vs natural wine: what’s the difference? 

Biodynamic wines explained

Top organic wines from New Zealand

With climate change becoming an increasingly serious topic for the spirits industry to tackle, so too comes a greater level of awareness amongst consumers that brands should be doing more in relation to the environmental footprints they leave behind globally.

Every element, from the cultivation of raw materials, to the composition and distribution of finished glass bottles is now under tighter scrutiny. This year’s Earth Day, a celebration of climate awareness, held on 22 April (founded back in 1970 by US environmental campaigner, Gaylord Nelson), comes amidst a tide of alarming data. It suggests that the world is on course to see global temperatures rise beyond the 2°C target set collectively by over 190 countries in The Paris Agreement climate treaty, which came into force back in 2016.

Although spirits production isn’t yet classed as a major environmental offender, the good news is that this stark warning is making the whole industry take notice. Spirits companies are reducing their carbon footprint further, creating more innovative, sustainable, recycled and refillable packaging and introducing more environmentally friendly practices into production. This includes a greater efficiency in dealing with waste CO2 to become a step closer to Carbon Neutral status. There is also a tighter focus on organically managed crops, such as locally grown barley, or less intensively farmed sugar cane.

Leading the way

A number of UK whisky and gin distillers have so far been prominent advocates to promote the importance of sustainability and other environmental issues. Islay’s Bruichladdich was the first in the UK to gain B-Corp status, effectively the Gold Standard for transparency and accountability in tackling climate change issues. While small craft distiller The Oxford Artisan Distillery became the first to be certified organic from grain-to-glass.

So what does all this mean for your favourite tipple? Well, largely speaking, organic and biodynamic spirits are distilled from grains or fruit that remain untreated by pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilisers that can leave a profound, lasting impact on the soil and water they grow in.

To be classified as organic in the UK, a spirit must meet the rigorous standards outlined by the Soil Association and comply with the EU Organic Regulations on the use of pesticides and soil management of the crop. However many organic distillers will argue the results go a great deal further than simply benefitting the landscape – and that the spirits themselves simply taste far more wholesome, unique and flavoursome.

Best organic and biodynamic spirits to try

Fatty’s Organic Gin

Founded by London-based Philippa ‘Fatty’ Gee and unusually using dill as one of the key botanicals, Fatty’s gin is certified organic by the Soil Association and has a deliciously light citrus note, alongside a distinctive savoury aroma, which works best in a G&T, garnished with cucumber. Alcohol 40%

Oxford Artisan Distillery Organic Gin

Head distiller Cory Mason has been on a mission to promote sustainability and transparency in the grains used to distil his base spirits, working closely with archaeo-botanist John Letts to resurrect heritage strains. The gin is distinctively malty and rich, with bold juniper and citrus notes. Alc 43%

Air Vodka

New York-based Air Company is taking the science of distillation to a whole new level. Its pioneering vodka is produced via patented a technique, which takes CO2 from the air and turns it into pure ethanol, all using renewable solar energy, to be the world’s first carbon negative spirit. Sounds like alchemy, but the result is a surprisingly clean and crisp spirit. Alc 40%

Eight Lands Organic Vodka

Distilled at the Glenrinnes distillery in Speyside. Founder Alex Christou has continued his family’s passion for organic farming by only selecting non-GM and pesticide-free crops for his base spirits, alongside sustainably grown botanicals. The vodka is made from both organic barley and wheat, giving hints of marzipan and vanilla pods. Alc 42%

Waterford Luna

The Waterford distillery is one of the pioneering voices in celebrating ‘terroir’ in Irish whiskey. Luna is made from rare strains of barley, grown by three Irish farms, using biodynamic farming methods. The spirit is rich and oily, with notes of fresh fruit, spiced chocolate and a distinct malted barley note. Alc 50%

Nc’nean Organic Single Malt – Batch 11

This B-Corp certified craft Scottish distiller uses 100% organic barley, approved by the Biodynamic Authority, alongside renewable energy sources to power the distillery and recycles nearly 100% of its waste products. The whisky is light and fruity, with sweet cereal notes and a buttery finish. Alc 46%

Renegade Dumfermline Farm Rum

Rum is often considered the Wild West when it comes to transparency of production. However Grenada’s Renegade has sought to fundamentally address this issue, by focusing completely on the specific local terroir and soil type the cane grows in, to produce – quite literally – a transparent single farm origin white rum full of fresh, sweet flavour. Alc 50%

Copalli Organic Single Estate Rum

Founded in 2018, the Copal Tree distillery, located in the southern Belize rainforest, is committed to supporting the local ecosystem by distilling fresh-pressed cane juice from a native, non-GMO, heirloom sugar cane variety, grown on the first organically certified farm in the country. Vibrant, fruity notes with a touch of freshly picked herbs. Alc 42%

Avallen Calvados

This noble French brandy has been given a truly ethical makeover thanks to the B-Corp-certified Avallen, which has focused on the importance of bee preservation to help the sustainability of future apple crops. A wonderfully fruity, buttery calvados, it works well with tonic and a dash of bitters. Alc 40%

Del Maguey Vida Mezcal

Tequila’s smoky cousin, mezcal has often been described as rustic, thanks to its traditional distillation and production methods. Del Maguey Vida uses 100% organically-grown Espadin variety agave giving a warming, savoury, oily and surprisingly smoky flavour, which will transform your Margarita. Alc 42%

Related articles

• Climate change: rethinking your drinking
• New group promotes regenerative agriculture in climate battle
• Wine bottles: a heavy price

Pritchard Hill is a little known enclave just west of the Silverado Trail and to the south of Howell Mountain. Donn Chappellet was the pioneer here, in 1969, then in the late 1980s Don Bryant, a businessman from St Louis, Missouri, bought neighbouring vineyards.

The vines were planted to a range of varieties, including Gamay, that were of no interest to Bryant. Moreover they were not well looked after. So he replanted the entire 6ha to Cabernet Sauvignon, although other Bordelais varieties were added later.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of six Bryant Family Vineyard wines

Bryant pulled out all the stops, hiring megastar consultant Helen Turley to oversee wine production, although 10 years later they had a spectacular falling out. She was replaced by Philippe Melka (almost as fashionable and sought-after in those days) and also by Michel Rolland. Napa’s most esteemed viticultural consultant, David Abreu, was also on board.

Unsurprisingly, the wines – initially pure Cabernet Sauvignon – attracted admiring attention from the critics, scores often ranging from 96 to 100. Production was also very limited and Bryant was able to charge, and obtain, very high prices.

