Interview with Christine Saurel of Domaine Montirius vineyards.
Domaine Montirius is located in the southern Rhone valley, in Gigondas and in Vacqueyras. The winery is owned and run by Christine and Eric Saurel, a young couple who have moved the vineyards to biodynamic culture. It is 58 hectares of vineyard in appellation controllee Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Cotes du Rhone, and some Vin de Pays. Eric and Christine have a fascinating story to tell – moving from traditional farming to organic to biodynamic; choosing to leave a long time relationship with the cooperative and start out as an independent winegrower. . .
Christine tells the story of how Montirius came to work with first organic farming and then the biodynamic principles (based on Rudolf Steiner’s theories). She explains some of the things it means: how you do it what kind of treatments you do, what difference it makes etc.
PART 3: LEAVING THE CO-OPERATIVE
One day they decided that they could not work with biodynamic farming and vinify their wines in the co-operative. The whole family was convinced – finally. They built the new wine cellar and was finished on the day harvest began. 2002 was their first “own” year. It was a terrible year – very difficult to vinify. It was a year when chaptalisation was widely used. Montirius did not. The following year many growers needed to add tartaric acid to raise the acidity in this extremely hot year. (Both are perfectly permitted winemaking practices.) Montirius, however, did not need to raise they acidity level even in 2003.
https://www.montirius.com/
By BKWine, https://www.bkwine.com
A seven-part video series on Domaine Montirius, a biodynamic wine grower in the Rhone Valley:
- From traditional to organic
- Discovering biodynamic farming
- Leaving the co-operative
- Basics in biodynamic viticulture
- Maria Thun and the life of the radish
- Herbal preparations
- How a vine functions
