Louis/Dressner Selections

2023 Harvest Reports Are In!

2023 Harvest Reports

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interview 13.09.2024

Jean-Christophe Garnier Interview

This interview with Jean-Christophe Garnier took place over Zoom in September 2024. What were you doing before becoming a vigneron? I’m from <glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary> and first got into wine working as a <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary>. It was my career for about a decade. I eventually decided to open a wine bar with a friend, but before doing so I told him I wanted to take a year off to learn more about working in the vines. All of my wine education up until that point had come from books, so I wanted to experience things first-hand. In 1998, I enrolled in a <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> school not too far from <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> and was lucky enough to find myself apprenticing with Mark Angeli at Ferme de la Sansonièrre. From the start, he was very supportive and insistant that I start my own <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary>. After finishing my program, I went back to restaurants for a bit but ultimately decided to come back here to start making wine myself. That was in 2002. Mark helped me find 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> to launch my project. I then found a house in the village of <glossary term="Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay" title="983">Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay</glossary> for my family with an adjoining <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> for my wines. And from the strong <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> community in the village, I was able to grow and develop the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> to what it is today. Today, Anjou is arguably the most dynamic region in the Loire for newer producers just starting out. When you started it was a very different climate. What made you want to make wine in Anjou? First and foremost, <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is relatively close to <glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary>! And I’d been selling <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> wines for quite a few years as a <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary>. There was also the strong support from Mark Angeli and what I suppose has become the first wave of forward-thinking <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> from that time (Mosse, Leroy, Baudoin…) There were also lots of cheap vines to recuperate and room to build out <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellars</glossary> as well. Working with <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> -a grape with incredible versatility- was also an exciting prospect. <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is also a region where you have access to lots of different grapes, both red and white, as well as a fascinating variety of <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary>. And it’s close to <glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary>! Did you make appellation wines in the beginning? Yes I did. At the time it was very rare for <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> to intentionally <glossary term="Declassification" title="383">de-classify</glossary> their wines. And what were those early wines? I started with 2.3 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary>: 80 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary>, the rest in <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary>. From the beginning I made dry whites, but in a different style than today. At the time everyone picked in “<glossary term="pouri plein" title="1493">pourri-plein</glossary>”, where we’d intentionally seek some over-maturity in the grapes. This picking style makes for very interesting <glossary term="Aromatic" title="120">aromatics</glossary> in a wine’s youth, but is also prone to heavy <glossary term="Oxidation" title="754">oxydation</glossary> and not very beneficial for <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary>. This technique for <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary> is a style really pioneered by Mark Angeli around 1995. 2005 was the nail in the coffin for picking this way, as the years were getting violently solar and it was impossible to make stable wine with slightly <glossary term="Botrytis/Noble Rot" title="181">botrytised</glossary> grapes without using <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary>. I’ve never understood why people feel the need to systematically add <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> to wine, so I started picking at optimal ripeness instead. Today, I’d even posit I look to pick at a slight under-maturity as to keep <glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary>. But recently I’ve decided I want to go back to a slightly riper style. It means a bit more alcohol, but you get more complexity. I suppose it’s being in the middle of both extremes I’ve worked with in the past. You just brought up sulfites. Where does your conviction to not use S02 come from? As I mentioned earlier, all of my wine knowledge originally came from books. It was all about regions, grapes, <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary>, etc… I had zero notions on how to actually make wine until I started doing it myself. <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">Sulfur</glossary> seemed to be this very important and necessary additive in winemaking, and I never really understood why. So very quickly, I started not using any. So you weren’t already a proselytizer of sans souffre wines while working as a sommelier? I sold some but there were very few readily available when I worked in restaurants. I recall some <glossary term="Côtes du Rhône" title="372">Côtes du Rhône</glossary> producers… For us the focus