Unlike the other Quebec winegrowers in this series of portraits of the harvest, Xavier Burini and Karine Bonneville did not start from scratch to build their little Eden. Le Clos des cigales is the continuation of the Vignoble des Pins, which Gilles Benoît planted in the 1980s. The recovery has its share of challenges, but the first wines, released during the summer, are already worthy of a garden of delights. .
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
The first weekend of October, in the Haut-Richelieu, a swarm of pickers – family, friends and journalists! – picked the last Frontenacs from the Clos, under the sun. “The grapes are ripe, but these maturities are still a little on the edge of the razor”, admits Xavier Burini, while he returns the buckets to the cellar. The vat is ready to receive the grapes for carbonic maceration.
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Xavier Burini picks up the last grapes in his vineyard.
“I want to get the taste of the fruit as much as possible. I love carbon! Afterwards, we will put the must in the fermentation egg and work it on its lees to give it substance. »
Translation: the winemaker will try to provide his precious grape with all the conditions it needs to turn into good wine, despite a difficult growing season in 2022.
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Xavier Burini works in the cellar.
In Quebec, it is clear that our issues are not the same as in a rather stable Mediterranean basin, for example. We are in a northern climate, we cannot afford to do nothing at all and just leave the vines to themselves.
Xavier Burini, winemaker
“For now, we haven’t added any yeast to our fermentations and we haven’t sulphated anything,” he adds. But that doesn’t mean I’ll never use sulfur in my wine. What is more ecological: put 2 grams per 100 liters or throw away its production? The O2, we are not demonizing it here. »
The passing of the torch
The Clos des cigales could well have been called Clos de la patience. The couple “shopped” their vineyard for almost 10 years. At the start of the research, Xavier Burini was co-owner of the restaurant Les Trois Petits Bouchons (closed in 2015), one of the first establishments to offer an exclusively natural and artisanal wine list. In the meantime, Karine Bonneville opened the grocery store of her dreams in 2018, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Les Petites Bonneville, where she also sells a large number of Quebec wines.
Empty-handed after several visits and even a few refused offers (including one at the Vignoble des Pins which was not on sale at the time), the household put their dream on hold. Then one day, Gilles Benoît decided it was time to pass the torch.
“Mr. Benoît, he planted vines four times, a good forty different grape varieties, especially resilient varieties. This is what allowed him to do as few treatments as possible, to have the best performance and to maintain a reasonable workload”, explains Xavier Burini.
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Le Clos des cigales has finished bearing fruit for the 2022 vintage.
What remains today on the 2 hectares: old Marshal Foch vines over 35 years old, Frontenacs (black, gray, white) 20 to 25 years old, La Crescent, Louise Swenson, Saint -cliche, Marquette and Petite Perle, Sabrevois and Muscat, among others.
The Burini-Bonnevilles bought land in good condition. “Here, there was no Roundup or other systemic products that stay in the soil and play with the mycorrhizal flora. Mr. Benoît did not use weed killer either. He is a biochemist by training. He knew how dangerous certain products were and always used the bare minimum. »
In Quebec, in general, we are overwhelmed with diversity. We walk in Burgundy and there is only grass and clover. Not a bird, not a fly, not a tree. They fight to have the diversity that we have.
Xavier Burini, winemaker
“But they, over the centuries, learned which grape varieties were adapted to their environment,” he adds. Of course, that’s changing there. But what I’m saying is that the Quebec vineyard is still young and in full development. We still have many answers to find. »
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Xavier Burini is the winemaker of Clos des cigales.
no dogma
Like Zaché Hall, from the L’espiègle estate, or Frédéric Simon and Catherine Bélanger, from Pinard & filles, among others, Xavier Burini and Karine Bonneville do not want to pay for organic or biodynamic certification to prove that they are doing the things.
“I’m in a certain mould, but I’m also a bit on the fringe, says Xavier Burini. Having specifications that are dogmatic, entering into the debate of beliefs, that doesn’t tempt me at all. We do not set dogma. We prefer to observe, try, see the results, compare and consider the long term. I want to replant resistant varieties, but in the end, I will mainly choose something that I want to have in my glass. Balance is choosing the drawbacks you are willing to live with. »
The wines of Clos des cigales are on sale in a large number of delicatessens, including The Wine Box, Do you want a beer, Butterblume, Conserva, Boucherie Lawrence, Les Petites Bonneville (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu), The nature reserve (Sutton) and many others. About twenty restaurants also have a few cuvées on their menu, including Pastaga, Candide, Denise, Cave à grandma, Liège (Repentigny) and Bernarche (Sherbrooke).