Clos de Trias

Up in the hills surrounding the Mont Ventoux, that majestic mountain that so dominates the Vaucluse, is the castle town called Le Barroux. Dear friends have settled there and are now making their wine Clos de Trias in this ancient world. Marie Caroline, a young Frenchwoman from a wine-making family in Champagne is the dynamic wife of Even, a tall blond Viking born and raised in California, now transplanted to Europe. A shared dream and passion, and most definitely a shared labor of love unite them.

As Even mixes and matches and experiments in the cellar and amidst the vines, Marie-Caroline covers the bases behind the scenes. As Even improves his French, he leans heavily on his fiercely bright wife. And as the three small blond heads of their children swirl about the living room and kitchen, the two come together to create, develop, raise, educate and pursue a most special path.

I was there the other day to discuss helping them distribute and import their wines to the US. In fact, they've so much knowledge between them, that much of what passed between us the other day was to my advantage. Even is a fount of information concerning marketing wine in the US, how it all works over there, who to trust, how to be sure to get paid, which markets to attempt entering, etc., Marie-Caroline is his equal on the French and European front.

However, why be at a winery if not to taste the wine and learn more about how it is made? Even is discovering the possibilities and potential of his vineyards -- averaging 42 years of age, with up to 65 and 75 year old vines in his vieilles vignes parcels. He is concurrently switching his vineyards to bio-dynamic viticulture and vinification.

As we tasted his most concentrated blend from 2007, rich in dark cocoa and spices, he expressed his conviction that he need not control temperature during fermentation, that the grape itself holds this knowledge within it. Depending on whether he is making his standard cuvée or his vieilles vignes, the fermentation lasts from 25 to 45 days. In either case a long period compared to most of his colleagues. And, from year to year, the temperatures spiked differently. 2008 was relatively cool -- just 25/26 degrees Celsius, while 2009 went all the way up to 35C. Compare this to many a vintner who carefully controls temperature to keep them around 18/20C for a white and no higher than 25/27 for a red...

As we tasted and contemplated, moving onto the 2009 grenache in a 300liter barrel of new oak with a bouquet of roses and flavors of candied strawberries, he noted that in fact, we were tasting on a root day. Oh? Yes, according to the bio-dynamic calendar, there are root, flower, leaf and fruit days. These cosmically influenced aspects affect our own palettes and thus our impression of the wines we taste, as well as affecting the wines. Ideally thus, try to schedule wine tastings on either a floral or fruit day (depending if you want to enhance the notes of violets and roses, or blackberry jam and fraises des bois). Fascinating, and worth some experimentation. Don't you agree?

He made me a vintner's special blend of his 2008, taking a certain amount from 3 different tanks (grenache, carignan and syrah, though he will also put a note of cinsault in the final blend). And this dark breuvage spoke to me of blackberry jam, dense, hints of sweetness and a full, round, chewy sensation in the mouth.

We spoke of his personal take on carbonic maceration -- a favored technique for the old vine carignan here, and one that JP also applies. However Even has information from an ancient text that suggests he pick his grapes and then let them sit in their bin in a cool area for 48 hours before putting half whole clusters and half de-stemmed grapes into the tank to ferment. Traditional carbonic maceration would put in only whole unpressed clusters, allowing a two time fermentation -- partially inside the skins, and then continued after pressing. But apparently, this latter requires adding carbon dioxide to protect the tank. Doing a half and half as Evan does allows those grapes that are pressed to create sufficient carbon dioxide to protect the whole clusters...

Experimenting is in his blood. As Even puts it, from one year to the next he'll test out anywhere from 6 to a dozen different possibilities. Having many small tanks permits this, as well as a cellar filled with 300 and 700 liter barrels. When back in California making wine for his former boss he would have up to 50 tests and experiments brewing in any given year. Can we say a passionate vintner?

What is fascinating is that the variables change from year to year, and as such, just because an experiment worked under the conditions of a certain year-- heat, sugar content, skin thickness, ripeness, etc., etc., -- it could turn out completely differently the following year. Thus the need to develop a certain sixth sense to what is possible.


As I savored the Christmas spices and dark plum jamminess of his Carignan I nodded and took careful notes. May his passion and drive continue!

Wine: Organic? Biodynamic? Reasonable Agriculture?

Unless otherwise noted, all materials on this blog are (c) 2009 by Madeleine Vedel

JP spent this past Friday at the second day of his biodynamic viticulture class. Now JP has been tending his vines organically since 1984, and he is the son of a vintner, who was the son of a vintner who was... you get the picture. For over 25 years now he has been tending his vines and his vineyards without the aid of chemistry (beyond the Bordeaux mixture copper/sulfur and a couple bio-degradable bacterial agents permitted in organic practices), and with a gradual accumulation of know-how and physical labor.

