09 Masterclass: Decoding the mystery of Biodynamic Wine with Allain Moueix and Bernard Burtschy

DRC, Domaine Leroy, Domaine Leflaive, Louis Roederer, Château Palmer and Château Pontet Canet, do they have anything in common?

Yes! They’re all huge fans of biodynamics!

In recent years, the term biodynamics has appeared frequently in the world of wines. It is considered to be the limit of organic production, and its operations seem to be somewhat “crazy” and even “metaphysical”.

What is biodynamics? How is it different from other winemaking concepts?

And what is the “magic power” of biodynamics, which can attract so many top wineries? Why has it set a worldwide trend in the world of wines?

How does the biodynamic method change the flavor and quality of a wine? What’s the specialty of a biodynamic wine? What role does the practice of biodynamics play in the expression of wine’s terroir?

The 2018 International Wine Symposium will once again present a master class with a profound decoding of biodynamics, answering all your questions about biodynamics!

Alain Moueix, France’s most influential consultant of biodynamics, and Bernard Burtschy, a world-renowned wine critic, have together selected eight masterpieces of biodynamics, covering France’s most important wine regions: Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux and South France, there is also an extremely rare top biodynamic winery from Corsica. They will bring us an overview of the performances of biodynamics in different regions in France and a decoding of biodynamics in all dimensions!

A master class that gives you a clear understanding of biodynamics!

Masterclass ： Decoding the mystery of Biodynamic Wine with Allain Moueix and Bernard Burtschy

Time: 2 December 2018, Sunday 13:00-14:30

Address: Multi-function Hall, 3rd Floor, The St. Regis Shanghai Jing’an, No.1008, West Beijing Road

Price: Early bird ticket 990 RMB / person, a pair of tickets 1780 RMB

(35 places only for early bird price)

Original price 1090 RMB/ person

Language: English, on-site interpretation into Chinese

Registration: Click below to register>>

*There’re no printed copies of the master class tickets. Once the purchase is finished, please keep the e-ticket for admission

List of Wines

1. Domaine Trapet Père et fils Gevrey Chambertin “Ostrea” 2014

2. Domaine du Roc des Anges blanc 2017

3. Montirus Confidentiel Gigondas 2014

4. Domaine Philippe Gilbert，Les Chandelieres Blanc 2015

5.Domaine Julien Meyer Grand Cru Muenchberg Riesling 2014

6. Chateau Fonroque Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2014

7. Chateau Mazeyres Pomerol 2014

Speaker

Alain Moueix

The former chairman of Union des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Emilion, the manager of both the Saint-Emilion estate Château Fonroque and the Pomerol estate Château Mazeyres, the former vice president of Cercle Rive Droite de Grands Vins de Bordeaux, the vice chairman of the Jurade de Saint-Emilion. He is also the vice president of the Biodyvin, the organization of biodynamic certification (Leroy and DRC are members of the organization), and he is also consultant for many wineries of France and South Africa, including the second cru Château Durfort-Vivens, which is officially rated by the 1855 Classification of Médoc. In 2011, he was selected as the “Man of the Year” by the famous food guide “Gault & Millau”.

The Moueix family is one of the most influential families on the right bank of Bordeaux, they have many top wineries and middlemen in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, such as Petrus and Château Trotanoy. Alain Moueix is a leader in biodynamics, and the wineries run by him are among the first wineries which implement biodynamics.

Bernard Burtschy

World famous wine critic, one of the most important wine critics in France, the founder of France’s largest wine website, Figaro Wines. He writes regularly on wine for France’s most prestigious and largest daily, Le Figaro (Chroniques hebdomadaires dans le Figaro, Figaro-Magazine, Site l’Avis du Vin). He is the President of the Association de la Presse du Vin (APV) in France (Association of French wine press), the permanent member of the Grand Jury Européen, the special consultant of our web-magazine. He also holds a Ph.D. in statistics.

Introduction of wines

1. Domaine Trapet Père et fils Gevrey Chambertin “Ostrea” 2014

Domaine Trapet Père & Fils is one of the historic wineries in the famous village of Gevrey-Chambertin in Burgundy. The current owner, Jean-Louis Trapet, has been implementing biodynamics since 1995, and he received the double certification in biodynamics (Biodivin and Demeter) in 1998 and 2005. It is interesting that Domaine Trapet Père & Fils also has 2 hectares of vineyards in the Alsace region today, because Jean-Louis’ wife Andrée inherited her family’s winery in Alsace in 2002. The couple has been managing the vineyards in the two regions since then.

Domaine Trapet has many top grands crus and permiers crus in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin. For example, the winery has 1.9 hectares of vineyards in the Chambertin Grand Cru, known as the king of wine. And it’s one of the largest landowners in this grand cru.

Jean-Louis pays great attention to maintaining the characteristics of terroir in vineyards. He does not emphasize the concentrated taste and strength, and rarely uses new oak barrels; all these make the wine elegant, pure and great. Domaine Trapet Père & Fils is also rated as a three-star winery by the French wine magazine (RVF).

2. Domaine du Roc des Anges （the wine and the vintage will be announced soon）

A winery in the Roussillon region of southern France. The name of the winery literally means “Rock of Angel”, which was founded in 2001 by Stéphane and Marjorie Gallet, and was certified by Biodynamic regulations in 2010.