was more on <glossary term="Artisinal" title="122">artisanal</glossary> production from small, independent <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary>. What were your first “aha” moments with wine? I worked in <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary> and <glossary term="Collioure" title="319">Collioure</glossary> for a little while. While there, I met some of the local <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> and also travelled in other parts of the <glossary term="Roussillon" title="880">Roussillon</glossary> and <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary>. The <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> in particular was going through a pretty exciting revolutionary period in the 1990’s. It was during that period that I really began to understand that good wine came from well farmed vines first and foremost. And this feeling was amplified when I did my apprenticeship in <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary>. So yeah I’d say the <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> and then the <glossary term="Loire Valley" title="602">Loire</glossary>. We touched on your beginnings in Anjou. Can you run us through the evolution of the estate over the years? I started in 2002 with 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary>. In 2006 I got to 4.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> which grew to five <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> by 2008. Then in 2010, I met a young man who was ready to invest in vines but didn’t want to start as full-time <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> for a few years, so he needed someone to farm it in the interim. It was a <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> of <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary>, <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary> and <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary>. Up until then, I basically made all white wine, with the <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> destined for sweet <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary>. Fellow <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> told me that making red wine was a good opportunity; at the time in France, you’d sell three bottles of red for every bottle of white. But I still wasn’t convinced about making red wine: in fact it strayed from my original vision. In the end I rather enjoyed the experience, particularly with <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> and <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary>. I worked those vines from 2010 to 2020. The guy eventually decided not to become a <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> and sold the vines to a young upstart for the 2021 <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary>. Since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to use those vines anymore and had built a reputation for my reds, I’d been actively seeking out new <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> to buy. I was able to find a good amount of land, some bare, some where I had to rip out and replant. I’ve planted or replanted mostly <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis,</glossary> but also more <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> in certain sectors. In 2017, I jumped to nine <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary>, then in 2021 I bought another <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> and currently find myself farming 10. But much of surface consists of very young vines as I had to rip out and replant a lot. Some are just really starting to produce. It’s been a huge amount of work. Are you certified organic? I’ve been <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified</glossary> <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> since the very beginning. Can you give us a breakdown of the grapes you farm? I farm six <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary>, with an additional <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> planted in vines too young to produce. Then there is one <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> with a tiny bit of <glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet Sauvignon</glossary> (which I plan to rip out and replant at some point). There is 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary>, 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Savagnin" title="922">Savagnin</glossary>, 1.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary>. <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> and <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> are about two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary>. Then there is the <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> project which comes from a nearby two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of red grapes planted on <glossary term="Loam" title="1291">loamy</glossary>-<glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> soils. What about the evolution of the cuvées? Was the focus always on single vineyard wines? I’ve been doing <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single-parcel</glossary> wines from the beginning. For me it was pretty important. But over the years and when faced with difficult <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary>, I’ve sometimes felt obliged to combine <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> together (ex: La Roche-Bézigon). In 2005, I started making Bézigon. Then La Roche, then Les Tailles, which is the name of the <glossary term="Lieu-Dit" title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> where the <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet</glossary> is planted. Then Rouchefert, and finally Justices and 13 Vents, the latter two planted in the neighboring village of Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné. Who were your first customers? Parisians! I participated in