In the spring of 2022, a group of experienced Quebec winegrowers traveled to Kamouraska to lend a hand to one of their own. Samuel Lavoie, from Le Raku farm, was confined to a wheelchair after a serious accident. The story that follows is one of great resilience, but also of solidarity in an environment that has chosen mutual aid rather than rivalry.
The last time I walked the Raku vines was exactly five years ago, the day after a festive meal held at the top of the vineyard with the team from the Côté Est restaurant. Samuel spoke to me about the particularity of each of the grape varieties with which he has been experimenting for more than 15 years, while demonstrating his intimate knowledge of the effect of the river on his piece of territory and talking about his passion for climbing.
This time, in mid-August, it is in the winegrower’s truck that we explore the “retreat” (the name, Raku, refers to its remote lands), he and I. In the ranks, the small Raku team, including the young pair of newly hired right-hand men, Paul Liboï and Flavie Rivard, are busy stripping leaves from the vines for better ripening of the berries. Samuel has regained a certain freedom since he was able to get back behind the wheel of his adapted vehicle. He even went to deliver wine to Gaspésie, just to get a little change of scenery.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The river is “the boss” of Raku.
“The river is the boss here,” Samuel reminds me. It has a temperate effect. We don’t have heat or cold peaks. And on a vine, this stability seems a lot. I have almost no spring frosts and in the fall it freezes late. I can therefore harvest until the end of October without problem. This makes up for the fact that our summers are not very hot. »
The man of the land knows his vineyard by heart. Casually, he planted his first feet more than 15 years ago. In 2008, he had a real breakthrough when he visited Les Pervenches, in Farnham. Although the climatic realities of the two areas are quite different, the one who previously had mainly cultivated cereals – the main production of Raku to this day – found in Michael Marler and Véronique Hupin people “like him”. This meeting made him want to continue in the wine industry.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Around forty varieties coexist at Raku.
The next decade was spent determining which grape varieties were best suited to its remote corner of Quebec, so remote in fact that the estate cannot be included in the IGP Vin du Québec. Today, there are around forty varieties planted, a happy mix of hybrids (Roland in good quantity, Marquette, Osceola Muscat, Adalmiina, La Crescent), vitis vinifera (chardonnay, müller-thurgau, gamaret, etc.) and semi-hybrids. In the spring, Samuel won a Laurier de la gastronomie in the “Brewer, winemaker or beverage producer of the year” category.
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Samuel Lavoie at the Lauriers de la gastronomy gala, accompanied by the head of the jury, Perle Morency, from the Côté Est restaurant in Kamouraska
“I still have trouble explaining Sam’s secrets,” Vincent Laniel, winemaker of Très-Précieux-Sang and responsible for the wine list at the Candide restaurant, confides to me. He knows all his grape varieties intimately. If I want to know what the harvest window is for muscat osceola, for example, it will give me absolutely the entire pedigree. »
Candide is THE restaurant in Montreal where you can drink a wide selection of Raku vintages and vintages. “These are wines that the service staff love to sell,” says Vincent Laniel. When customers ask to discover a truly special Quebec wine, that’s often what we’ll open to them. »
With Raku wines, we are sure that the quality is there. Year after year, even if the vintage was difficult, Sam is consistent. It’s because his site in Kamouraska is exceptional and his intuition is incredible.
Vincent Laniel, winemaker and responsible for the wine list at the Candide restaurant
Vincent Laniel speaks the truth. Samuel is a particularly intuitive viticulturist and winemaker. For example, it can determine the time of the harvest based on the taste of the seed. “I try to work with my senses above all,” he explains. We close our eyes and taste. I hardly do any analysis. It’s a bit like chefs. You have to taste. »
A life that changes
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Aerial view of the Raku farm, and some of its vines
It was in January 2022, while he was enjoying a family vacation in Greece, that Samuel Lavoie’s life completely changed. As he prepares to go hiking, rocks break away from the cliff and one of them lands on his back. Back in Quebec, the father of a little girl spent several months in the hospital. He now lives with paraplegia.
I have now accepted that I no longer have the use of my legs. If it were just that, I would still live well. But everything that comes with it is a lot heavier to bear, like chronic pain, medications that knock you out, infections that force me to return to the hospital regularly.
Samuel Lavoie, owner of Le Raku farm
It goes without saying that the admiration his peers have for his great resilience is boundless. “We never hear him complain about his condition,” says Matthieu Beauchemin, of Domaine du Nival. In my head, when I learned what had happened to him, I told myself that it was certain that he would not be able to continue doing his job. But he hangs on. He organizes himself so that Raku remains relevant to him and that is really impressive. »
In the spring of 2022, after learning the tragic news of the accident, winegrower Geneviève Thisdel (En Roue Libre and Les Bacchantes) offered to help with the important operation of pruning the vines. She put together a five-star group composed, among others, of Michael Marler and Véronique Hupin of Pervenches, Matthieu Beauchemin of Domaine du Nival, Vincent Laniel of Très-Précieux-Sang, Martin Laroche of Domaine Le Grand Saint-Charles, trio of “heirs” of Vignoble Sainte-Pétronille and the small, long-standing Raku team.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Geneviève Thisdel, head of cultivation at the Les Bacchantes vineyard, who makes her own wines under the En Roue Libre label, has organized a major task at Raku in 2022.
It was Sam’s first time out of the hospital. I think those days were as memorable for him as they were for us. It felt like we were in a summer camp for winemakers. We had fun really helping out.
Geneviève Thisdel, winemaker
“You had to see Samuel give his instructions for pruning the Roland grape variety to a group of somewhat incredulous experienced winegrowers, who all want to do it their own way,” recalls Vincent Laniel.
The group repeated the experience in spring 2023, confirming that in Quebec, pleasure and the sharing of knowledge between winegrowers take precedence over rivalries. “We are a small market, a young environment. We could be in competition with each other, but no, we are rather united,” says the winegrower at the origin of this great momentum of which everyone can be proud.
PHOTO SIMON CHABOT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Raku bottles are rare.
La Ferme Le Raku is not open to visits and does not sell on site. The estate’s annual production is around 5000 to 6000 bottles. A good number of these remain in the restaurants of Bas-Saint-Laurent. It is sometimes possible to purchase individual bottles at the Côté Est boutique in Kamouraska. Otherwise, you have to drink Samuel Lavoie’s wines in good restaurants in Quebec. Candide, in Montreal, has the largest selection of vintages. For catering, Raku’s representative agency is La Qv.
Corrigendum
In a previous version of this article, we talked about the AOC Vin du Québec when it is rather an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication).