interview

<p><em>This interview with Claude-Emmanuelle Desvignes took place at&nbsp;</em><glossary title="568"><em>L&#39;Herbe Rouge</em></glossary><em>&nbsp;in February 2012.</em></p> <p><strong>Tell us about the estate.</strong><br /> <br /> My brother and I are the eigth&nbsp;generation to work our vines. I&#39;ve been here full time since 2001, and Louis-Beno&icirc;t joined me in 2004. We have 13 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> most of which are&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="740">old vines</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> since their average age is 70.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> In the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="151">Beaujolais</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> you can <glossary title="1104">vinify</glossary> by&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1373">climat</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> which we do. &quot;La Vo&ucirc;te Saint-Vincent&quot;&nbsp;is a <glossary title="168">blend</glossary> of <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> from the<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Py&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1373">climat</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and the soils are <glossary title="909">sandy</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="502">granite</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We have three <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> on&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="350">C&ocirc;te du Py</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> where the soils are composed of <glossary title="1117">eruptive rocks</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="933">schist</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Finally, Jarveni&egrave;res is at the bottom of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="350">C&ocirc;te du Py</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and is heavy in <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1203">magnesium</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>When did you know you decide to be a vigneronne?</strong><br /> <br /> I was very interested with winemaking as a child. In 10th grade I decided to specialize in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1103">viticulture</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> After I got my baccalaureate, I spent four months at a winery in <glossary title="1204">Long Island</glossary> for a work internship. Then I came back and started working with my father. It&#39;s what I&#39;ve always wanted to do.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>What&#39;s the work in the vines like?</strong><br /> <br /> We eliminated <glossary title="526">herbicides</glossary> in 2004 and work the soil ourselves. We work <glossary title="746">organically</glossary> but aren&#39;t <glossary title="260">certified</glossary> because it&#39;s too much of an administrative hassle. And I&#39;ll be the first to say that if there&#39;s a serious concern with <glossary title="1137">mildew</glossary> or <glossary title="737">oidium</glossary> (like in 2008), I won&#39;t hesitate to use some <glossary title="279">synthetic products</glossary> in moderation.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>Was this your decision?</strong><br /> <br /> My brother had a lot to do with the decision to work&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="746">organically</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I had experimented with one&nbsp;<glossary title="523">hectare</glossary> before his arrival, but when Louis-Beno&icirc;t signed on he was adamant about completely changing our work methods. He had a valid point: you can&#39;t claim to make wines that highlight <glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary> by using a ton of <glossary title="279">chemicals</glossary> in the vineyard.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> One big mistake we made was to <glossary title="332">convert</glossary> everything at once. We ended up ripping out all the <glossary title="994">superficial roots</glossary> by <glossary title="810">plowing</glossary> everywhere, which resulted in the vines <glossary title="1129">yielding</glossary> half of what they usually produce. It took a while for them to recover, but we don&#39;t regret it. It&#39;s better now: the soils are alive and you can tell!<br /> <br /> <strong>What about the<font color="#7b143e">&nbsp;cellar</font>?</strong><br /> <br /> We aim to make&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1010">tannic</glossary><span>,</span></span></span>&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="74">age</glossary><span>-</span></span></span>worthy wines, so we let them <glossary title="441">ferment</glossary> and <glossary title="74">age</glossary> for a long time. We&#39;re not against <glossary title="942">semi-carbonic</glossary> <glossary title="151">Beaujolais</glossary>; it&#39;s just not our style. My father started making wines like this, and we&#39;ve continued in his footsteps. As far as&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1104">vinification</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> you can call it &quot;<glossary title="331">conventional</glossary>&quot;, since we use a <glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary> <glossary title="321">starter yeast</glossary>&nbsp;for the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="441">fermentation</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>You recently expanded your<font color="#7b143e">&nbsp;cellar</font>&nbsp;right?</strong><br /> <br /> Yes. Since I&#39;ve taken over, we now produce and <glossary title="185">bottle</glossary> all of our wine (my father sold about 50% of the grapes to a <glossary title="729">n&eacute;gociant</glossary>), so storage became a big issue. We&#39;ve always worked out of a facility built in the 1960&#39;s, which had the big advantage of having <glossary title="325">cement</glossary> tanks made on premises in the 1970&#39;s. We needed more room, but we wanted to keep these <glossary title="1140">tanks</glossary> because they had such a rich history. So we simply expanded around the original facility.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>Why do you think most people have a preconception that Beaujolais&nbsp;can&#39;t age?</strong><br /> <br /> My father has a bunch of really old books on wine, and many say that a good <glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary> can rival anything from&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> A <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> like 2009 will <glossary title="74">age</glossary> 20 years no problem. That&#39;s what&#39;s great about&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> You can make a very fruity wine, but you can also make something <glossary title="990">structured</glossary> without it being being too opulent or high in alcohol. It&#39;s always accessible, without ever being excessive.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>What do you like to drink?</strong><br /> <br /> A lot of things! We always have a <glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary> at the end of every meal to remind us of how good it is, but otherwise we&#39;re always drinking other wines. I&#39;m a big fan of the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="880">Roussillon</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="319">Collioure</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="135">Banyuls</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I love <glossary title="602">Loire</glossary> whites, as well as the <glossary title="1205">M&acirc;connais</glossary> since we&#39;re not far. Also,&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="219">Cahors</glossary><span>!</span></span></span></p>