some of the very first <glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteilles</glossary>, and that’s where I created my network of Paris <glossary term="Caviste" title="253">cavistes</glossary> and restaurants. There was already a lot of bistros serving these types of wines at the time. My first importer was Japan. No surprise there! What inspired your labels? The snake is the Ouroboros, a famous symbol, one of the first symbols of civilization. It’s similar to the ying and the yang, the cycle of the seasons repeating themselves. When did you decide to stop making appellation wine? In 2006. I made <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> wines through 2005, but found it increasingly difficult having to justify my work to the the panels. Here I am attempting to express the most transparent expression of a grape from this specific place, but was getting challenged for too much alcohol, too much color, that I refused to <glossary term="Chaptalisation" title="270">chaptalize</glossary>… It felt so out of touch. 2006 was also the first year I’d gone 100% with no <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary>, and based on past experience I knew there was absolutely no point presenting my wines. Honestly, I am still vexed that the <glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary> cares so little about people like me who prioritize farming and expressing <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> to the best of their ability. Having been part of those early Dive Bouteilles, how do you feel about the state of our little world of wine in 2024? Overall I think we’ve seen some truly great progress in the last 20 or so years. I do however feel that the bubble has burst. What represented something new (of course nothing is ever truly new), an alternative path to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking 20 years ago ended up not being just a little ripple, but a tidal wave in moving things forward. Think about all the <glossary term="Cave Cooperative" title="252">cooperators</glossary> who broke away and started producing their own wines. The children of <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> who took a complete 180 from past generations. The young people coming from totally unrelated fields to start wineries. It’s incredible!  But this boom cycle had to end at some point. The sheer amount of events taking place around the <glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteille</glossary> this year proves to me that being visible and commercially viable is becoming increasingly difficult. It’s true. Five years ago, I felt there was this almost infinite, utopia-like energy going around. That consumers were so welcoming and excited for this type of philosophy, and that there was infinite room for things to keep evolving positively. It was beautiful and inspiring. I agree. But as we see now, it was relatively naif and there were some major missteps along the way. Many completely stopped caring about the quality of the wines themselves. In my early days, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from those; it was a given that there were certain things you just couldn’t bottle and sell. And that helped me get better. In the past few years, you could really taste the lack of experience in some of these newer wineries. And of course that created tensions, as no one was really checking these producers. A lot of these wines weren’t sold on much merit other than being <glossary term="Natural WIne" title="708">natural</glossary>. But again, I think we come out of this richer. Because we explored and pushed those boundaries. So yes, the bubble has burst. But we’ve gained experience. Overall, more good wine is being made, and people are always going to want to drink good wine. It may just be impossible to taste or drink and sell them all!

interview 10.06.2024

This interview with Marc Kemlin took place in May, 2024

Where are you originally from and how did you end up in wine? I grew up between Saint-Etienne and Roanne, about an hour west of Lyon. My parents were farmers, who mostly grew corn and cereals but also took care of roughly 100 <glossary term="Charolais" title="274">Charolais</glossary> cows. So I grew up in agriculture and cattle raising. But didn’t love working with livestock. And while interested in working with the land, I found no passion working with cereals. I worked with my parents in my youth but never had any intention of taking over the farm.  My connection to wine starts with with friends of my parents, <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> who owned an <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne-Montrachet</glossary> called Domaine Duc de Magenta. It was two hours from the house, and every year we’d go do <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary>. So I was exposed to the vines at a very early age. I very quickly found a passion for this type of work: the fact that you are simultaneously a farmer, a chemist and a business person all at once... When I was younger, there was also this almost noble thing about wine:  beautiful bottles on a properly set table, <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommeliers</glossary> talking about it, etc… It all felt very poetic. So little by little I shifted into the universe of wine. Take us through those beginnings. My higher education was in sales, marketing and business in Lyon. This was the classic “make your farmer parents happy” move they so often want for their children. After that, I spent a year in Australia where I worked as a <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary>. I barely had any money, so I began taking fruit picking jobs on top of the restaurant work, eventually landing me in the Adelaide hills picking grapes. It was a rekindling of sorts with the vines, and when I got back to France I decided to forego working in restaurants to head back to <glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary>. I then studied <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking in <glossary term="Beaune" title="154">Beaune</glossary>.  