New winemaker, fresh changes

The vineyards lie at an elevation of about 275m, planted on undulating slopes that face north and west. They benefit from breezes emanating from Lake Hennessey, which lies in the heart of Pritchard Hill. The soils are essentially clay, although they are of volcanic origin.

Over the past decade Bryant has been enjoying a new lease of life. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were added to the vineyards in 2014, and in 2016 there was a pure Cabernet Franc bottling.

Kathryn ‘KK’ Carothers joined as winemaker in 2018. She had previously worked for the biodynamic Adamvs Estate in Howell Mountain and, under her watch, Bryant began its own conversion. Early vintages aged in new oak, but Carothers modified the regime: now the red wines mature in about 70% new oak, the remainder in large casks or clay amphorae.

She has modified the range of wines too. Created in 2009, the Bettina cuvée, named after Bryant’s second wife, a former ballerina, blends parcels from vineyards owned and farmed by David Abreu. Unlike the estate wine, Bettina is a blend of Bordeaux varieties, although 85% tends to be from Cabernet Sauvignon. DB4 is the estate’s second wine, composed of lots not selected for the other two reds.

Reputation justified

I’ve been fortunate enough, over the past 30 years, to taste most of the Napa Valley‘s prestigious wines, including Screaming Eagle and Harlan. But Bryant – with the exception of its 1994 – has eluded me. That’s because distribution of already scarce wines has always been limited and, until January 2022, there was no British importer. Nor did Bryant enter its wines to wine competitions or other tastings.

I did rate that 1994 very highly though, so was curious to see whether Bryant’s stellar reputation was still justified during a tasting held by new UK importer Pol Roger in London recently.

It is. The secret to Bryant’s excellence must lie in its perfectly located vineyards, but there is more to it. ‘The key’, says Carothers, ‘is maniacal selection – in the vineyards and then in the winery, and there’s optical sorting too.’ No blocks are predestined for any of the wines. Once the wine is in barrel, she makes a further selection so that only the finest lots go into the two main cuvées.

The Bryants are keen that their wines should be able to age, and they do. Even the 1997, from a California vintage that in many cases is now in decline, is in vibrant form.

Bryant Family Vineyard: Stephen Brook rates six wines

Related content

A drink with… Ray Signorello

California Cabernet 2017 and 2018: panel tasting results

Cain: a vertical from this Napa mountain Cabernet estate

Shropshire-born Sam Weaver swapped the long-established London wine trade for the nascent grape-growing region of Marlborough, New Zealand in 1988. More than 30 years later, his two sons – Ben and Jack – are taking over the reins of the family‘s biodynamically-farmed Churton estate, which has recently become the country’s first traditionally ploughed vineyard. 

‘I was born and brought up in a rural farming family in Shropshire and always felt more comfortable in the rural and practical realm of winemaking than working in the highfalutin’ London wine trade. We first went to New Zealand to visit the Kiwi side of my family – of which there were many – and we’ve added to the numbers. I do miss Britain’s proper ale and pork pies though!

‘We’ve just become the first New Zealand estate to plough its vineyard by horse and plough. At first we didn’t know if it would be possible, so we acquired an old single-furrow horse-drawn plough from the local agricultural museum. Having proved it worked by dragging it behind a baby Kubota tractor, we replaced the tractor with two Clydesdales: Xena and Gordon.

‘We’re on a mission to reduce our carbon footprint through reducing the use of tractors. By reducing soil compaction, improving water retention and biological activity in the soil we will make better wine as a result.’

‘Most Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is ubiquitous with its overtly fruity, herbaceous style. They are usually very technically made wines, meaning there has been a lot of intervention. What’s more, they’re often regional blends. At Churton, we produce wines from a single terroir, respecting Sauvignon Blanc through cropping at low yields, before fermenting the wines naturally with indigenous yeasts. The fruit quality is so good that we can successfully make very low-intervention wines of depth, character and restraint.

‘Other than Marlborough my other favourite wine regions are Burgundy and Jurançon. But if I had to choose it would be Jurançon. It is such a beautiful area in the foothills of the Pyrenees. They have such a strong attachment to their land, their culture and their terroir.

‘Speaking of Jurançon, it’s a little-known fact that we are New Zealand’s first and biggest producer of Petit Manseng. In 2007, when we were expanding the vineyard, the nursery let us down with some Pinot Noir and asked if there was any way they could make amends for the mistake. Their first importation of Petit Manseng vines had just been released from quarantine and knowing and loving the variety through my connection with the late Didier Dagueneau [Les Jardins de Babylon], I took every single plant they had.

‘We’re handing over the reins of the business to our sons, Ben and Jack. Having grown up on the farm, they are both passionate about our place, making wine here and have the energy to work hard at it. Importantly they have a connection with the new generation of wine drinkers who appreciate low-intervention wine such as their Natural State range.

‘I’m most proud of breaking the conventional model of winemaking in New Zealand. Designing and planting Churton’s 23ha vineyard on a hillside is a model of what can be done with a farm ecosystem. We can make great wine that speaks of its place.’

Related content:

A drink with… Bruce Nicholson

A drink with… Daniele Cernilli

A drink with… Mattia Mazzi

The South of France is a vast region, ranging from Nice on the Mediterranean coast in the east, to Biarritz on the Atlantic coast in the west. It’s separated from northern Spain and the Iberian Peninsula by the Pyrenees Mountains.

The latest Occitanie tasting showcased the sheer variety of appellations that can be found here. Historically, Occitania was a culturally distinct area encompassing parts of France, Spain and Italy, where the Occitan language was spoken. Today the term Occitanie describes a French administrative region, created in 2016 by combining the areas of Languedoc-Roussillon and the Midi-Pyrénées.

The region is bordered by Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the east, Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the west and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the north.

Occitanie is now the largest wine region in France. A total of 263,000ha of vineyards produce around a third of the country’s total wine production.

In particular the area is known for organic and biodynamic viticulture, thanks to a generous Mediterranean climate. There are a total of 1,557 organic wineries here, working with 23,303ha of organic vineyards.

Wine styles

The numbers are impressive and perhaps it’s no surprise that they translate into a vast array of wine styles. Wines from Occitanie can be red, white and rosé and are produced across 87 AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) regions. These include Languedoc, Faugères, Minervois, Corbières, Côtes de Gascogne, Pic-St-Loup, Cahors and Côtes de Roussillon.

Producers can choose to make wines within the appellation system or the less restrictive IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) system. This is a great place to start if you’re looking for value wines from this area.

