Dear customers, colleagues and friends,
The past few weeks have taken our biodynamic wine farm to new milestones. First, Château Mamin 2020 has been ranked among the top three Graves wines by a former Best Sommelier of the World! Another reason to celebrate is a new order placed by a famous French chef renowned for his passion for quality local produce. More modestly, we’ve consolidated our “back to nature” circular approach by making hay on the BioEthik Bordeaux farm for the first time in 70 years. At the same time, recent extreme temperatures have once again brought home the reality of global warming. As we adapt to keep our animals and crops healthy, we understand better than ever the importance of working with the forces of nature. This month, you can also read about my family heritage and watch one of our sheep being sheared. Enjoy the summer! Vincent. “Let food be thy medicine” – Hippocrates
Best Sommelier of the World ranks Château Mamin 2020 among his top three Graves!
“Dark purple color. Pure nose open with a slight balsamic spiciness but within the frames of purity offering crushed cherry, cassis, plum and floral lavender like notes. Pure and digest palate with fluid young fruit, ripe tannin, supple and fresh with good purity and length.” This is how Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of the World 2007, describes Château Mamin 2020, which he recently ranked among his top three Graves wines in a blind tasting of around 200 samples. Our organic red scored 91 out of 100. Please tell us if you’d like to try some!
Keeping the farm cool during the heat wave
On June 18, the temperature in Bordeaux rose to 40°C, just a few months after a record-breaking cold snap this spring. How are we adapting? Well, in biodynamic farming, we do our best to respect nature. We don’t force our Gascon hens to lay in artificial conditions: they’re taking things easy in the heat, molting instead of laying eggs. To keep our Landais sheep happy, we’ve given them a summer shearing and moved them to a shady field. And we’ve coated our greenhouse in reflective white paint to protect our organic herbs from sun damage. As for our vines, the wild grass we’ve sown between the rows will help preserve soil humidity up until harvest, which is sure to come earlier than ever this year.
Making hay while the sun shines: a return to ancestral farming
For the first time since the 1950s, our farm has made hay in preparation for the winter months. This news may seem trivial, but it’s symbolic of our return to ancestral farming: not so long ago, all wine growers bred animals and grew polycrops organically in a single ecosystem that maximized natural resources.
We’ll use this hay to feed our Pyrenean donkeys, who play an important role in guarding our Gascon chickens from predators. What’s more, we’ll be able to create bedding in our coops to make our feathered friends more comfortable by keeping their feet dry and dirt-free – which also guarantees clean eggs. When the grass grows back, our Landais sheep will also benefit by grazing in the fields. This is what we mean by circular farming!
A Father’s Day homage
Since June 19 was Father’s Day in France, here’s a thought for my male ancestors who passed on their passion for the land. Evrard Lataste, my great grandfather, bought Château de Lardiley in 1890 and started to bottle his own wine, which was an award-winning innovation at the time. Skipping a generation, my father Pierre took over until his passing 40 years ago, when I decided to learn the trade. I don’t know who’ll be next, but it must be someone who can put all their energy into preserving our heritage – nature!
Christian Etchebest shares our passion for quality products!
We’re very excited that French celebrity chef Christian Etchebest has joined our clientele. As the founder of several “bistronomic” restaurants, Christian has a passion for cuisine du terroir or home-cooked dishes made from quality local ingredients, especially from Southwest France.
With your meal, you can now savor our Château Mamin 2020 organic red wine at La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. Enjoy!
Love it!
If you’ve never seen a sheep shearer in action, now’s your chance! We love the sheep’s reaction at the end!