While studying, I lived with my family friends in <glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne</glossary>. Unpaid, I started working there in tandem: <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> the vines, <glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary>… When <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> came around, I had plenty of free time so I helped out there as well. That turned into five years. It was interesting because I found myself treating the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> like it was my own, but of course it wasn’t. I was so emotionally invested; one thing that started to hurt me was the fact that we worked really well in the vines year-round only to <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> and <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">press</glossary> grapes so that big <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociants</glossary> could come and pick up the juices the next day. I kept pushing for us to keep grapes to make our own <glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne-Montrachet</glossary>, <glossary term="Puligny-Montrachet" title="840">Puligny-Montrachet</glossary>, <glossary term="Auxey-Duresses" title="130">Auxey-Duresses</glossary>, <glossary term="Meursault" title="1370">Meursault</glossary>… all these beautiful <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellations</glossary>! I was in love with wine, but I’d also fallen in love with a woman while studying in Lyon. She was from <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>, and in those early years she agreed to live with me in <glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary>. Very quickly, she told me that living in the <glossary term="Côte de Beaune" title="368">Côte de Beaune</glossary> or <glossary term="Côte d'Or" title="367">Côte d’Or</glossary> is a hard place to integrate yourself when you aren’t professionally connected to it. So we decided to move to <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>, living in the city of Aix-en-Provence. In <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>, I discovered a new world of <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking. I went from small <glossary term="Burgundian" title="210">Burgundian</glossary> <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> to huge 250<glossary term="hl/ha" title="528">hl</glossary> <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">vats</glossary>, <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifying</glossary> 5000 <glossary term="Hectoliter" title="524">hectoliters</glossary> at a time. Sadly, I was not thrilled by this world. It felt hierarchical, production driven and highly delineated: the vines and the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> (if you can even call it that) were viewed as entirely different things. So was the commercial aspect of selling the wines.  I had to make a living, so I continued to work at a big chateau. Throughout, I felt increasingly pulled towards starting my own, small and <glossary term="Artisan" title="121">artisanal</glossary> <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary>. Tell us about that. My wife Fanny has family land in <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>. It’s a beautiful place, and before moving here this is where we'd spend our weekends. Vines had been planted on the property 70 years prior, but in the interim the land had been used for various cereals. Because it had been so long, bringing it back to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> was an arduous juridic process. When we got it back, I produced hay to restore the soils but also to make a little bit of pocket change selling it off. All the while, I kept my salaried position at a larger winery where I was <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifying</glossary> massive amounts of mediocre <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary>. In 2019, I started planting half a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> every year. Today, in 2024, we are at four <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines. My first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> from my own vines was 2022, and today -though I'm not making any money yet!- it’s my full-time activity. We started with 3000 bottles as a négoce, then 6000 in 2022, 8000 in 2023 and in 2024 we’ll be at 15 000 bottles. When I first met you you had started the Colvert project with négociant cuvées. Will you continue to purchase grapes to supplement the estate’s production? I started the Colvert project before planting a single vine. It was with a restaurateur friend, Pierre Rochard of Les Vieilles Canailles in Aix-en-Provence. He’s a super talented guy and loves wine. Our original idea was to find a space about 10km outside of Aix where we could have both a restaurant and a winery in the same place. But the pandemic upended our plans; he was forced to pivot to take-out buisness and that took up all of his time. We also couldn’t find an existing space or land to build the space outside of the city, so in the end we amicably ended our partnership. He stayed focused on his restaurant, I bought out his shares and refocused my business as a single proprietor. To answer the <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négoce</glossary> question, yes my first Colvert wines were with purchased fruit; the idea was to “practice” making wines in my new <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> until the young vines came into production. But considering that my small cellar, which can hold a maximum of 200hl is totally full in 2023, I couldn’t buy fruit even if I want to. But would you continue to buy fruit? I’m debating if I want to shift to being purely a <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> or to keep my <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> status. There is a negative perception of <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négoce</glossary> and I get it. But it can be fun to to buy grapes from friends. For example, I LOVE <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> but didn’t plant any myself. I know someone with nice <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> in the <glossary term="Luberon" title="1489">Luberon</glossary> and had originally planned to form a long-term relationship with them. But they just had <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> this year, so who knows? When you grow your own grapes, even in tough years you know what you’re getting yourself into. Buying grapes imposes a whole new dimension of different parameters. What does Colvert mean? Where we live is called Domaine des Ribières. It would have been a lot simpler to name the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> that! But when we were starting the project with my ex-partner, with this idea of of a winery attached to a restaurant, it was a whole other concept. The name came many nights of eating and drinking. A “col” is what we call a bottle in France, and we liked the idea of adding green wax on each bottle. That’s the simplest aspect of the name. A colvert is also that beautiful green-headed duck (ed note: a mallard in English). At one point we had the idea of doing something cartoony to represent the  <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary>, something more viral than what the <glossary term="Wine Label" title="573">labels</glossary> ended up being. The name of the Saint-Etienne football team, who I am a die-hard fan of, is also colloquially known as Les Verts as they wear green jerseys. Finally, and this is the craziest anecdote because I found out about it after having chosen the name, but my mother-in-law informed me that "colvert" was her late husband’s nickname. So it also serves as a little homage to him. I’d like to think he’d be happy seeing this land being worked full time again. Especially with that last part about my father-in-law, the name really felt like destiny. It may not resonate at all to non French speakers, but I like it! When I visited, I was taken aback by the beauty of the Domaine des Ribières property. Could you describe it in your own words? First we have to talk about where we are situated, the Ribières valley. We are right next to the village of Rognes, in direction of the <glossary term="Luberon" title="1489">Luberon</glossary>. We are at about 350 meters <glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary>, which is quite high for the area. There are heights that reach to 450 meters, from which you have stunning views of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. From there, you plunge back down into the Ribières valley. When you come to Domaine des Ribières for the first time, I think it’s hard not to feel its beauty. The sky feels particularly blue, the earth is tinted red from  <glossary term="Iron" title="547">iron</glossary>, there are no neighbors… As far as the <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary>, we are on <glossary term="Silt" title="956">silty</glossary> <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> and <glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary>. One sector faces south, the other north. There is a little river at the edge of the property that brings us some freshness. And while many of our friends are vulnerable to <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> if temperatures get to below 1.5, here we are always spared due to our specific <glossary term="Microclimate" title="656">micro-climate</glossary>. These factors really make me feel like we were actually onto something when we decided to start the project here. Maybe this is irrational, or perhaps it’s hard to explain, but when I’m here I feel connected to the land. I can feel that these vines are going to give me good grapes. And of course this isn’t without trials and tribulations. For example, our first plantation was a bit of a disaster. I took a <glossary term="Burgundian" title="210">Burgundian</glossary> approach by foregoing <glossary term="Irrigation" title="549">irrigation</glossary> and it was a real fiasco. That was a big lesson. I’ve also started working with a <glossary term="Pépiniériste" title="773">pépineriste</glossary> I like; it’s hard to know what works or doesn’t since there haven’t been vines here in almost two generations. So far I’m very happy: I’m not sure if it’s him, if it’s me or if it’s the climate, but I’m learning. Now that we have a bit of experience, we’re going to be able to concentrate even more on the vegetal well-being of the vines. I don’t want these them to live 10 or 20 years. I want them still here when I’m gone. Let’s talk about the grapes you’ve planted so far and what you plan on planting in coming years. I started this project with the knowledge that making wine is expensive and you need to distinguish yourself to make a mark. 90% of the time, when I taste a white wine from <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>, it’s <glossary term="Inoculation" title="542">yeasted</glossary> and smells like peach and kiwi. You smell it and you don’t even want to taste it. I love white wine and decided it would be my goal to make excellent white wine from  <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>. And yet my very first plantation was <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache Noir</glossary>. My reasoning was that I’d make some <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary>, sell it quickly to fund the growth of the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary>. I never ended up making a <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary>, but rather a <glossary term="Blanc de Blancs" title="165">blanc de noir</glossary>. People like them and I like them! It’s made like any white: <glossary term="Direct Press" title="392">direct-press</glossary> and long <glossary term="Elevage" title="418">elevage</glossary> on the <glossary term="Lees" title="590">lees</glossary>. So