Stylistically wine lovers are spoiled for choice in Occitanie. Options range from crisp whites such as Picpoul de Pinet – perfect with seafood – to the full-bodied reds of Côtes du Roussillon-Villages, via fruity Pic-St-Loup rosés. Not forgetting the naturally sweet wines of Banyuls.

Many wines are approachable blends, featuring grapes such as the red Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignan, or white Colombard, Roussanne and Chenin Blanc.

The choice can be overwhelming, so we’ve highlighted some favourites from the tasting, all costing less than £20. They include a honeyed white blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Vermentino from Côtes Catalanes; an organic IGP Pays d’Oc rosé and a hidden gem red, made from the unusual Fer Servadou grape in the little-known IGP of Aveyron.

Great value wines from Occitanie:

Related content:

Roussillon red wines: panel tasting results

Pic St-Loup: regional profile plus the 12 wines worth seeking out

Languedoc gems: 24 Minervois-La Livinière wines tasted

Our feet crunched through layers of dry oak leaves as we climbed a pebbly path towards the vineyards behind the farmhouse. Roots go deep here. Not just the tall oaks and squat vines, but families too.

I walked the vineyards at Mas de Libian with Hélène Thibon, but it was her father Jean-Pierre that greeted me when I arrived. Hélène’s sister Catherine was out front with Bambi the horse, ploughing the sandier plots.

Later, we tasted in the winery with Hélène’s son Aurélien. Three generations of a much longer line; the Thibon family bought this estate in 1670.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for seven Mas de Libian wines

This sunny, pastoral spot in St-Marcel-d’Ardèche, the northern limit of the southern Rhône, has been inhabited for much longer than this. They’ve found Roman artefacts in the fields, and even older remains. It’s a warm place with several water sources, ideal for nourishing plants – and people.

Connection, transmission and nourishment

The French word paysan doesn’t have a direct translation into English. The closest we have is peasant, but paysan doesn’t have the same negative connotations – quite the opposite. Paysan refers to someone that understands the countryside, its ways and its produce – things to be admired in a country so enamoured with food. It’s a word that came up often as I talked to Hélène Thibon at her estate.

Although her father comes from ‘the chemical generation,’ says Hélène, he never used artificial products on this land. Thanks to his ‘bon sens paysan,’ Mas de Libian has always been organic. In 2000, they moved to biodynamics, since ‘organics didn’t nourish us enough,’ she says.

They nourish others too. At 25ha, the domaine is big enough to receive visitors through the WWOOF programme (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), a network that facilitates homestays on farms, offering free lodging, board and training in return for help with daily tasks.

‘Our main aim is to transmit,’ says Hélène.

As well as wine they produce olives, vegetables, grains and honey, and they help young winemakers learn their craft so they can strike out on their own.

Transmission of ideas, both practical and intellectual, is a family trait. Hélène’s grandfather, Gustave Thibon (1903-2001) was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature four times for his philosophical works. During World War II, he hosted fellow philosopher Simone Weil at Mas de Libian.

Hélène’s father read the poetry of Persian polymath Omar Khayyam to her from the age of six. Their exceptional Grenache-based cuvée Khayyam is named after him.

The wines of Mas de Libian

Like all their reds, they pick before the grapes get too ripe, and destem before fermenting with natural yeasts. Macerations are brief; five days for their Vin de Pétanque, and up to 21 days for their Mourvèdre-dominant La Calade.

Extraction is light, and the wines are aged in large, old oak barrels or concrete tanks.

There are some delicious whites made in this southern tip of the Ardèche, and Mas de Libian’s Cave Vinum is one of the best. The rosé, Buve Z’en, is fresh and tense.

The southern Rhône is a place of great abundance; sometimes the skill of the winemaker is knowing when less is more. These are generous wines but there are no excesses; the result is a range of wines with great clarity and energy that aren’t tiring to drink.

They aren’t huge in structure or concentration, but nonetheless they age well; the 2013 Khazan and 2011 La Calade are still delicious, and there’s still no hurry to drink them.

All the wines are bottled as either Vin de France or Côtes-du-Rhône. Some could be bottled under the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Saint-Andéol appellation, but they choose not to.

Perhaps these relatively lowly appellations are one reason these wines aren’t better known – or higher in price.

Or perhaps it’s because the Thibon family doesn’t market the wines as energetically as they could.

But my advice is to seek them out, as these are wines that feel nourishing to drink. Not just for the body, but for the soul.

See Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for seven Mas de Libian wines:

Related content:

Walls’ hidden gems: Domaine Richaud, Cairanne

Walls: Tasting the classic 2001 Guigal La Las

Walls: Vacqueyras 2015 vs 2016 – how are they drinking now?

Biodynamic wine production is similar to organics in that it promotes the use of manures and composts and avoids synthetic chemical pesticides, fungicides and fertilisers in the vineyard and cellar. The main practices of biodynamics state the importance of keeping in tune with the fundamental forces of nature to create a self-sufficient ecological environment, with ethical and spiritual considerations. Biodynamic wines are produced in accordance with biodynamic principles – originating with the work and theories of Austrian-born philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the early 20th century – that emphasise holistic agricultural methods and minimal intervention post-harvest. Some biodynamic winemakers claim to have achieved improvements in the health and biodiversity of their vineyards, soil fertility, crop nutrition, and pest and disease management.

Biodynamics in viticulture has grown in popularity in recent years, with more than 450 biodynamic wine producers worldwide. For a wine to be labelled biodynamic, it must be made using nine specific preparations and meet internationally recognised standards laid down by the Demeter Association. Most biodynamic wines are Demeter-certified but, as the organisation also certifies an array of vegetables, fruit, dairy and meat products, many biodynamic vineyards in France also seek certification by Biodyvin.

Both Biodyvin and Demeter have rules on growing and vinification that can be stricter than organic alone – for example, less use of copper sulphate per hectare, and the use of natural yeasts for fermentation. With biodynamics, the homeopathic preparations used on the compost and on the vines are key, and the vineyard must be as self-sustaining as possible, with minimal external inputs. The influence of the planets on the growing season and on vineyard and winery operations is also taken into account.

Some wineries that use biodynamic methods in all or part of the vineyards aren’t certified at all. This is a personal choice. There are also those who are using, or trialling, biodynamic methods, who just use EU organic certification. But only a very small proportion of certified organic producers can be considered fully biodynamic.

