Stéphanie Minor / Ernest Aeschlimann
Domaine Saint Julien Le
Zaparel
11 700 Azille
The entry
speaking of him. His name is Ernest Aeschlimann. When dealing with the wine and the Biodynamics is impossible to ignore in the name. He is among those the engine of the 'de Pays d'Oc Biodynamics. At a party in Villelongue d'Aude I accidentally tasted his rose, the taste was remarkable. I have carefully studied the label, "a wine for pleasure and well-being. The vine has given his best for this noble product. We have raised him with love and craftsmanship. "The Wine is called Le Zaparel. A week later, we park our car in front of the winery Saint Julien. We have an appointment with the winery and the winemaker.
The course begins
Stéphanie. "26 years ago, we have to leave Switzerland. Even before I met Ernest I wanted to go to Provence. Ernest also wanted to emigrate, but he would prefer to Italy. In Provence, for him were too many nuclear power plants and too many tourists. The compromise was the Aude, our first house was in Paraza, in this small village we started.
Domaine Saint Julien: Stephanie Minder / Ernest Aeschlimann
We bought and leased vineyards, with loans from the Winery. Actually we wanted to make our own wine, but the president wanted us to stay. He suggested that we make our own wine in the cooperative and also to market it themselves. For us this was very good, we had nothing to invest in the production of wine. With Michel, the former president was also the problem, but after a while he left the cooperative. The new president was hell for us. He could not bear that someone made within the cooperative's own wine. He even replacement of the locks, so that we no longer space could enter the cooperative. We knew we had to get out as quickly as possible. We could have purchased a wine cellar in Paraza. We had the status of young farmers and were ready to buy. At the last moment the owner was bankrupt. No wine cellar for us Paraza. What to do?
's brother Ernest, who lives in New York has bought a few years ago a house on the Canal du Midi, a house with a small wine cellar for 40 years, was not used. He has allowed us to use it. We have spent 5 years there. Then we bought a vineyard in Azille, Le Zaparel. In the beginning it was difficult. Village life we lacked here was all in bad condition and depressing. We have invested a lot of work and then gradually everything got better. Now the country is in wonderful condition and we are very satisfied. "
The Biodynamics
Organic farming, which basically means no chemical products are used, just in copper (bouille bordelaise) and sulfur, which for the Earth not so dangerous. When Stephanie and Ernest Biodynamie there, what does this mean?
"For us it is not even sulfur and copper. We buy anything. We only work with biodynamic preparations that we make with a group itself. Working together, this is a good momentum. "
The results are remarkable, both the diseases, as well as for the return.
"We have fewer diseases, but also a lower return than our neighbors. We harvest 15-35 hectoliters per hectare, which depends primarily on the wine. We have old vines, such as Carignan, which are centuries old. They are very nice but the yield is very low. . If you fertilize very much can be done from Carignan up to 300 hectoliters harvest but the product is not good for much, and you have all the diseases in the vineyard "
Domaine Saint Julien: the horse
The sale
"The sale is a big problem for us, we are farmers and not traders. We have no distributors spirit that does not interest us. That's it basically. Our goal is to work with the earth. It is also very difficult to sell our wine around here, people did not accept. We sell mainly in Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium and Japan, we visit a few wine fairs. Some health food stores sell our wine and we sell here at the winery. We would love to participate in organic trade fair, where customers can taste and buy. It's always good to have personal contacts. With the wholesalers, it is not so simple. Our wines are very special, they are atypical. Manufacturers want a typical wine, a wine that will sell easily. Our Wines The taste wines are luxury, they are not the usual standard wine that will sell easily. Our wines are just different "
Domaine Saint Julien. Cellars
Our wines are different
I do not understand exactly why the wines of Saint Julien different, I am a bit to stiffen the question: why are they different?
Ernest replied, "I have a customer in Switzerland who told me when I feel bad I go home and drink a glass of your Merlot. This gives me a comforting satisfaction and once I feel better. For it is our wine a drug. There are customers who say this is a wine as before. Yes, they are right, today's wines are different. All use herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. This is normal today. The earth is like concrete. There is no life in the vineyard, the earth supports the vine any more, it's almost like the cultivation without soil, all supplied from outside, artificial fertilization and irrigation.