producers visit

<p><strong><em>This visit to Domaine&nbsp;Louis-Claude Desvignes took place in June, 2012.</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Words and photos by Jules Dressner.</em></strong></p> <p>The Desvignes family all live on the same block in the center of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We swung by Louis-Claude&#39;s house to say hello, since we couldn&#39;t get in touch with Emmanuelle.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//08/2b/082b653d8416c2d4b5e0383c661da42f.jpg" /></p> <p>Even in his mid 70&#39;s, he&#39;s kept his raven-black hair (no word yet on if it&#39;s &quot;au naturel&quot; or not...). Louis-Claude came to greet us at the front door with some intense news: Louis-Beno&icirc;t had suffered a light fracture and multiple stitches on his index while planting a new <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> in Javeni&egrave;res that morning. Emmanuelle had driven him to hospital, which accounted for her not picking up her phone earlier. Louis-Claude had better luck reaching her, and she told us to meet them in the Javerni&egrave;res <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> where it all went down.<br /> <br /> We hopped into the Louis-Claude Mobile&trade; and drove over to the beautiful Javerni&egrave;res&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="760">parcel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//66/96/6696d1af2bed5383f5e8515ef810983c.jpg" /></p> <p>Louis-Claude&#39;s grandfather purchased these: they are all planted on <glossary title="909">sand</glossary> and <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary> in the traditional <glossary title="151">Beaujolais</glossary> <glossary title="497">goblet</glossary> style. Most of them are over 100 years old!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//f8/37/f837881488cf36eac4c3b688077d7feb.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//37/df/37df9b5ec310a06afb5650b571090e9a.jpg" /><br /> <br /> The other vines that complete the <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> were planted in 1989 and 1999. The Desvignes, who work&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="746">organically</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> are the only <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> to work the soil here, which they feel is a pity since it&#39;s such a great&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Emmanuelle and Louis-Beno&icirc;t -arm slung with a bandaged hand-greeted us at the bottom of the hill where their team of two was actively planting 2000 vines over .8 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of land.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//0f/bd/0fbdb9db230083e7f87a6ad3361020f0.jpg" /><br /> <br /> When I asked if they were in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="941">selection massale</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Emmanuelle looked at me like I was crazy.<br /> <br /> &quot;<em>Of course.</em>&quot;<br /> <br /> We started chatting about 2012, and Louis-Benoit informed us that they were struggling with&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1137">mildew</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> in the &quot;tropical climate&quot; they&#39;ve been experiencing, rainy and hot, humid days have been trading off since March; this is a perfect recipe for <glossary title="1137">mildew</glossary> to grow and spread.<br /> <br /> &quot;<em>Not only that, but you spray a </em><glossary title="328"><em>treatment</em></glossary><em> on a hot day, then it rains and washes everything off and you have to start all over again.</em>&quot;<br /> <br /> Though there is no legal repercussion in <glossary title="746">organics</glossary> for retreating with <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> as necessary (and the Desvignes are, even at this rate, well below the authorized <glossary title="328">treatment</glossary> levels), Louis-Beno&icirc;t worries that constantly re-applying too many <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> <glossary title="328">treatments</glossary> might do more harm than good in the long term. This is one of countless struggles one can face in a challenging&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="746">organic</glossary> or not: at the end of the year, you need to <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> grapes, and it is the <glossary title="1089">vigneron&#39;s</glossary> responsibility to protect his vines as he sees fit. In a statement that echoed Thomas Morey&#39;s in an earlier visit, Louis-Beno&icirc;t pointed out that guys working <glossary title="331">conventionally</glossary> were struggling just as hard as they were, and in many cases their vines were looking way worse.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> After our tour of Javerni&egrave;res, Louis-Claude drove us to the <glossary title="350">C&ocirc;te du Py</glossary> site on the way to the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//4e/7e/4e7e52fb1e0bb0827e2d53d9f214a275.jpg" /><br /> <br /> We couldn&#39;t access the vines because we needed a 4x4 vehicle to get there, but to give you and idea their vines are by the house in the middle of the picture.<br /> <br /> In the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we started by tasting many of the separate <glossary title="594">lieu-dits</glossary> that go into the &quot;Vo&ucirc;te Saint-Vincent&quot;&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="363">cuv&eacute;e</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> including&nbsp;<em>Les Champs</em>,&nbsp;<em>les Pl&acirc;tres</em>&nbsp;(aka plaster, because after it rains it gets hard like...), le&nbsp;<em>Pr&eacute; Jourdon</em>,&nbsp;<em>Peru</em>&nbsp;(how exotic!) and <em>Roches Noires</em>. The decisions on the exact <glossary title="168">blend</glossary> vary from year to year and are done entirely on instinct. <glossary title="185">Bottling</glossary> also varies by&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and this year the &quot;Vo&ucirc;te Saint-Vincent&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;Javerni&egrave;res&quot;&nbsp;will be <glossary title="185">bottled</glossary> around&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="521">harvest</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="350">C&ocirc;te du Py</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> on the other hand, had just been&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="185">bottled</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and was tasting great. 2011 turned out to be one of the few regions in France to experience an excellent <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> (with almost everyone else&#39;s varying from good to very good). The Desvignes wines always need time, but you can already taste the expressive, <glossary title="324">concentrated</glossary> fruit and balanced <glossary title="1010">tannic</glossary> structure in the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1008">tank&nbsp;samples</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>FUN FACTOID</strong>: The Desvignes use a deep fryer to melt the wax for the the top of their very limited&nbsp;&quot;Les Imp&eacute;nitents&quot;.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//56/58/565852debc1d3635ad246a83db1b562c.jpg" /><br /> <br /> We ended strong by revisiting the 2010&#39;s. They were delicious. Our dog, and&nbsp;<em>Official Canine Companion</em>&nbsp;(O.C.C) Zaggy took a liking to Louis-Beno&icirc;t and took a nap on his lap for the entire tasting.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Jul_24//58/3f/583fd2fe9dd7cf311dbfb0f126c04d30.jpg" /></p> <p>I wasn&#39;t kidding about that index! For those of you that don&#39;t know, Louis-Beno&icirc;t is an avid drummer, and he was bummed because he was supposed to perform at a 14th of July concert. I told him it might be time for him to start messing with some drum machines...</p>