Are biodynamic wines better than organic wines? This comes down to personal taste. Many proponents of biodynamics will say that the wines show clearer/brighter fruit and stronger terroir character. The vines may be healthier, but as for the final bottled wine, it will still come down to the skill of the winemaker and vinification methods used.

Biodynamics in the glass – 10 wines to taste

10 wines from iconic biodynamic-certified producers, tasted and scored by the Decanter team.

Wines grouped by style and ordered by score, in descending order.

Related content

Château Pontet-Canet: Tasting 10 years of biodynamics

Reyneke: South Africa’s holistic wine farm

First past the post in a race for the world’s first biodynamic whisky release was Waterford Distillery’s Luna 1.1, made with biodynamic barley from three Irish farms.

Matured in used and new American oak, French oak and vin doux naturel casks, the single malt joins Waterford’s Arcadian Series heritage range.

Released towards the end of 2021 and priced at £89.95 per 70cl at Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange, Waterford Luna 1.1 (Alc 50%) is fruity with mellow cereal and rye notes.

The smooth palate is tinged with clove, ginger, almond chocolate, toffee and red earth, along with lighter notes of lemon balm and mint.

Mark Reynier, Waterford Distillery’s CEO, said he took inspiration from a shift towards biodynamic methods in some vineyards, as part of broader efforts to make winemaking more sustainable and enhance expressions of terroir in the glass.

‘During my career I’ve had the fortune to taste the world’s greatest wines,’ he said. ‘It’s no surprise to see the ever-increasing adoption of biodynamics in the search for intensity and purity of flavour. If for the grape, why not the grain?’. 

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Bruichladdich Distillery has been working with Yatesbury House Farm, using biodynamic English barley to produce The Biodynamic Project.

An unpeated single malt distilled in 2011 and matured on Islay for 10 years, it follows in the footsteps of The Organic Barley 2010 and Bere Barley 2011.

The Biodynamic Project (Alc 50%) has notes of stone fruit and orange citrus, with gingerbread, white pepper, pineapple and salted caramel. It was available at £100 per 70cl bottle via bruichladdich.com.

On our cocktail menu this month: Espresso Martini

A modern classic, the Espresso Martini was invented by legendary London bartender Dick Bradsell in 1983, at the Soho Brasserie.

Allegedly supermodel Kate Moss asked him for a drink to ‘wake me up’. It’s certainly tricky to sleep after tasting this combo of espresso, coffee liqueur and vodka.

Try using creamy Black Cow (Alc 40%), a zero-waste vodka made from milk, with notes of vanilla pod, coconut and sweet liquorice. It’s priced at £25-£30 per 70cl bottle and is widely available, including via Amazon.

How to make an Espresso Martini

Ingredients:

• Martini glass
• 45ml vodka
• 30ml hot, freshly made espresso coffee
• 20ml coffee liqueur
• Coffee beans (for the garnish)

Method:

• Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker with ice
• Shake until your hands are cold
• Fine strain into a Martini glass
• Add the garnish

Know your spirits: Eau-de-Vie

Literally meaning ‘water of life’, eau de vie is a clear and light fruit brandy produced by double distillation.

It’s distinct from brandies such as Cognac that are made with grapes.

You will find types of eaux de vie (the plural) made all around the world – from the classic poire william (pear) in France and Germany’s peach schnapps to banana and mango versions in the Caribbean and coconut arrack in Sri Lanka.

Eaux de vie are usually served at the end of a meal as a digestif.

No-alcohol spirits

If you’re attempting dry January, or if you’re looking to mix things up in general, see our newly published guide to no-alcohol spirits with 12 recommendations on bottles to try.

Editing for Decanter.com by Chris Mercer.

Out now: Decanter magazine latest issue: February 2022

More guides from our spirits section

Best no-alcohol spirits for dry January

Best single malt whiskies to try

Best rums for sipping: Eight to try

Fifty years ago, Margaret River pioneers Kevin and Di Cullen planted Cullen vineyard in Wilyabrup. Daughter Vanya Cullen became chief winemaker in 1989 and, strongly aligned with her parents’ values, has ensured that quality, integrity, sustainability underpins everything they do. Cullen Wines was certified organic in 2003 and biodynamic in 2004. It was Australia’s first winery to be certified carbon neutral in 2007 and, certified carbon positive since 2019, Cullen Wines sequesters more carbon than the entire business emits. 

‘In 1998, the vineyard was in decline. Dad [a doctor] had seen the effects of chemicals on farmers, so mum and I adopted organics, then biodynamics. We noticed a wonderful difference in vine health and grape quality. Our wines have become more individual – unique, purer expressions of site, with a thread of the land through them all.’

‘Biodynamics has super-charged our cover crops and soil microbiology, sequestering more carbon dioxide. Still, it was a surprise when soil studies from 2014-2019 revealed we’d sequestered more carbon than the whole business emits!’

‘Drawing on Australia’s indigenous culture, in our case the Wadandi peoples, our evolving six-season calendar acknowledges the strength and difference of our climate (see above). It revolves around what plants and animals are doing. Slowly, we are developing an understanding about what happens at different times of year with respect to all aspects of our business.’

‘With our Biodynamic Wine Room, we have complete integration. With five biodynamic kitchen gardens, our Biodynamic Tasting Plate and four-course set menu is 90% home-grown, so there is low waste.’

‘Caring for the earth and doing no harm in what we do has become a way of life for us.’

Cullen Wines to try

Related articles

• A drink with… Dr. Laura Catena
• A drink with… Pascal Jolivet

A pastoral outdoor lunch at the Château Pontet-Canet belied determination as Alfred Tesseron urged guests to taste all white wines before seating for the reds.

Twelve certified organic and biodynamic wines from beyond the estate, including Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 2018 and Block 3 Pinot Noir Felton Road Central Otago 2013, proved a clever way to stress the family’s green passion as universal, extending further than Bordeaux.

Scroll down to see scores and tasting notes for Château Pontet-Canet wines

Earlier that late summer morning, the Pauillac fifth growth had invited French television to the estate’s herbal tearoom, where staff prepare organic treatments.

As the Bordeaux 2021 vintage faced mildew, technical director Mathieu Bessonnet described how the tree bark Bourdaine fights fungal diseases and reduces treatments of Bouillie Bordelaise, the so-called ‘Bordeaux mixture’ of copper sulphate and quicklime sprayed as a fungicide.

Bouillie Bordelaise is authorised organic, but the estate stresses its biodynamic infusions, beyond basic certification requirements, for naturally boosting vine defences.