The famous Taiwanese wine writer Lin Yusen once praised this winery as his favorite winery after he has tasted more than 300 wineries in France and Italy. He said:

“Maybe, because there are too many stereotypes about wine, it makes me feel that Marjorie’s wine is very thought-provoking. But if you can understand the value that is transparent and pure just like water, value, Domaine du Roc des Anges’s white, red wines and spirits have the extremest performances of their styles.”

The winery has grown from an initial 10 hectares to 40 hectares in 2016 with a striking speed. A large part of them are old vines of Grenache and Carignan. What makes the winery truly famous is their flagship wine “Cuvée 1903”, made from the rare 100% old vine of Carignan, which was appraised as “amazing”.

Stéphane and Marjorie Gallet are different from other wine farmers in the Roussillon region, they like to make wines that are more delicate and have a leaner body. The world’s top sommeliers are conquered by their extraordinary exquisiteness, and their wines are also selected into the list of wines by four three-star restaurants in Paris.

3. Montirus Confidentiel Gigondas 2014

Montirus Winery is the leading winery in the practice of biodynamics in the southern Rhone Valley in France, its practice started in 1996. It’s also the first biodynamic-certified winery in the Vacqueyras and Gigondas regions. The wine here is known for its exquisite taste and balanced structure, and is considered one of the most elegant wines in the southern Rhone Valley.

With an annual production of only 4,000 bottles, Montirus Confidentiel is the winery’s masterpiece. It was born from an unexpected discovery in 2004, mixed with 80% of Grenache and 20% of Mourvedre. The wine come from old vines with an average age of 85 years old, fermented and aged in cement fermenters, retaining the purest characteristics of terroir in this vineyard of old vines. Its rich and rounded taste and perfect balance allow the winery to discover the “secret” of its land, which is the origin of its name.

4. Domaine Philippe Gilbert，Les Chandelieres Blanc 2015

Philippe Gilbert is a well-known biodynamic expert in the Loire Valley region. The winery has a total area of 28 hectares and was certified by the biodynamic regulations for all its vineyards in 2006. The winery is located in the most famous village of Parassy in the Menetou-Salon region of Loire Valley. There’s mainly limestone soil with a relatively flat land, which is mainly planted with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Les Chandelieres, one of the winery’s most important vineyards, is known as the famous kimmeridgien limestone soil, which makes the Sauvignon produced here not only have good acidity, but also contain a unique sense of mineral, considered as a Sauvignon who has a “soul”

5.Domaine Julien Meyer Grand Cru Muenchberg Riesling 2014

The owner, Patrick Meyer, is an authentic Alsatian. The domaine is situated between Colmar, the most beautiful town in France, and Strasbourg, the capital of the region. Patrick Meyer began organic farming in 1990 and received biometric dual certification in 1999. He pursues the purity of the terroir, minimizes the manual intervention of brewing, does not add any sulfide, and is the representative of the natural wine.

Muenchberg Premium Garden, this wine is the representative wine of the domaine, with fresh and clean fruit, elegant and delicate, rich minerality, and a good length.

6. Chateau Fonroque Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2014

The speaker of this master class, Mr. Alain Moueix, has run Château Fonroque Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé since 2001. Since 2003, it has strictly adhered to the productive standards of organic agriculture and has obtained the organic certification of Agrocert. The winery applied biodynamics in a small area in 2002 and the practice of biodynamics has gradually expanded to the entire vineyard. In 2005, it began to adopt the Biodyvin control system of the ECOCERT SA, and became the first cru classé that obtained the biodynamic certification.

In this master class, you can drink the 2014 vintage of Château Fonroque, mixed by 85% of Merlot and 15% of Cabernet Franc. It has a high score of 16 points (out of 20) by RVF.

7. Chateau Mazeyres Pomerol 2014

Château Mazeyres is located in Pomerol, a small but highly integrated elite region on the right bank of Bordeaux. Mr. Alain Moueix, the fourth-generation grape grower and winemaker of the most important Moueix family in Pomerol, took charge of the winery in 1992, devoted his winemaking skills and expertise to the winery and promoted the development of the winery.

At the beginning of the management of the winery, Mr. Alain Moueix managed the vineyards with rational sustainable cultivation and established a very precise system to manage each plot independently in order to show the uniqueness and diversity of terroirs of different plots. The 2014 vintage of Château Mazeyres, which will be tasted during the master class, is made from 72% of Merlot, 22% of Cabernet Franc, and 6% of Petit Verdot.

8. Domaine Comte Abbatucci le Faustine Rouge 2017

One of the oldest vineyards in Corsica, the winery is situated on a granite hill in the Taravo River Valley, 100 meters above sea level, which has a history of more than a century.

It is worth mentioning that the Domaine Comte Abbatucci is the base for studying the culture of the ancient grape varieties of the region, which preserves the most precious and oldest local grape varieties in Corsica.

Jean-Charles Abbatucci, the owner of the winery, is the pioneer of the Corsica Biodynamic Law. Organic farming began in 1999, biodynamics was implemented in 2000, and certification was obtained in 2003. Domaine Comte Abbatucci, the winery of the Count of Ebbut, was named the only three-star winery on Corsica by RVF. The winery is dedicated to the production of wines with the characteristics of Corsican. The style is known for its purity, delicateness and freshness. It represents the highest quality of Corsica and is of course the most expensive.