The Chardonnay grape evokes thoughts of Burgundy to many, the place in France where the grape feels right at home, producing wines that at the Grand Cru level are deep, mineral and complex. They have the ability to age like a red wine, and command high prices.
To others, thoughts of California come to mind. Here the grape has also made herself at home producing great wines with a little more butter and fat on the edges. These examples also have the ability to age and command high prices.
There is one thing that these two representative Chardonnay wine styles lack, and that is carbon dioxide. That’s right, they don’t sparkle. People often forget to think about the sparkling versions of the Chardonnay hailiing from it’s other home in Champagne, France. Some of the finest and most expensive examples of this grape come from Champagne, where a wine made with Chardonnay is called a Blanc de Blancs (white of white (grapes)). Top examples are extremely fresh, deep and
mineral and have the ability to age as long as it’s Burgudian counterparts, or even longer. And they have bubbles!
Here I will focus on a small Biodynamic Champagne producer called David Leclapart and his wine called L’Amateur, made entirely from the Chardonnay grape. I have tasted this wine on many occassions, but wrote up this post on March 25th, 2009. I hope you enjoy reading about one of my favorites.
David Léclapart
David Léclapart is a biodynamic Champagne house located in Trépail in the Montagne de Reims. Montagne de Reims is the home of the Pinot Noir grape, but Trépail is an exception to this rule. Trépail is a Premier Cru village that grows Chardonnay in the heart of Pinot Noir land. David has farmed his 2.75 HA of vines biodynamically since 1998, producing a measly 7000 bottles per year in total, spread across 4 different wines. He uses minimal sulfur and doesn’t filter. This cuvée is called L’Amateur and from what I gather, it’s his “entry-level” Champagne. It’s a blend of Chardonnay grapes from within Trépail.
Although the vintage is not clearly marked on the front label, this IS a vintage Champagne.
On the back label in small writting you will find “L.V02″. I don’t know how long the wine has been on the lees (yeast), but I would estimate based on purchase date that it spends around 4 years on the lees. This is an Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter).
Appearance: Some development showing. Good bubble structure and fine mousse.
Nose: I have had this cuvée and vintage on at least 4 other ocassions and this Champagne has really developed in the last few years. Intoxicating flinty minerality dominates with pure green and yellow apples with some citrus overtones.
Some honey notes and mushrooms in the background as you might expect to find on a developed Chardonnay.
Palate: The best way I have come to describe this Champagne when I have tasted it in the past has been to describe it as a very well made, unoaked Chablis (another wine made with Chardonnay) with bubbles. Think Louis Michel or Daniel
Dampt and you’ll get it.
Ton’s of fresh minerals, yellow apples and hints of flint on the palate. Fine and elegant bubble structure. This is what I call a transparent wine. Everything is as it should be and easily understood. The fruit and structure are clean. It’s like cooking that fresh meal using the freshest of ingredients and being able to taste every single one of those ingredients. This is why I like naturally made wines. You can taste what should be in the bottle.
David respects four principles: purity, energy, pleasure and ecology.
And, this is evident.
Some say that Champagne doesn’t develop well when it’s given a low dosage (of sugar in the form of grape must) after dégorgement, but this Champagne with it’s very low dosage has developed marvelously and is simply put, is impressive.
I have always loved this Champagne and this experience was no exception. I did feel however, that it was at or very near it’s peak, so if you find a bottle of the 2002, buy it, drink it, enjoy it!
Vinosseur is the company name of sommelier Joseph R. Di Blasi. Vinosseur.com is his web page where he writes about wine, food, restaurants and other gastronomic experiences.
Joseph has a special place in his heart for quality wines from the old world, especially France & Italy, with a strong focus on Organic, Biodynamic and Natural wines.
Joseph grew up in Italy and California, but left The States in 2002 and now resides in Norway.
I am honored and excited to be a winery intern for the upcoming vintage at Rhys Vineyards, in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, starting in August, 2011. The core philosophy at Rhys is as follows:
“At Rhys Vineyards we aspire to make great wines from unique and expressive vineyards. This pursuit has lead us to select five different sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains for growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Our overriding belief that unique vineyard expression is the key to truly great wine leads us to an approach that includes:
A relentless, spare-no-expense, focus on producing the best possible fruit in the vineyard
Carefully selected cool weather sites that offer interesting and expressive soil character
Natural winemaking with minimal intervention
These core tenets help us produce ageworthy wines that emphasize vineyard expression, balance, fresh fruit, and concentration.”