These include including yarrow, dandelion, wicker, rosemary and chamomile, which, for example, improves flowering and can fight the dangerous powdery mildew oidium.

Pontet-Canet director Justine Tesseron showed how estate well water ‘dynamises’ such ingredients in tanks before workers spray infusions in the vineyard.

She and brother Noé Tesseron posed with cow horns, which will be packed later this autumn with cow manure – the biodynamic (BD) 500 preparation – and buried underground for about six months before being ‘dynamised’ with water and sprayed to naturally help root development in the spring of 2022.

And, unlike tractors, 12 estate horses currently on-site do not aggressively compact the soil, helping to avoid vine root development becoming constrained, Noé Tesseron said.

After winter pruning, horses pull tools with biodynamic treatments to treat the cut wood. No time is set to replace all tractors with horses, but that is the goal.

Biodynamic debate: A snapshot

Some describe biodynamic winemaking as involving a lot of mysticism and marketing. Founder Rudolf Steiner, Austrian scientist and philosopher, described life forces that link the universe to living things, as related to cosmic and lunar rhythms.

But Paz Levinson, Groupe Pic head sommelier present at the Pontet-Canet event, explained the practical side. ‘Organic and biodynamic means producers care more for the vineyard, which wasn’t the case before,’ she said. ‘Fruit is better when the plant is more comfortable.’

Levinson took part in a recent blind tasting of wines and found ‘greater fruit purity and palate tension’ from those certified organic and biodynamic.

Some green-minded estates craft excellent wines without seeking certification commitments, which they consider too constraining in challenging vintages. ‘The mildew this year (2021) will cut about 30% of our potential harvest,’ said Nicolas de Bailliencourt, of Château Gazin in Pomerol, which has no certification. ‘I cannot imagine not having that flexibility.’

Pontet Canet lost two-thirds of its potential 2018 crop because of especially virulent mildew attacks, but Noé Tesseron counts that as a costly lesson learned.

‘We did not react quickly enough,’ he said. ‘This year is different because the organic and biodynamic methods work, as long as we are on constant guard.’

How this tasting worked

The Tesseron family organised a vertical of all bottled wines since the dual certification (see tasting notes below) to showcase changes over time.

Its 2012 vintage marked an essential change as the first that saw 35% of the wine aged in concrete amphorae, whose walls also included estate soils like gravel and limestone. A brochure says the strategy was ‘extending terroir into cellars’.

Bordeaux oenologist and barrel expert Nicolas Vivas says that the reduction of new oak (accounting now for 50%) plus the use of amphorae for ageing have ‘improved fruit purity, noticeably’ at Pontet-Canet.

The evening before, the Tesserons poured older vintages – including a 1945 in magnum and an amazing 1961, from a 75cl bottle – to reflect inherent excellence of the 81-hectare estate, planted to more than 60% Cabernet Sauvignon. A key ingredient in this success is its well-drained outcrop of Günz gravel over limestone.

The cosy dinner ambiance reinforced family ownership, rare today among Médoc châteaux.

Since its founding in the 18th century, only three families have owned the estate: the original Pontet owners, who witnessed the birth of the 1855 Classification, followed by the Cruses from 1865 and the Tesserons from 1975. And unlike many other classified estates, Château Pontet-Canet has not changed very much, stresses technical director Bessonnet, who found an 1818 map of the vineyard that is similar to today.

Almost immediately after taking over from his father in 1994, Alfred Tesseron embarked on a green voyage, with substantial assistance over 30 years with technical director Jean-Michel Comme.

Pontet-Canet’s going ‘green’ timeline

2004 – Following test on 14 hectares, decision made to convert entire vineyard to biodynamic

2007 – Biodynamic conversion set back when chemical spraying used to protect crop from rot

2008 – Draft horses first used to avoid soil compaction

2010 – Pontet Canet wines certified organic by Ecocert and biodynamic by Biodyvin

2012 – Concrete amphorae made from estate soils introduced for ageing wine

2014 – Pontet Canet wines certified biodynamic by Demeter

2015 – First year that no second wine is produced

2018 – Despite devastating mildew attack, the estate stays green

2020 – Mathieu Bessonnet replaces technical director Jean-Michel Comme, whose 30 years at the estate contributed enormously to the biodynamic vision

How the wines showed themselves

The vertical on-show here proved that vintages since the dual certification can display more focus, fruit purity and tension.

Pontet-Canet 2010, for example, has more depth, clarity and nuance than the excellent but more traditionally styled 2000. The 2016, meanwhile, surpasses the 2010.

And extra vineyard (and winemaking) care contributed to a fine performance for the very difficult 2013 vintage.

Vintage quality still matters, whether certified or not. The 2017, for example, engaged most tasters less than the superlative 2010, the fantastic 2016 or the flamboyant 2018.

Jeff Zacharia, president of US-based Zachys Fine Wine, acknowledges organic and biodynamic as important factors for Pontet-Canet having become ‘more interesting since 2010’, but he added that ‘buyers need to keep a closer eye on vintage variation in terms of both quantity and quality’.

The magical 1961 vintage tasted over dinner at the château reflects the superb Cabernet-driven terroir. ‘Chemical treatments did not really come into the picture in Bordeaux until the mid-1960s,’ remarked Bessonnet. Although the estate used more Bouillie Bordelaise back then, farm animals were used in the immediate post-war years, he added.

In some ways, the movement towards organic and biodynamic winemaking is a return to a simpler era of less intervention, but more enlightened, with greater knowledge of viticulture and vinification. Many of the latter vintages illustrate this.

Château Pontet-Canet at a glance

Appellation: Pauillac

1855 Classification: 5th Growth

Vineyard surface: 81 hectares

Owners: The Tesseron Family (since 1975)

General Manager: Justine Tesseron

Technical Director: Mathieu Bessonnet

Certified: Organic (Ecocert, 2010) and Biodynamic (Biodyvin, 2010 & Demeter, 2014)

Average vine age: 50 years

Planting density: 9,600 vines per hectare

Vinification: Manual sorting and de-stemming, indigenous yeasts for fermentation, soft extractions, and malolactic fermentation in vats

Ageing: 16-18 months: 50% new oak, 35% concrete amphorae, 15% in one year old oak barrels

A note on biodynamic vs organic

Organic and biodynamic have overlapping qualities but are not interchangeable. Organic wine is made from certified organic grapes. The use of pesticides or synthetic fertilisers is not allowed in organic winemaking. European standards allow for added sulphites during winemaking, but with limits.

