In 1989
Catherine and Jean-Mary Le Bihan settled in the Lot-et-Garonne, an
area of mixed agriculture and the AOC Côtes-de-Duras, a large appellation
that make largely forgettable wines targeted for supermarket sales
in France. The area has never been thought of as a source for fine
wine, although the appellation has existed since 1937, and lives in
the shadow of Bordeaux, with which it shares many of the same grape
varieties.
At first, the Le Bihans ran a service business for farmers, doing
heavy agricultural work with big machinery. In 1997, they took over
Jean-Mary’s father’s farm which included 5 hectares of vines. The
couple knew nothing about viticulture or winemaking and relied on
neighbors for the most basic help.
After three vintages producing wines they did not like, and sold in
bulk, they were ready to sort their best grapes and pick them by hand.
In 2000 they made their first six barrels of red and two of white.
From then on, they changed all their viticultural methods, notably
by pruning short, making the treillissage higher so that more foliage
would be exposed to the sun, getting rid of superfluous bunches to
keep yields low, and using exclusively organic fertilizers. They also
started plantations of new vines at a much higher density than is
common in the area, 5600 vines per hectare rather than 3000 vines,
and selected low-yielding root-stocks.
They built a winery, bought vinification equipment and by the fall
of 2000, they were able to pick their entire crop by hand. The average
yields that year were 50hl/ha, and have since gone down to 30hl/ha
in 2001 and 20hl/ha in 2002. Their vineyard acreage has grown to 16ha,
and they still have other crops -- soy, lentils, wheat, sunflowers,
fava beans, and prunes -- all grown organically. Now they are phasing
out the machinery business to concentrate on their vines and wines.
Catherine also breeds Arabian horses, with a stable of 25.
The 2005 Harvest, by Jean-Mary le Bihan (10/25/05):
"Everything we picked was beautiful and we had superb weather.
Last week, we stopped picking because we did not like the last 2 hectares
of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc: the grapes' skins were very thick
and the tannins rustic. Since there was rain in the forecast for the
mid week, immediately followed by the return of good weather, we waited
it out. This was the right thing to do, the grapes we picked on Monday
and Tuesday, after 60mm of rain fell, were perfectly ripe, and the
amount of potential alcohol had dropped (from above 14% to less than
14%.) The first vats we harvested have been pressed for a while already.
Because the skins were thick and the ratio of juice to solid matter
low, we have enormous fruit and color concentration, but big tannins
as well, and we did not want to macerate for too long. We de-vatted
before the alcoholic fermentation was complete, and let it finish
in the juice, to avoid too severe tannic structures."
The information
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