I DON’T THINK IT IS JUST HYPE…
Although Rhys is a relative newcomer in the California wine industry, due to the intuition, diligence and financial resources of owner Kevin Harvey, Rhys is at the forefront of California’s biodynamic and cool-climate wine growing scene.
Indeed, in the short time Rhys has been on the market (first commercial release was 2004) it has garnered much attention. Not just from assorted blogs which put them as the next cult producer to watch also from well-respected critics such as Josh Raynolds of IWC, and Allen Meadows . Most recently, Rhys has also drawn comparisons with “the finest red Burgundies” from Mike Steinberger both. The list of accolades goes on here.
Regardless of the hype, I am really looking forward to my next adventure traveling the world to research and learn biodynamic viticulture and non-interventionist enology and could not think of a better place than Rhys Vineyards.
A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT
Rhys Vineyards (pronounced REECE) is comprised of just over 40 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah from five distinct sites throughout and close to the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, a rather quaint but diverse viticultural region just south of San Francisco. The Santa Cruz Mountains, long overshadowed by Napa and Sonoma, is defined by a mountain range, a major fault-line and two resultant main points of difference in terms of grape growing: climate and geology.
CLIMATE
Due to the proximity to both the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, the Santa Cruz Mountains are defined as a temperate, or cool, climate region. The degree days in the Santa Cruz Mountains are similar to that of Champagne, France, Côte-d’Or, Burgundy, France, and Friuli, Italy as well as Willamette Valley, Oregon, Tasmania, Australia and Marlborough, New Zealand.
The region, as it’s name might suggest, is mountainous. Rhys has found three micro-climates at different altitudes which imprint the vines with distinct characteristics. The temperate climate typically encourages early bud break and due to the proximity to the ocean, fog tends to roll in some sometime in the late afternoon, until the sun burns it off the next morning. This allows the grapes to ripen in cooler temperatures and the longer growing season allows the grapes to mature slowly with intensely complex flavor.
Anyone who has been on a hike up a butte or small mountain knows how temperature going down and up as you ascend or descend. Image how this can impact the flavor, aroma and texture of a Pinot noir grape! What is at work here is the rather extreme diurnal variation, or the difference in temperature between day and night. This is what helps retain acidity in grapes and allows for a slow, even-ripening of both flavors and sugars.
GEOLOGY & SOIL
The second point of difference, soil and geological formations, are both more complex and, according to Kevin Harvey, more essential in terms of determining the quality and character of Rhys wine. The Santa Cruz Mountains are largely the result of compressive uplift caused by a leftward bend of the San Andreas Fault. What this means is there is an amazing diversity to geology; it’s almost like there are two different geological worlds on each side of the fault, from the top soils to the subsoils and clear through the regolith to the bedrock material in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This fault-line soil diversity sets the Santa Cruz Mountains apart from much of the rest of California.
To determine what sites to plant, Kevin Harvey did a huge amount of research using geological maps of the Santa Cruz Mountains and looking at climate studies (he originally placed more importance on climate than he would now). After doing his homework, he found sites that had interesting geological makeup and beginning in 2001 began an ambitious planting program that would eventually yield carefully chosen sites which are now producing distinctive and transparent wines from throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains.
VINEYARDS OVERVIEW
MICRO-CLIMATE#1
Family Farm and the Home vineyards are planted at the lowest altitude micro-climate, at 400-500 feet with two different loam soils on bases of decomposed sandstone. These two vineyards are not officially in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, due to their low elevation.
Family Farm Vineyard was planted in 2002 and is 6.2 acres.
Newly grafted heritage clones at Family Farm
Elevation: 400′ Soil: Alluvial Clay Loam Geology: Decomposed Butano Sandstone Clones: 115, Pommard, Swan and 8 different “Suitcase” clones
Home Vineyard is where the oldest vines are planted; 1/4 acre was planted in 1995 and 1998 to 6 clones . In 2007, Home Vineyard was expanded by adding 1.4 acres of very tightly spaced rows of “Suitcase” clones.
