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Their stories | The personal stories of the winemakers, their pleasures, their frustations, their fights, their pains and their problems. A Terrace with a single stem [2008-05-12] Claude, with pick in hand, tells me how he loves to spend his holidays among the vines here. He explains why. " When you harvest, the smells enfold you; grapes of all kinds, ripe ones, unripe ones, the machinery and all that kind of thing. It's the same story when I work the soil. I smell the roots and all the aromas of the earth. Later I reexperience all that in the wine, the nose and the taste. It's extraordinary, it's magic." Claude isn't the only one. "Most of our customers are our friends and it's they who come and harvest. Last year we had 36 people who came to harvest."<>/i< The wines of Casot des Mailloles engender strong emotions in people. I even have the impression that Casot des Mailloles has become a community.... You said the Ardèche? No, I said the Ariège [2008-05-05] If you're French you know the Ariège. On the other hand, for foreigners the Ariège is often a bit of an unknown. To help you out, the Ariège is easy to locate: the north of the department is about 40 km south of Toulouse and the south of the department touches Spain. The most well known towns are Pamiers, Foix, Saint-Girons, Lavelanet and Mirepoix. The Ariège has only 140,000 inhabitants. On the list of 100 French departments the Ariège ranks 95 in terms of population. In terms of population density it occupies the 93rd spot. So of course it's not surprising that the Ariège is somewhat unknown among foreigners. As for the French, do they really know the Ariège? Do they know that on the list of percentage of Bio winegrowers to total winegrowers it occupies the top spot? Do they know that the percentage is 25%? In other word one in four winegrowers is bio. Yes indeed, and this particular winegrower is called Philippe Babin.... A little Actimax in the soup [2008-04-09] "Then when the grapes are ripe it's time for the harvesting machines which pull off the bunches and deliver a kind of soup to the cellars which is already oxidized. It's a soup with nothing in it except a very simple grape base that needs a little something adding to it. They pour it into big vats and then add Actimax." Stéphanie and Ernest burst into laughter and they explain that some time ago a grape picker of theirs told them that he had worked for a co-operative cellar where his job was to add the Actimax to the soup to start the fermentation. "Actimax is all. You also have to add yeasts, sulphites, enzymes etc. So it's hardly a homemade wine – it's an industrial wine. We don't add anything and that's why our wines are different."... A straight-shooter [2008-04-08] On the site www.cyberpresse.ca you can read an article written by the famous critic, Jaques Benoit, 'Why sulphites?' In this article he writes, 'Are there wines without sulphites? From all the evidence, no, even though all the good winemakers use as little of it as possible as recommended by Peynaud. " ( Émile Peynaud, oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing wine making in the latter half of the 20th century.) When Christian discusses with the other winegrowers they are of the same opinion as the celebrated critic. " When I tell them that I don't use sulphur they're very sceptical. They say it's not possible. 'What do you do to preserve your wine?' 'How do you do it?' They throw sulphur on everything 'just in case' . They justify their actions by saying ' By using sulphur I avoid the potential problem of oxidation, I can relax and I don't have to watch everything like a hawk every day.' That's it. "... You have to start in college [2008-03-20] It's late and we have to go. I ask my last question – if he learned anything about Bio-agriculture during his years at BPREA? "No, it was all the use of herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers." So the state teaches it's winegrowers in college to use herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers and then they encourage them to rid themselves of the same herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. It really would be better to start in college with bio. It certainly would be more efficient!... A Matter of organization [2008-02-28] With Philippe's unceasing correction of me when I say 'sulphur', Clara decides that I need to be properly trained. She leaves and returns with a drum which contains little yellow wicks. She opens the drum and invites me to take a sniff. I do so and BAM! It's as if someone has thrust an iron rod into my bronchials. It's terrible, and the others are laughing at my expense. She explains that the drum contains a sulphurous solution and that apparently I don't like SO2. Now Philippe gives me a yellow wick – a wick of sulphur. I don't smell anything in particular and I don't feel bad. He lights it and passes it under my nose. That perks me right up and I'm only just able to stand the stench of SO2. I think I've learned my lesson and I promise not to abuse the word 'sulphur' any more.... Black and White Magic [2008-02-13] "Yes, I said 'STOP. This not my life.' I wanted to stop and change over to bio-cultivation, without all those chemical products. I felt that they were very bad for me. I could see that the chemicals were toxic for both the soil and for me as well. I wanted to make a product I could be proud of and I didn't want to deceive people. I just wanted to make a true and natural product. I was ready to start a new life – but how?" ... |
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