Jestin Clos de Cumières 2012 (EN)
Hervé Jestin:
An Oenologist in Harmony with Nature
Hervé Jestin, oenologist and consultant, has a deep relationship with his wines and with nature. He met the team at the heart of his Clos de Cumières, planted with equal parts chardonnay and pinot noir, which he bought in 2010 from the Champagne Leclerc-Briant family. His champagnes, from his first harvest of Clos de Cumières in 2012, are currently waiting in the cellars, to be released in 2017. In the meantime, Hervé Jestin travels the world to consult with his customers, while benefiting from the support of Vincent Laval, another renowned biodynamic winemaker. Laval and his team take care of regular vineyard maintenance and also allow Hervé to use their 2000 kg press - the perfect size for his small plot - during harvest. While the buildings of the neglected property are being demolished or converted into a new laboratory, cellars and other necessary facilities, Jestin tries to spend every available moment in his clos.
Hervé Jestin: A Biodynamic Pioneer in the World of Champagne
Hervé Jestin, a flying oenologist and consultant, is known for his love of the world and his dedication to winemaking. He works all over the world, focusing primarily on the wines of Champagne. He has earned a reputation in the region, not least for his most cherished project: the production of energetic, soulful wines and the development of biodynamic viticulture. His discovery of biodynamic viticulture began in 1995, when he was cellar master for Champagne Duval-Leroy. At the time, biodynamic viticulture was little known and even less accepted. As head of production, he participated in the development and application of unconventional winemaking methods, far removed from the conventional oenological approach.
Hervé Jestin: An Oenologist's Journey to Biodynamics
Hervé Jestin, having had to forget everything he'd learned during his oenology studies, soon began buying organic grapes for several of Maison Duval-Leroy's cuvées. However, he soon realized that he wanted to go further, following his instinct for the possibilities of biodynamic viticulture. Despite the lack of support from some, he had to turn to qualified winemakers who had made the transition from organic production to a healthier approach. In 1997, he produced the first biodynamic vintage with grapes from David Leclapart, a big name in winemaking champagnes today. After a decade, Duval-Leroy non-vintage champagne entered the world's top 100 wines, an achievement that surprised many. Since then, Jestin has consulted with many wine producers, from Champagne to England, Russia and Canada, and has also collaborated with a range of like-minded innovators. With his loving perception of life and confidence in a higher intelligence in nature, Hervé Jestin has become one of the most renowned oenologists in the world of bioenergetic viticulture.
Hervé Jestin: The Unique Energy of Clos de Cumières and the Human Connection with the Vine
Hervé Jestin talks about his intense connection with Clos de Cumières, a terroir he bought because of its unique and distinct energy. He sees the soil as a vibrant organism, with its own intelligence and consciousness, just like every other element in nature. For him, life is universal and every terroir has something different to offer, but what he emphasizes is life. It's life that transforms a piece of earth into something to which a human being can relate. He doesn't believe in the "laissez-faire" principle. In biodynamics, they are very attentive to what matter is trying to tell them, to what it is trying to produce for them.
Hervé Jestin: The Art of Vinification and the Intelligence of the Vine
Hervé Jestin explains that their role is to perceive and understand what's going on, and to provide the missing elements that life needs to grow. This can be very simple in some cases, for example by providing more light or air. Sometimes, it's a plant, stone or mineral they need to add to steer the matter in a certain direction. He works intuitively, without precise rules, and constantly adapts his methods according to the season. He stresses the importance of the relationship between the chef de caves and the wine, and explains that the important work begins long before the pressing. Around 70-80% of an oenologist's work is normally done before the juice comes off the press. He notes that when the juice from a pressed must is directed into three or four different containers, they get three different wines, which indicates that wine has the ability to resonate and has an intelligence of its own because it is living matter.
Hervé Jestin: Wine Resonance and Human Interaction
Hervé Jestin explains that resonance is what distinguishes wine from the normal rules of chemistry. However, this distinction is not often understood or accepted, which often leads to interventions that are too late, resulting in wines that are distinctly different from one container to the next and lack a certain dimension. These wines may still be excellent, but they lack a vital connection. When he starts working with a new customer, he must first establish a certain state of mind in the pressing room. He explains that the winemaker acts as an operator, but is only one element interacting with all the others. If you change the operator, you get different results. Wine reacts in the same way as pure water. You can provide a certain range of stimuli to feed its metabolism, and it will function according to the nature of the stimuli received. He recalls a day when he was tasting a winemaker friend's wines in his presence, and he was really surprised by the difference one bottle presented compared to the others. He said to his friend, "You must have been in a hurry the day you made that wine, rushing off to an appointment or something." His friend laughed and admitted that he was right and that that day had been really chaotic. He could taste something in the wine, a certain tension, caused by stress. It's not bad stress, something to do with time constraints. It's the kind of effect we can have on a wine as human beings. As winemakers, they have to try to keep things simple. There are people who use their mental powers to create wines and they produce excellent wines, no doubt about it.
Hervé Jestin: Respecting the Intelligence of Wine
Hervé Jestin emphasizes that to create wines that resonate with the human element, you have to respect the material and allow it its autonomy and intelligence. When making conventional champagne, there are no rules for adding sulfur. He chooses a different quantity for each marc he presses, and starts again with a different quantity when the next marc arrives. He uses his divining rod to let the wine tell him exactly what he needs. He admits he sometimes has doubts, but believes it's important to always maintain a positive energy. In moments of doubt, we shouldn't try to find the answer within ourselves, but simply let the material express itself. Humans have an influence on wine, and the important thing is to have a positive influence on wine and maintain a state of benevolence. What they do should be dictated by the wine, not the other way around. If the wine needs lots of love, it's their responsibility to feed it with lots of love. If it needs stimulation to resist the forces of nature at a certain time of year, they must provide the stimulation.
Hervé Jestin: Listening to Life and the Unique Expression of Biodynamics
Hervé Jestin asks how we can place ourselves higher than life itself and dictate what it needs. He argues that we cannot create something greater than life in this way. So it's a matter of learning to listen to life and respond with everything we do. He points out that today we live in a very technological world, but what is technology ultimately good for? He doesn't think people are happier today. His most important goal as a winemaker is to make people aware that biodynamics has a unique cause and expression. It's not about what he or any other biodynamic winemaker might say to try and convince them. Rather, it's about letting people taste the difference, the vitality and energy of their wines. Once they've tasted a wine and said, "Wow, this is something I've never tasted before. How did they do that?", they usually come to them for explanations. But it's the overall experience of the wine that will lead them to conclude: "Okay, biodynamic Champagnes are no nonsense. I can taste and feel the difference.