Originally from the north of France, arrived in Bordeaux in 1982, self-taught, Stéphane Derenoncourt met Paul Barre who introduced him to biodynamic agriculture. The meeting is decisive. He quickly became cellar master at the châteaux La Grave, La Fleur Cailleau and Moulin Pey Labrie, to which Pavie Macquin was added in 1990. Stephan Von Neipperg (Canon La Gaffelière) then called on him to create La Mondotte, which became a worldwide success.
Now with a solid reputation as a viticultural and wine-growing expert, Derenoncourt founded his consulting company in 1999 (Derenoncourt Consultants) and acquired his own
property in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, the Domaine de L’A.
Is the famous Gironde appellation at a crossroads? The duty questioned him this week on the subject.
Since the rise of modern oenology in the last half of the last century with the Ribéreau-Gayon, Peynaud and Denis Dubourdieu, and with the specialized press which established Robert Parker in the early 1980s, where is your perception of what is Bordeaux wine today?
In 30 years, I have never tasted wines as good, as well made as today. We have chained very beautiful vintages, it’s extremely rare: 2014, 2015, 2016 (apart from 2017), 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The offer is exceptional, with singular and varied wines, they age admirably well, time reinforces the expression of their terroir.
You place your approach in a broader context given to biodiversity. Is this, in your opinion, the way forward in Bordeaux and everywhere else on the planet?
Biodiversity is now a major concern in a wine-growing context where monoculture has dominated the landscape for too long, in Bordeaux as elsewhere.
The combination of global warming and a fairly humid ocean climate, added to the effects of excessive monoculture, can constitute a real
brain teaser.
The priority now is above all to know your ecosystem well. Our goal is to support wine properties in better understanding their environment, their soils and the sustainable viticulture paths available to them.
However, as a consultant, I don’t impose anything, I try to provide the properties we support with the most appropriate solutions.
Is there a style, a label, a Derenoncourt signature? If so, to what extent should man impress his personality in the expression of wines which he has, in whole or in part, carte blanche to give birth to?
We bring a reflection on the way of producing to achieve a single goal: to make a singular and identity wine. If the wines have in common the pure expression of the fruit and its origin, the process of transformation and aging is above all guided by the analysis of the senses and aims to produce balanced and
singular.
The support process that the company has developed also allows a handover to the domains. This is a very important point for winegrower clients who, thanks to constant dialogue with the Derenoncourt Consultants teams, can take ownership and gradually apply this mode of operation.
Finally, the idea is to do everything possible so that the winegrower can embody his terroir.
How do you envision the future in terms of wine, in Bordeaux or elsewhere, depending on the ongoing climate catastrophe?
To mitigate climate change, we must observe and adapt our practices. There is a quality viticulture that invites us to rethink the vineyards by the orientation of the plots, the management of the trellises, the plant selection and the maintenance of the soil. A viticulture capable of facing the climatic challenges that the vineyard must take up.
The themes of the ecosystem, the life of the soil, the fauna, the flora, raised by organic or biodynamic agriculture, improve the overall balance of a vineyard and therefore its ability to react more effectively to hazards. climatic.