Biodynamic certification requires biodiversity and ecosystem preservation, soil husbandry, livestock integration, prohibition of genetically engineered organisms and viewing the vineyard as a living ‘holistic organism’.

Demeter certification, for example, requires specific preventive plant protection measures, a good knowledge of microclimate and reducing interference during vinification. Biodynamic wines employ organic practices, as they avoid pesticides and depend on compost, rather than chemical fertiliser. The majority of these wines are thus also organic in practice.

See scores and tasting notes for Château Pontet-Canet wines

Wines are shown by vintage, in ascending order.

Related content

Our Bordeaux 2020 en primeur verdict

Bordeaux sees sharp growth in organic vineyards

Behind the label: Château Palmer 2011 re-release (September 2021)

Christophe Baron has been busy. The Champenois transplant to the Pacific Northwest has built a worldwide reputation for his winery Cayuse, in Oregon’s Walla Walla Valley, where he began planting in 1997 and launched his first vintage in 2000.

The Walla Walla Valley AVA is one that crosses state lines. While more often associated with Washington, Baron’s vineyards are all located on the Oregon side. They include Armada, Sur Echalas, The Tribe and Hors Catégorie.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Christophe Baron wines in Oregon and Champagne

Cayuse takes its name from a Native American tribe, and its flagship site is the 4-hectare Cailloux Vineyard. The etymology of both names is the French word for ‘stones’. It was these that drew Baron to the region.

From the beginning, he has employed organic methods in the vineyard, although they are not certified. In 2002, Baron hired Philippe Armenier from noted Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer Domaine de Marcoux to engineer the switch to biodynamic methods.

Like Baron, Armenier felt a kinship with the terroir of the Walla Walla Valley, littered with the same type of galets roulés (pudding stones) also found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Horsepower and Hors Catégorie

Starting in 2008, Armenier trained the vines on stakes – a technique called ‘sur echalas’ in French. The inspiration came from Northern Rhône producers that Baron adores, such as Pierre Gonon, Jean-Paul Jamet, Noël Verset and Marius Gentaz-Dervieux.

These vines were planted one metre by one metre and would become Horsepower Vineyards, which eventually included four sites: Sur Echalas, The Tribe, High Contrast, and Fiddleneck. As the name suggests, only horses work the total planted area – now 7.25ha.

The Horsepower Vineyards are generally well-shaded and deliver fruit that is not as forward as that from the Cailloux Vineyard. They can get physiological ripeness at lower sugar levels, and the wines often ferment out to a maximum of 13.5%abv. Fermentation is with little or no destemming of the fruit, and the wines age mostly in older 600-litre casks.

Baron’s most recent project is Hors Catégorie. Planted on two sites totalling barely 1ha, where the North Fork meets the Walla Walla River, these steep vineyards recall the Northern Rhône. The slope is so intense that some sections of the vineyards have to be cultivated by a winch.

As at Horsepower, the wines see whole-cluster fermentation and age in 600-litre demi-muids, the youngest of which will be a third-fill barrel.

Back to Champagne

If these three projects – all under the umbrella of Bionic Wines – were not enough (four, if you count No Girls, where Baron’s assistant winemaker Elizabeth Bourcier produces wines from the nearby La Paciencia Vineyard), Baron has now returned to his roots to produce Champagne Christophe Baron. Project number five.

Baron is the grandson of the founder of Champagne Baron Albert in Charly-sur-Marne, which his cousins still operate. His father took his share of the vineyards out of the family holdings and, since 2014, Baron has produced three stylish single-vineyard Champagnes.

His holdings total 3ha, all of Pinot Meunier, spread over the western villages of Crouttes-sur-Marne and Charly-sur-Marne (including the hamlet of Porteron). The youngest vines were planted in 1969, and the oldest in 1925.

Yields are low – in some years only 6,000 kg/ha, often just half the allowable quantity. Each of the three wines is fermented in used 600-litre casks, and bottled unfined and unfiltered in magnum.

Ageing is for a minimum of three years on the lees to make them all vintage Champagnes. The wines are all finished without dosage to emphasise the purity of the fruit.

The success of Christophe Baron across a range of styles and idioms is genuinely astonishing. One can only wonder, at this pace of innovation, what the future will bring.

Champagne to Cayuse and more: Christophe Baron wines

Related content

Cayuse Vineyards profile and top wines tasted

Champagne crusader Pierre Péters: producer profile

North American trendsetters: five modern-day pioneers

In 1978, Michèle Aubéry-Laurent and her husband Philippe Laurent bought a run-down farmhouse and accompanying vineyards in a village called Montbrison-sur-Lez, in the remote north-eastern frontier of the Southern Rhône.

They had three children. Michèle was a nurse and Philippe made organic wine – he was an early pioneer of natural wine, in fact, and they still adhere to this vision today.

When Philippe died unexpectedly in 1990, it was up to Michèle to care for the vines and the children single-handedly.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for three Domaine Gramenon wines

Taking the reins

Today she works together with her son Maxime-François Laurent. They make wines from biodynamic vineyards scattered close to their home in unfamiliar appellations such as Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Valréas and Vinsobres.

Maxime-François also runs a small negociant business under his own name, making wine from grapes bought from local growers.

Some of their best wines are bottled under AOC Côtes-du-Rhône.

Montbrison may not be part of any prestigious appellation, but it’s close to the Massif de la Lance mountain range. This marks the end of the Southern Rhône vineyards and benefits from the freshness and natural acidity that the northerly location provides.

No doubt the wines would cost far more if they were bottled under a more famous appellation.

The wines of Domaine Gramenon

Though the domaine makes enjoyable white and even sparkling wines, its speciality is old-vine Grenache.

The La Sagesse cuvée comes from 50- to 70-year-old vines in Montbrison, grown on limestone and sand.

The vines for the La Papesse bottling are 60 years old, grown across mixed soils of marl, sand and pebbles in Vinsobres.

La Mémé comes from 120-year-old vines on sandy soils in Montbrison. There are more cuvées too, and all are worth discovering.

This domaine creates beautifully crafted wines that tell vivid tales: wines that are like tapestries.

In the UK, Domaine Gramenon flies under the radar, but it’s time it was more widely recognised for what it is: one of the greatest, most soulful estates of the Rhône Valley.

See Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for three Domaine Gramenon wines tasted:

Related content

Rhône producer to know: Domaine Chaume-Arnaud

10 exciting Rhône producers to know

Walls’ hidden gems: Moulin de la Gardette

It was when working as vineyard labourer 30 years ago that Johann Reyneke knew sustainable farming was his future.