2007 expansion at Home Vineyard
Elevation: 450-500 ft Soil: Clay Loam Ranges in depth between 24″ and 40″ Geology: Whiskey Hill formation sandstone Clones: 115, 777, Pommard , Swan, Wadenswil and 10 different “Suitcase” clones
MICRO-CLIMATE#2
Horseshoe Ranch and Alpine vineyards are planted at 1200-1600 feet on thin topsoils over bases of 11-15 million year old sedimentary rock and volcanic ash and 4 million year old sedimentary shale and sandstones
Horseshoe Ranch Vineyard was planted in 2004 and is 17.5 acres; there are 10 acres of Pinot Noir, 4 acres of Chardonnay and 3 1/2 acres of Syrah, Word on the street is that 1 acre of Syrah was grafted over to Nebbiolo in 2008.
lower section at Horseshoe Ranch
Elevation: 1360′ to 1610′ Soil: Top soils range from 6″ to 20″ with a base of sedimentary rock and volcanic ash Geology: Monterey formation is 10-15 million years old (Miocene) Clones: 13 Pinot Noir clones, 4 Syrah clones; 2 Chardonnay clones
Alpine Vineyard was planted in 2001-2003 and comprises 13 acres of shallow rocky soils. This vineyard is very steep and has very low average yields.
40 degree slopes at Alpine Vineyard
Elevation: 1200’ to 1490′ Soil: Topsoils range from 6″ to 20″ with a mélange of sedimentary shale and sandstone below Geology: marine Purisima formation, 4 million years old (Pliocene epoch) Clones: 4 Chardonnay and 16 Pinot Noir primarily “Heritage” and “Suitcase” selections, including Calera, Swan, La Tache, Hyde and Wente.
MICRO-CLIMATE#3
Skyline vineyard is planted at 2270- 2360 feet with very thin top soils high in iron over ancient fractured mudstone, sandstone and limestone dating from 34 million years ago! Skyline Vineyard is one of the highest in California and is comprised of 2 1/2 ares of Pinot Noir and 1 acre of Syrah, purchased in 2004. The Pinot Noir blocks are spaced at 2×3, which is 7000 vines per acre, likely the most densely planted in California. In order to plant, they had to drill into pure rock…
Skyline Vineyard
Elevation: 2270’- 2360’ Soil: A mélange of fractured mudstone, sandstone and limestone Geology: San Lorenzo formation is Oligocene (like Vaqueros) or Eocene, approximately 34M yrs old. Clones: 12 Pinot Noir (Selection Massale); 2 Syrah (Côte Rôtie and Chave)
WINEMAKING
Our winemaking is focused on accomplishing the following goals:
Pure, silky concentration that can only be achieved through low yields
Beautiful balance with no component revealing itself separate from the whole
Fruit that tastes fresh-picked and perfectly ripe, not jammy
Capturing complex aromatics
Ability to age and improve in the bottle. Nothing compares to the aromatic beauty of aged wine!
Thrilling complexity and beguiling interest that never leaves you bored
Wines with a strong sense of somewhereness (rather than someoneness)
Consistent with our organic/biodynamic approach to viticulture, we believe that hands-off winemaking provides for enhanced vineyard expression and complexity.
At harvest, all grapes are picked into shallow 500lb bins to minimize fruit damage. Each cluster is rigorously sorted by hand and gently dropped directly into our small stainless steel one-ton fermenters. This methodology insures that only the best grapes are used, and allows us to have many unbroken grapes for our whole cluster fermentations. We do not add any yeast or supplemental nutrient in order to allow the native yeasts from each vineyard to perform a completely natural and biologically diverse fermentation.
Once fermenting, our wines are gently punched down by foot in small one-ton, open-top tanks. These small tanks allow us to evaluate each of our half-acre vineyard blocks separately, as each fermenter produces a 2-barrel lot of wine. This micro-vinification allows for a rigorous selection of barrels for vineyard designates as well the isolation of blocks with unique character within our vineyards.
In the cellar, we employ barrels built from the finest French Oak that have been air dried for four full years in Burgundy. This expensive program requires that we purchase our oak as stave wood 4 years before the barrels are even made, but accomplishes two important goals: very consistent barrels year after year, and wines that are differentiated entirely by the vineyard and not by the barrel. The resulting barrels are extremely gentle and help raise our wine with pure fruit rather than noticeable oak flavor.