If the grapes are ripe is the harvester and swallowed them all. In the wine cellar then comes to a soup that is already oxidized. Without a soup ingredients, a kind of liquor you have to give anything. They are packaged in huge tanks and entered with Actimax. "Stéphanie and Ernest break out laughing. You talk about a harvest workers who worked in a cooperative and its work mainly consisted Actimax to fill in the soup to accelerate the fermentation.
"Actimax addition there are also other additives, yeasts, sulfite, enzymes, etc., that is no longer our own wine but an industrially produced. We use the wine to nothing and therefore he is different. "
wine today
This sounds very serious about what they say. Overdo it? I think not. I just read the book "Wine today" by A. Crespy and his words give Stephanie and Ernest right.
Crespy speaks of the needs of the vineyard. If you want to create a vineyard, he advises general to take first some preparation: 40 to 80 tons of fertilizer to bring 400 units of super phosphate, 800 to 1200 units of potash in the form of chlorate or sulfate, 3 tons of lime, and if necessary, 2-6 tons of magnesium sulfate. During the first 3 years Crépy recommends feeding 80-100 units of nitrogen. If the vineyard starts to wear you fertilize with nitrogen, phosphate and potash, which amounts are based on the yield of the grape variety and location.
Crespy speaks of weeds. Weed is in competition with the wine, it also needs water, minerals, air space for its stalks and leaves, and space in the soil for the roots. The weeds detrimental to the vineyard and it is difficult to keep under control. Now I understand why he speaks of "weed". What to do? He offers three solutions: tillage, integrated weed control and weed control. Integrated weed control means the use of contact poisons such as simazine, aminotriazole, diuron and glyphosate. This solution is not without risk, it is threatening an increasing contamination of the vineyard and an increase in resistant weeds.
That's not all. The vineyard is sensitive to a myriad of pests and diseases, including black spot, Kräuselmilbe, Spring worm, scale insects, Blattgallmilbe, mealybugs, Red fire, red spider, downy mildew, powdery mildew, Heuwurm, Botrytis and sour worm. How can you defend yourself? Crespy writes of two methods:
"The classic method of quasi-permanent control, that is to spray from the beginning of the growing season to every 2 weeks of the poisons, this is a very expensive method, they also poisoned the soil and speeds up the resistance against the used poisons. The second method uses poisons only when necessary and when it counted. "
The Flavescence
dorée 1994, there was the problem of flavescence dorée, a disease from infected shoots or Zikadenart caused a serious illness. She is so serious that the charge of the plant protection authority has ordered by decree the spraying of insecticides, whether biological or not the company operates. Stephanie and Ernest do not obey, they refused and this refusal a myriad of problems with the result.
"We wanted to destroy all insects in any case, but we have long-term threat. That was a tough time. It has been said will be sprayed by helicopter the vineyards. They really wanted at all costs, that inject all the venom. We have received threatening letters: You have to inject, if your neighbors have the disease in the vineyard, then you are to blame. In Ecocert, they said, we can only be certified if we inject the poison, so we could not sell our wine years officially organic wine.
Now it's back better with Ecocert. They come every year to examine the papers, statements, invoices, take a walk, and all will cost 500 €. "
But that's not all, they have to pay as much again to get the logo Demeter. Demeter is a biodynamic association. The wines
We must not go away without having tried their wines. These are all table wines. We try "le chapeau George (George's hat)" and the Merlot in 2003. Jean-Louis sums up our opinion: "This is a real wine wine, a wine that has the taste of the vineyard of the area, the red fruit, earth, the aromatic plants that grow here. This is a wine that will make us no headaches, but on the contrary makes you want more. "Especially true of" Le Chapeau ", which is potentially a quality wine from the Minervois. Potentially, because the tasting committee so far the predicate (AOC) refused - atypical wine. That does not surprise me to say because, as Stephanie and Ernest: "Our wines are different."
Domaine Saint Julien: Le Chapeau
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