Sustainability is a real buzzword today. The term is often thrown around without much meaning on winery tech sheets, websites and promotional material, seemingly to suggest that an estate might not be certified organic or biodynamic, but that they still ‘respect’ the soil.

But Reyneke, owner and viticulturalist of South Africa’s only biodynamic wine farm, says he learned ‘through a fascinating and rewarding journey’ that sustainability was an entire philosophy. It wasn’t just about vine and soil health, but ensuring the wellbeing and empowerment of workers, and building an economically viable, self-sufficient business.

Scroll down for tasting notes of the latest releases from Reyneke Wines

In the early 1990s, Reyneke took a job as a farm labourer in Stellenbosch’s Polkadraai Hills during the day while studying for a master’s degree in environmental ethics at night. He quickly realised the sustainable farming approach he was learning in his books wasn’t what was happening in the vineyard.

‘I didn’t really know what organics and biodynamics were then, but I knew I didn’t like working with herbicides, pesticides and fungicides,’ he explains in a recent webinar.

Eliminating all chemicals on a trial block of vines on the family farm saw him overrun with pests and disease. He was then introduced to one of the Cape’s pioneering biodynamic farmers, Jean Malherbe, who ‘re-educated’ him. ‘She told me I was being organic by neglect, not by design,’ he said. ‘I realised I’d need to learn not only to farm with grapes but also farm with soils.’

Later, a meeting with Geisenheim University professor Uwe Hoffman further cemented the correlation between soil health and vine health. Within four years Reyneke’s grapes were flourishing.

‘A place of opportunity’

Today he farms more than 125ha – rented plots as well as estate vineyards on the family farm Uitzicht in the Polkadraai Hills, 14km from the ocean at 300m on granite outcrops.

‘If we only used estate grapes it wouldn’t be enough to afford success to everyone,’ he explains. ’We were the first to go down this route – to start a community with other farmers, getting them certified organic and then buying their grapes to blend with our own.

‘I don’t want organic wine to be an exclusive product. I want it to be more available and affordable to more people.’

Under cellarmaster Rudiger Gretschel and winemaker Nuschka De Vos, the wines are also made in a ‘less is more’ approach. ‘If you control the vineyard with chemicals, that domination of nature has to continue in the cellar with lots of intervention and additives,’ he says.

‘My soil is good, the vines are healthy and there’s no gymnastics in the winemaking. Wine should not be made in the cellar, it should be grown in the vineyard.’

Reyneke is also firm in his vision for growing his community. ‘My wine farm is not a business for me, it’s a place of opportunity,’ he observes.

‘I suck at money. It’s good for surfboards, but if I was in it for the money I would have quit a long time ago. What I do is about the people, the soils, the insects, the animals. The farm is alive and nothing gives me greater joy. It’s there for future generations and it gives people the opportunity to upskill themselves, to have a dream, to have a house, to send their kids to university.’

Cornerstone of the business

Reyneke, with his surfer’s tan and beaming white-toothed smile, turned 50 on 31 December. It’s hard to believe. He recalls back to the days 30 years ago when he was a farm labourer.

‘People working with me in the vineyard were old enough to be my parents. They had newspapers stuffed down their clothes to keep warm. I got to put my expensive wetsuit on and then my expensive clothes on top.

‘The vineyards are the most important part of making wine yet they were full of chemicals. How is it fair that farm workers have to suffer in that toxic environment – and for 90 Rand a week? You can’t live on that.’

He said when he took over the family farm his aim wasn’t just to run it biodynamically and self-sufficiently, but to also get his farm labourers out of poverty. ‘So we decided to create their own wine brand,’ he explains.

‘So here I was fronting up at the bank, a philosophy student in my 20s along with some illiterate colleagues, asking how we could set up this enterprise. The bank manager just looked at me…’

But he listened, and the result was Cornerstone, Reyneke’s red Bordeaux blend. Proceeds from the wine sales fund housing, education and pension funds for the workers – the cornerstone of the business and an integral part of Reyneke’s holistic and biodynamic principles.

Reyneke: tasting the latest releases

You might also like…

Donovan Rall: six new releases from this South African star

Expert’s Choice: South African old-vine Chenin Blanc

How do organics and biodynamics affect a vineyard’s carbon footprint?

The single-minded pursuit of purity in Riesling expression is Jeffrey Grosset’s obsession, although it’s not manic energy that fuels his relentless engine.

The quietly spoken, self-effacing Clare winemaker’s intrinsic nature is to be contemplative and analytical rather than demonstrative. It means that even on the 40th anniversary of the founding of his wine company, devoted primarily to making elite Riesling, his relentless focus on quality keeps him questioning every aspect of winemaking and production – and how he could possibly make it better.

Scroll down for David Sly’s scores and tasting notes from a recent Grosset vertical

The 40-year journey has scaled dizzy heights for a man who came into wine with scant resources and no vinous pedigree, save for the life-altering experience of trying a classic Leo Buring Riesling at the age of 15 and realising immediately that emulating such an exquisite wine would constitute his life’s work.

Grosset has never questioned whether his wine epiphany as a 15-year-old was a delusion. His commitment to the goal has always been, and remains, absolute. And it was this dedication that made him International Riesling Winemaker of the Year in 1998.

The early years

A 1981 photograph of Grosset, taken in the winery he had just created from a former dairy and butter factory in Auburn, a southern gateway town to the Clare Valley in South Australia, illustrates how far a winemaker can travel with an uncompromising perfectionist streak.

The earnest, beardy 26-year-old with stringy hair and a rock-hard stare had only four big steel storage tanks wrapped in improvised insulation blankets in the big, barren shed. But even then, he already had a clear purpose and ambition.

‘In my view, you don’t make any compromises at any point – or else why bother at all?’ offers Grosset, before admitting with a solemn nod that this absolute commitment has been to his personal detriment. ‘Yes, my wife and family will attest to that. Devotion to achieve my absolute best in wine has always come first.’