of course I’m not making quick sales from this wine because it requires time to <glossary term="Aging" title="74">age</glossary> in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary> and in bottle. It’s also interesting because it really goes against anything being made in the region. My land finds itself within the Coteaux d’Aix-en Provence <glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary>, but from the beginning I decided I’d make everything in <glossary term="Vin de France" title="1092">Vin de France</glossary>. This gives me a freedom to be creative, but also to learn. But let me actually answer your question! So I started with <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache</glossary>, then planted some <glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary>, then some <glossary term="Cinsault" title="1188">Cinsault</glossary> (with a <glossary term="Blanc de Noirs" title="166">blanc de noirs</glossary> and a light red being produced from this grape in the 2023 <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary>), then some more <glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary>. In this first phase, I wanted to plant only grapes that are allowed in the <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> as a sort of safeguard. Since then I’ve planted a little less than a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Roussanne" title="878">Roussanne</glossary>, which is not allowed in the <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary>. The rest is still unwritten.We won’t plant in in 2024, but I’ll plant another half <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> in 2025. I’m not sure what it will be yet, as that will depend on the vegetal material available to me when it’s time to plant. But I’m also in the process of getting the permits to build a larger <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>. Another major investment! When I visited in summer of 2023, you pointed out that while you planned to keep planting, you wanted to keep it to a size where you could still touch every vine yourself. How many hectares do you envision planting total? For me, touching every vine is like reading the land. You can have someone give you a summary of a book and know what happened, but you have to read it yourself to create your own images and ideas from it. I love planting each vine, <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> each vine, doing the <glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary>, taking care of them… Only that way can I learn and understand how my actions will affect my work. To me it’s a powerful exchange. If I limit to myself to being alone, or at least with my wife (who has a full time job), having more than five <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> is complicated. But to justify building a larger <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>, it might mean needing to double that surface. For now I’m not sure what that looks like: maybe I can have another young <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> join me on these <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary>… But there is plenty of time to see what happens. What about your approach in the cellar? When I was in <glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary>, the <glossary term="Must" title="700">musts</glossary> were followed by a local <glossary term="Enology" title="422">enologist</glossary> before being picked up by <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociants</glossary>. The wines were completely <glossary term="Conventional Farming" title="331">conventional</glossary> and of little interest to me. I remember them being masked by <glossary term="Wood" title="1126">wood</glossary> and marked by <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary>.  When I got to <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary>, it was all about "classic" <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary>. But I’ve always had a network of retailer, restaurateur and <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> friends with whom we’d taste more authentic wines. When it was time to make my own wine, not once did it cross my mind to use <glossary term="Commercial Yeast" title="321">commercial yeast</glossary>. I also have an intolerance to <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> that makes me sneeze, but for me it’s more an ethical choice, a way to move away from the chemical over-reliance of bigger agriculture. My grandfather passed away from constant exposure to <glossary term="Phytosanitary" title="789">phytosanitary</glossary> products. I understand it felt like progress at the time, but today it’s very outdated. The problem we have here in Aix-en-Provence is that farmers realized grapes pay better than cereals. And they work vines like they worked cereal, pumping them for maximum production through any means necessary. And now the <glossary term="Cave Cooperative" title="252">cooperatives</glossary> have too much wine! My goal is not to make a lot of wine. I want to express my soils and their potential. In the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>, it’s the same logic. That starts with <glossary term="Native Yeast" title="538">native yeasts</glossary>, first and foremost. That’s what’s going to mark the wines of where they are from. Other than that, I’m very meticulous with temperature and hygiene. I prefer to not add <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary> and have succeeded in this, but if for whatever reason a wine had not fully finished <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermenting</glossary>, I have no issue protecting it with a small dose at <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary>, as was the case for the Gn/C 2022. A big part of this is because I’m just starting and these are my first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary>; too much is on the line. Maybe that will change with time and experience.