Our process, from harvest to bottling, is based on a gentle gravity system and our wines are never pumped, fined, or filtered. This gentle approach is intended to deliver the purest possible reflection of our vineyards’ unique character in each bottle.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The cool climate and the distinct geological profiles of each vineyard as well as the biodynamic/organic viticultural practices combined with gentle but exacting winemaking techniques helps to explain why Rhys Vineyards wine has received the attention that it has to date.
I’ll post my own notes on the wines soon, hopefully!
Rhys Vineyards sells all wine through their mailing list. And there is a waiting list to get on the mailing list. You can get your name on the list here.
PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
Here are three videos (taken by a wine blogger and connoisseur named Richard Jennings, whose blog RJ on Wine is very well done), from a recent visit to the winery, where owner Kevin Harvey leads a tour and talks about how Rhys uses their new constructed cave throughout production as well as touching on general philosophies and specific techniques for their Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay.
Video#1
Video#2
Video#3
Here are the reasons why I am so excited about this internship:
– the focus is on Pinot Noir, though I will be working with Syrah, Chardonnay, maybe even a bit of Nebbiolo
– all fruit is estate farmed using biodynamic and organic viticultural practices
– there are distinct soil, geology and altitude characteristics in each vineyard site
– the clonal diversity within each site is wonderful and there are a number of “Heritage” clones I have never worked with
– the consistent and minimalist winemaking practices allow site characteristics to shine through
– there is a heavy reliance on whole cluster fermentation
– micro-fermentation: the main fermentation vessels are open-top, 1 ton stainless steel fermenters. This allows 1/2 acre blocks to ferment separately.
– pigeage is very gentle, in fact, all punchdowns are done by foot (!)
– all fermentations rely on indigenous yeast (primary and secondary)
– there is no use of enzymes, tannins or water (tartaric acid has been and may be used, but sparingly)
-a consistent barrel program, comprised completely of four year, air-dried, very tight grain barrels from Francois Freres, limits excessive oak impact and decreases variability in extract, flavor and intensity
-the wines are not fined or filtered
Other than all this, I am really looking forward to getting back into the vineyard and winery to learn how vignerons and vintners are growing and producing world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Depending on your source, Rudolf Steiner was either born in Austria on February 25th or February 27th, 1861 (he died March 30th, 1925).
Rudi was blessed with amazingly active mind and imagination. Throughout the course of his life he made enormous impacts into fields as diverse as education, economics, architecture, spiritual mysticism, esoteric philosophy, and agriculture. For a biographical introduction to Rudi, this is agreat resource.
“If Steiner had been nothing but a philosopher, or theologian, or educator, or authority on Goethe, or agricultural expert, or architect, or knowledgeable in medicinal plants, or dramatist, or gifted artistic innovator, inventor of eurythmy, an age that respects specialization would have reserved a special niche for him. But Steiner was all these things at the same time.”(Easton, 9)
Some of his ideas and theories are easier to grasp than others.
Biodynamics is not one of the easy ones…
THE GENESIS OF BIODYNAMICS
In the early 1920’s, he was approached by a contingent of practicing farmers concerned with soil health. What followed was the genesis of biodynamic agriculture.
“It ought to be clear to anyone that people have no right to talk about agriculture, including its social and organizational aspects, unless they have a sound basis in agriculture, and really know what it means to grow grain or p0tatoes or beets.”
Rudolf Steiner, Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture, First Lecture, June 7, 1924
An important point to take into consideration at this juncture is that Steiner was not a farmer.But yet he spoke about farming. And for many people, his philosophy regarding the spirituality of agriculture resounded deeply. One hundred fifty years later, his ideas have matured and to this date, they have never been as popular or as contentious.
WHAT ARE BIODYNAMICS?
The “simplest” manner in which biodynamics may be understood may revolve around these few tenets:
1) View the soil as a living organism; bring life to the soil with high-quality compost and without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
2) Allow oxygen to penetrate the soil strata. Repeated use of heavy machinery tends to compact the soil. Using light machinery only during certain periods is advised. Certain growers go as far as hand hoeing and utilizing draft horses for tilling.
3) Help the soil digest the oxygen and fresh organic matter by utilizing various preparations made of cow dung and plants during specific periods of growth in order to build a hearty microbial population in the soil.