harvest report

<p>The last of our wines are in place!<br /> <br /> Here we go: 2015! Our father has been repeating since August 29th, our first day of picking, that we need to keep some juice in a flask, let it dry and write a postcard with it. Apparently, this is what Louis&#39; grandfather, under similar circumstances, did in 1909. Dad was born in 1937 and says he&#39;s never seen a <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> like this: so much color, perfect grapes and a whole lot of sugar!<br /> <br /> The first three days of <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> were under a scorching sun and required a courageous, dedicated team. A lot of&nbsp;Spanish was being spoken, but we also had some anglophones and of course the French. We talk, laugh, drink, eat and eat some more! But all the while, they remain serious and apply care to their work.<br /> <br /> This year they are freed from the challenges of a tough <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary>; picking was fast and easy for everyone. My friend Charles, who came to help us&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1104">vinify</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> is astonished by our <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> team. They read books after long days of labor, watch Polish films subtitled in Italian from a screen projected on our wall. They even asked what criteria needed to be met to work for us! Friends of friends, spontaneous helpers and wine lovers all coming together...<br /> <br /> Our three first <glossary title="1140">vats</glossary> started <glossary title="441">fermenting</glossary> very quickly, with grapes coming in from the hot sun. We were really ready for difficult <glossary title="441">fermentations</glossary> because the <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> was so hot, but this proved not to be the case. Because of of the dense&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="723">nose</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> inky color and the early <glossary title="1010">tannic</glossary> profile of the wine, we decided to keep it simple and only let the juices <glossary title="610">macerate</glossary> 9 to 10 days.<br /> <br /> We ended our <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> around saucissons cooked in <glossary title="685">Morgon</glossary> and an endless series of <glossary title="617">magnums</glossary> from 2014, 2013, 2010, 2009, 2005, 1995... A trip through memory lane was necessary to confirm that 2015 will be a legendary&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>!</span></span></span></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//f2/0b/f20b57baf3be07ba913650f8eece4ba5.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//00/84/00846886af922d3a1878ffd169fb7a41.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//30/e1/30e14676c0c86e50211a7763ab3c9121.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//89/98/899810926a3465d83fee3d2f42afc387.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//33/a5/33a55bc92e9630eb5d2e97099dfe08bf.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//0a/2f/0a2f0e13da270a3023c61264172f971e.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//f7/ce/f7ceeb7e22e179b8700401036b7b06ea.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//68/6f/686fedf8c989c401a18d2449284ea409.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//37/7c/377cca82a13d3b0288cd4aeee825bfb3.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//d9/5c/d95cfb30c4c7fb81d5ff478ebc82e3d7.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//76/68/76689824f659f3c10cced2acfcb1417a.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_20//d0/9d/d09d1b4a8c0beaf841039d60e38c7c97.jpg" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>