Welcoming the future at villemajou on a living soil

« Wine must taste of somewhere, not of something. » Gérard Bertrand crafts wines that taste of their terroir, on land worked in biodynamics. A commitment that comes into full effect during the harvest. Explanations at Villemajou.

The lands of Saint-André, sheltered by the first foothills of the Corbières, are home to the vines of the domaine de villemajou, where everything began for the Bertrand family. In the rows of Roussanne, the harvesting team picks the grapes, which, blended with Marsanne and Vermentino varieties, will produce the next vintage of the Château de Villemajou Grand Vin Blanc.
At the helm of the 2021 harvest, Fabrice Bousquet brings 12 years of service alongside Gérard Bertrand. Estate manager of 60 hectares, he provides continuous care to his plots throughout the year and is delighted by the health of the grapes: « We are proud of the health of our vines. For us, it is a real reward to see the fruit of our work. Today, we are happy, as a team. »

« The terroir is elevated when the soils are alive »

In his latest book La Nature au cœur, Gérard Bertrand explains that « The terroir is elevated when the soils are alive: grapes from the terroirs capture the imprint of their biotope with the help of wind, sun and rain, and release, through the alchemy of fermentation, that origin into the wine ». For Fabrice, the vine is also a living organism that takes root in the soil. He has witnessed the evolution of the vine since the estate's conversion to biodynamics and explains one of the many differences: « In a conventional system, it is the roots close to the surface that feed the vine stock, whereas in biodynamics, the vine stock resumes a so-called "normal" progression with deeper rooting and a higher resistance potential ».

From soil to vine, from vine to leaf and from leaf to grape

The story of each plot begins on a terroir, preserved and energised by biodynamics. Here, no herbicides or chemical fertilisers. The grass is cut, the soil turned over, using manual techniques. And at the end of the harvest, when the leaves fall naturally, one by one, it is sheep that take over on the estate. They feed on the grass, produce natural fertiliser and thus nourish the soil. The cycle of life then resumes its course and the taste, that much-sought-after bouquet of this "somewhere", returns. Harvest after harvest. On the terroir of the Corbières.