QUICK REVIEW…
By viewing the soil and farm as living organisms, a farmer can improve the entire ecosystem’s vitality, thereby conceiving higher likelihood of a robust, ‘natural’ crop.
Biodynamic agriculture aims to make the farm a closed system; all inputs ideally come from the farm or close to it.
No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used, instead biodynamic preparations are employed to assist the plant or vine during specific periods of growth, many times in tune with the lunar cycle and/or to address the root issues of certain maladies or deficiencies.
The preparations are simply to help show the vine in what direction to focus it’s energy.
Thedifferent biodynamic preparations
Preparation
Contents
Mode of application
500
Cow manure fermented in a cow horn, which is then buried and over-winters in the soil
Sprayed on the soil typically at a rate of 60 g per hectare in 34 litres of water.
501
Ground quartz (silica) mixed with rain water and packed in a cow’s horn, buried in spring and then dug up in autumn
Sprayed on the crop plants
502
Flower heads of yarrow fermented in a stag’s bladder
Applied to compost along with preparations 503-507. Together these control the breakdown of the manures and compost, helping to make trace elements more available to the plant
503
Flower heads of camomile fermented in the soil
Applied to compost
504
Stinging nettle tea
Applied to compost. Nettle tea is also sometimes sprayed on weak or low vigour vines
505
Oak bark fermented in the skull of a domestic animal
Applied to compost
506
Flower heads of dandelion fermented in cow mesentery
Applied to compost
507
Juice from valerian flowers
Applied to compost
508
Tea prepared from horsetail plant (Equisetum)
Used as a spray to counter fungal diseases
Note: All these preparations are diluted and then activated or energized by a special stirring process known as ‘dynamization’.
As a result of the listed tenets, biodynamic viticulture usually requires more labor than conventional and organic viticulture. This labor means more time nurturing a visceral connection to the plants and place.
Wonderful theory.
Application and execution are another bag of worms.
For further reading, an in-depth yet rather quick read on the fundamentals of biodynamics is here.
Then there is the contentious debate as to whether or not the grapes farmed in this matter actually taste better. Moreover, there is a ‘moral high ground’ taken by some Biodynamic vignerons/growers. Hey, they might just deserve it…
This ‘moral high ground’ is just as much a reality of a powerful philosophy such as biodynamics as religious zealotry is a reality of the world’s major religions.
Stuart Smith, of Smith-Madrone Winery, has many years of experience as a grape grower and wholeheartedly supports sustainable and organic viticulture. Yet for him, the ‘moral high ground’ is difficult to swallow because, as he points out in his blog Biodynamics is a Hoax, biodynamics lacks any real scientific proof:
SQUARE PEGS IN SQUARE HOLES. ROUND PEGS IN ROUND HOLES.
The fact that biodynamics is largely unquantifiable by modern science is why people like Stu Smith have such a hard time accepting it.
Regardless, most Biodynamic vignerons (who make some of the most well-renown wines in the world) swear by the general methods and guidelines, though each usually has their own special take on preparations, lunar cycles so on and so forth based upon experience, site needs and fervency.
IS THERE A TRUTH IN BIODYNAMICS?
Biodynamics, via a spiritual and biological approach to farming, utilizes natural inputs, labor and knowledge of ecological and lunar cycles to grow crops. Practitioners swear by it, otherwise, they wouldn’t go to such lengths.
Is it a bad thing to create more sustainable crops by understanding, utilizing and optimizing nutrient pathways and natural forces to maintain balance and improve capacity of farm ecosystems?
I certainly don’t think so.
But to be certain, I fly to New Zealand today and will find out how the practical application is going. I’m spending some time visiting wineries and talking with winemakers, viticulturalists and other folks involved in grape farming in order to understand how Biodynamics is doing in New Zealand.
I dedicate my efforts to Rudi’s legacy, because his overall contribution to the world is astounding and his foresight into some of our current issues was spectacular.
Happy belated 150th Rudi.
Disclaimer: I am not a farmer. I do not have a degree in agriculture. I am just a student of wine trying to make sense of Biodynamics. Thanks to the resources (websites I link to) and to all the passionate drinkers, growers and winemakers who I’ve spoken to, and those I have not yet had a chance to talk with. Sorry if I offend anyone. Please feel free to comment or correct me.