Grosset wines at a glance

Founded 1981

Owner and chief winemaker Jeffrey Grosset

Production 132,000 bottles annually (25% allocated for export); 70% of production is devoted to Riesling

Vineyards 21ha of Clare Valley estate vineyards, plus Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from 3ha of Adelaide Hills vineyards

Grosset wines: a timeline

1981 26-year-old Jeffrey Grosset buys a former Auburn dairy and uses Clare Valley fruit to make his first wines: dry Watervale and Polish Hill Rieslings, a late-harvest Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon

1986 Grosset buys land and plants his Gaia vineyard with 2ha of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc. At 560m, it’s the highest vineyard in the Clare Valley

1996 He plants the 8ha Polish Hill vineyard to Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon

1998 Grosset is voted International Riesling Winemaker of the Year at the Riesling Summit II held in Hamburg, Germany

2000 He plants the new 6ha Springvale vineyard to Riesling

2000 Grosset drives the Clare Valley screwcap initiative

2012 He releases the first vintage of Alea Riesling from Rockwood vineyard

2014 All of Grosset’s vineyards achieve organic certification

2019 He installs a A$500,00(£275,000) bottling line at the Auburn winery

2020 Grosset leads the world’s largest blockchain technology trial to verify the provenance of bottled wine

What prompted all this?

It was the love of something pure that struck Grosset from the time his electrician father brought a bottle of wine home from a friend who worked at the Leo Buring winery and shared it over dinner with the family.

Soon, Grosset started working during school holidays at a winery bottling room, spending his earnings on wine for cellaring – which he stored in a disused fireplace.

At 16, he began studying oenology and agricultural science at Roseworthy College, South Australia’s prestigious winemaking academy.

By 21, he was working as a qualified winemaker; at 26, he was a head winemaker at Lindeman’s massive Karadoc winery in Mildura – and then he decided it was time to go his own way, driven by the goal of making exemplary Riesling.

‘I grew to love the characteristics of that wine, and I harboured a frustration that Riesling wasn’t acknowledged. I couldn’t understand why. Once I focused on Riesling, many people seemed amazed. Some thought I was some sort of a maverick. I certainly didn’t pursue this as a strategy to chase a niche interest. I made the wines I loved.

In the early years, a UK wine critic asked me why I specialised in an unloved grape variety, and that really took me aback. Sorry? What do you mean? Just look at the wines!’

A crucial attribute of Grosset’s initial release in 1981 was two Rieslings from different Clare Valley locations – the revered Watervale district, with its distinctive lemon- lime characteristics, and the stony, austere Polish Hill River region that showed additional richness and texture.

It was an unheard-of commercial decision at that time. ‘I saw such distinctive attributes in the fruit from each site that I saw no point blending them together. I wanted people to see them side-by-side, so I bottled them separately.’ It started a new serious conversation about Riesling in Australia.

See all Decanter’s tating notes and scores for Grosset wines 

The way of the vine

The pursuit of excellence soon took Grosset beyond his winery and into the vineyard, understanding that he needed to invest in planting and tending his own vines to fully realise his winemaking vision.

Curiously, he first planted Cabernet Sauvignon on the high-elevation Gaia site in 1986, while he continued to buy Riesling fruit from other growers. A decade later, he knew exactly what he wanted. He planted three Riesling clones on 8ha at Polish Hill River and then 6ha at Springvale, a site adjacent to, and slightly more elevated than, the region’s famed Watervale district.

‘As soon as my wine brand got momentum, I wanted to plant vines,’ explains Grosset, who adopted organic viticulture principles two years after establishing his vineyards, achieving full organic certification in 2014, and biodynamic certification in 2019. ‘There’s a limit to what you can achieve by giving directions to an independent grower. I wanted to go above and beyond that. I wanted to do everything on my terms.’

Grosset has been applauded as an early adopter of sustainable practices, but he admits it was less about making an environmental statement and more a case of chasing purity in his wines. ‘I have to admit that caring for the environment wasn’t my motive at all. It was all a question of how could I make a better wine. Would it be more pure if I removed more chemical influence in the vineyard, and then completely eliminated it? That was the driving factor. Organics was a means to give me exactly what I wanted in the fruit.’

Embracing organic viticulture from the early 2000s wasn’t an easy path to follow. ‘I had to prove the merits of the system to myself, because there was no one else doing it here. Many people thought I was crazy, saying that I’d get rampant diseases and weeds and uneven crops. I had to ignore them, pay close attention to the soil and vine health and just get on with it.’

Striving for greatness

The restless need to do better has also seen Grosset champion innovation and improvement through change, first exemplified in 2000 by choosing only screwcap closures in tandem with 12 other Clare Valley Riesling producers.

He’s now driving blockchain technology trials to identify the absolute provenance of his wines and thwart counterfeits. ‘I have always been concerned about the image and perception of Australian wines on the world stage,’ says Grosset. ‘That’s why I’ve thrown my support into these projects.’

Fastidious focus on detail has ensured a long winning streak for Grosset, with at least six successive vintages all showing outstanding characteristics. He opts for better soil and vine management to ensure greater consistency of fruit quality, rather than finding vintages subjected to wild mood swings or uncontrollable dips and peaks. ‘With knowledge and experience comes greater control,’ says Grosset.

Still, winemakers must decide whether to pursue purity over complexity.

Grosset’s instinct is to follow purity – yet an exception to the rule is manifest in the 2020 vintage Alea off-dry Riesling. The shifting profile of this wine style over its eight vintages stems from an idea that formed after tasting fruit as it ripened in his Rockwood vineyard. He saw something other than the typical Watervale lemon-over-lime character.

‘There was something more fleshy, more European rather than typically Clare Valley,’ he says. He wondered how to best express this site, and pursued an off-dry style. But it is only now, after the addition of 50% pressings for the 2020 vintage (a practice he eschews in his other Rieslings) that he believes Alea has hit the mark he originally envisaged.

Not everyone is yet a fan of this off-dry style – hard comparisons are made to the bone-dry Polish Hill River and Springvale Rieslings – but Grosset insists that Alea has its place among elite Rieslings.

Indeed, over the years, Grosset has steeled himself to criticism, steadfastly retaining belief in his vision. It’s necessary, he says, if you’re to succeed at the highest level. ‘You are exposed when you’re chasing that level of purity. Your belief and commitment has to be absolute. I’ve never deviated from that focus, which is to do the very best that I can – or else I don’t deserve to be successful.’

Grosset doesn’t equate success with fanfare, even on the worthy occasion of his winery’s 40th anniversary. He’s simply celebrating with the outstanding – though minuscule – release of his 2020 vintage Rieslings.

At 66 years of age, Grosset says there is much still to achieve, and he bristles at queries about a succession plan. The stony look of that earnest young man returns. ‘I haven’t finished making wine yet. Not by a long shot.’

Clare Valley classics: Sly’s Grosset Riesling vertical

You may also like:

Austrian dry Riesling: Expert’s choice

Yalumba: producer profile and latest releases tasted

Shaw + Smith: Latest releases and future plans