Montirius Vignoble Bio-Dynamic

Without question, Domaine Montirius in Vacqueyras is one of the pioneers in matters of biodynamics and is considered to be one of the best wineries in the region. Eric and Christine Saurel switched to biodynamic viticulture in 1996 and produced the first certified vintage in 1999. With almost 60 hectares of vineyards, it is one of the larger farms, but the yields are so minimal that no large quantities are produced. Another special feature is the fact that no wood is used in the vinification and ageing of the wines. These are marked on all labels with "100% non boisé", i.e. no wood.

Why did they choose to do this? Over 20 years ago, many wines were made with a lot of new wood to please the wine critic Robert Parker. Unfortunately, this brought a lot of wood tannins into the wine. Eric is not a big fan of these tannins, but wanted the tannins from grape skins to bring the fruit from the berries, i.e. the terroir, to the bottle. So they chose concrete tanks and experimented. When they started using wood again after a few years, the customers were still much more impressed with the wines from the concrete tanks, so the winery kept using concrete. This is a unique decision that fascinates us. Whoever has drunk these wines will understand.