Organic agriculture requires working the land, tearing up the weeds, and not spraying them with Round-up, etc., It also requires developing the fertility of your land naturally (compost, composted weeds, etc., rather than artificially punched up nitrates). A simple concept, right? But it is extraordinary the level of skill and knowledge that must become ingrained as a man (or woman) spends years going over his land with a tractor and plough, turning up the dirt, taming the greenery. There is art in this act. For this reason, many of JP's colleagues will be coming to his hands-on weekend program for vintners who wish to convert to organic practices. (22 April this year).

If you've used chemistry to keep weeds at bay for years, your vines have most likely been developing their root system close to the surface. Thus, if tomorrow you decide to go into your vineyards and physically tear up the abundant weeds, you may also rip out the roots of your vines, and decimate your winery. Not a good idea, hm? And, if you think a machine can do this work alone, even one specially designed to do so, think again. Not every vine has the same twisted form, not every vineyard is planted on flat land. It could be a very expensive bet to trust a machine to be sufficiently sensitive that it removes only the weeds, and doesn't hurt your young vine?



There is as well, a question of timing. At which moment is it most propitious to pass the plough or as the French say, to griffoner (scratch the soil)? An understanding of the local flora, their growing patterns, will help. But even more important is intimate knowledge of your soils and their reaction to humidity. Clay rich soil can be turned over from three days after a rain storm to eight. Too soon, and the tractor gets stuck, too late and the soil is too hard for the machinery to penetrate it. A sandy or pebbly soil can be ploughed nearly anytime, from a day after the rains to a month.

Over time, the act of ploughing up the weeds (and leaving them to mulch around the roots of your vines) will in itself enrich your land. But, it is recommended to go slowly during a conversion from herbicides to ploughing, i.e. every other row of vines the first year, and with care.

The physical labor required is tremendously different. The biodiversity present on the land after years of working organically, the clean air, the abundant insect life, are certain payoffs. One farmer I know resists working organically because his tomatoes will be consumed by red spiders if he doesn't spray. JP responded to that claim by saying that once you work organically, the insect life sorts itself out, and he's never had difficulty with spiders as they are prey (and quickly) to other insects. That this is one of the immediate benefits of working organically. Interesting, hm?


a nest nestled in the vines.

Currently, organic wine in the US has a mixed reputation, in part because for many years certain vintners attempted to make wine with no sulfites at all -- which is nearly impossible -- and made quite a lot of wine that had a very short shelf life, couldn't travel and yes, disappointed many excited by the prospect. It is possible to make wine without sulfites, but those who do it successfully have found the trick of leaving in the gasses their best bet, and this tends to render a fizzy mix.

In Europe, the organic legislation for winemaking permits using sulfites, but at a much lower dose than is standard. This guarantees that the wine can travel, be cellared, and be enjoyed for the proper life-time of the wine.


Standing in a freshly tilled organic vineyard.

Voila, a bit of history. So, knowing that many a chic winery has converted now to biodynamic winemaking practices, (with my strong encouragement) JP sought to learn more of this discipline, not necessarily to change his own practices, but to better understand his colleagues who've chosen to do so. (Think Bonney Doon in California, Château Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Montirius in Gigondas, Château Romanin in Les Baux de Provence...).

Briefly, biodynamic viticulture stems from the same origins as homeopathic medicine, and the Waldorf schools -- Rudolf Steiner. You can easily look it up on Wikipedia for details (or look at Bonney Doon's web site, which is very extensive). It observes not only the solar cycles, and the seasons, but also the lunar, and the planetary, and the astral. There is a calendar that many follow (but others dispute) which calculates root days, flower days, leaf days and fruit days. Hence there is a guide for when to plant for which result, what time of day to water or work the earth, and much much more. Rather than the traditional copper sulfur treatments used by organic vintners, there is an elaborate range of preparations that are dynamised at infinitesimal concentrations and sprayed on the vines at specific moments in the year and their growth cycle.

Amongst the concepts that are new and interesting for many are the peeled crystal or well aged manure buried in cows horns for six months, then disinterred and dynamised.

What was particularly interesting for JP in his discussion yesterday was the approach of the instructor, himself a biodynamic vintner in Provence. A Swiss who also follows the anthroposophic vision of life as put forth by Rudolf Steiner, he applies his rich education and experience to his vines, in addition or alongside the strictures as presented by Rudolf Steiner and refined by his disciples since. There are many cycles to take into consideration, and on occasion they will be in conflict. However, there is no doubt that the cosmogony has an influence on the growth of plants on our earth. The trick is to apply this knowledge skillfully. As JP has noticed, he can turn over the earth and remove the weeds in one vineyard parcel, and there will be little growth afterwards. However, in a similar parcel that he ploughed two days later, there will be abundant vegetation in the following weeks.

The instructor openly discussed the complexity of the biodynamic system, and its many conflicts, assured at the base of its many virtues. But, he also stressed that the system be applied judiciously by a vintner who is first and foremost a skilled farmer, who knows intimately the land he works. Let him first master organic farming. Then, by all means look towards biodynamics to dynamise his land even further. But be careful, even if the published calendar says it is a "root day" or other, if it rained the night before, it's probably best to not go into that clay rich soil. Don't blindly apply directives that contradict your good sense as a farmer.