What does it take to produce old vine wines?
The old vines and rolling hills of Domaine de Cébène in Faugères.
Brigitte Chevalier on the realities of producing old vine wines.
“We are not powerless in the face of climate change” says Brigitte Chevalier of Domaine de Cébène, “Carignan vines are the future of the Languedoc and old Carignan vines especially, they are so resilient to drought, of all of my vines at Cébène they are the ones that endure heat stress the most. It’s very impressive.”
For Brigitte Chevalier of Domaine de Cébène old vines and nurturing the old vines of the future is everyday life. Based in Faugères in the South of France Brigitte has been farming here since 2007 and bought her oldest parcel of vines in 2011. Now some of her 11ha estate of heritage vineyards are 100 years old, many of which are Carignan planted after phylloxera hit Europe in the late 1800s.
Carignan in France hasn’t always had the best reputation. Known for sky high yields and a rustic style it fell out of fashion but Brigitte’s wines tell a very different story. “The unique combination of schist soils, hillside vineyards (300m asl), no irrigation and the low yields thanks to the vines’ age gives our Carignan the opportunity to truly express itself. Under these combined conditions the resulting wines predominately express finesse and elegance.”
Brigitte’s wines are widely appreciated around the world with consistently high scores from the likes of Jancis Robinson MW among others, but of her journey here “getting to this point has been no easy task.” Maintaining old vines takes time, tenacity, skill and patience. Skills that Brigitte clearly has in abundance “the same practices must be employed as was in the past: all maintenance is done by hand, the rows were planted before mechanization and measured for the narrow passage of a horse, tractors cannot fit, sensitive pruning is essential and all this extra care requires long hours that are excessively costly.”
“Sometimes I have to stop and reflect on the link between the survival of the plants and my own economic survival!”
But the rewards are high “These old vines are a treasure trove of knowledge” she tells us, “They bear witness to the know-how inherited from our predecessors. They teach us lessons of resilience and sustainability. Humility too!”
Given the fragmented nature of French wine appellations with each region often acting as its own island the subject of old vines is not a straightforward one for French winemakers and Veilles Vignes is noticeably absent from Domaine de Cébène’s wine labels. “in France there is no agreed vine age for what is considered old and there’s a lot of educating to do in the mind of the consumer”.
Brigitte Chevalier, owner and winemaker of Domaine de Cebénè in Faugères, France.
Undeterred by the challenge to preserve and protect these old treasures, educate the trade and consumers AND make them a commercially relevant part of her portfolio Brigitte took matters into her own hands creating one of the first ‘adopt an old vine’ initiatives allowing her to create a revenue stream as well as a tribe of engaged and dedicated ambassadors that now have a greater understanding of what it takes to make an old vine wine.
The 'godparents' as she calls them are invited into the vineyards, to see, touch and feel the active contribution they are making towards safeguarding this wine-growing heritage and as such old vines has become synonymous with Domaine de Cébène.
Brigitte Chevalier's dedication to the global understanding of old vines, their significance and economic viability is not only expressed through her daily work but also through her support of The Old Vine Conference where she is a founding member and has been a guest speaker at the conference. Her winery is open to receive visitors by appointment and her wines are available in the UK through Vine Trail, in Canada (Vancouver) via Enoteca Bacco, and in the Netherlands from Farmer Wijnen.
You can connect directly with Brigitte on Instagram @domainedecebene and become a godparent to her old vines via her website: cebene.com.