The best young winegrower on the planet is in Vosne-Romanée in Côte-d’Or! Charles Lachaux, 32, has just received this title at the “Golden Vines Awards”. A title awarded by 440 sommeliers, wine merchants, restaurateurs and specialist journalists from 55 countries.
He received his trophy last October 8 in London, you have to imagine a huge wine stopper set with an authentic gold frame! A total surprise for the young man who was not a candidate for anything at all and who did not even have to apply for this award.
It has gone organic and biodynamic
Obviously his innovative techniques and his determination to do everything possible to produce a quality wine have seduced. Since taking over this 14-hectare family estate in 2012, Charles Lachaux has revolutionized everything, notably in organic and biodynamic farming for his 15 appellations, all in red wine.
– Thomas Nougaillon
“It’s pretty crazy, it’s weird -is he still surprised- the ‘best in the world’ I don’t know, but in any case it validates the work that we have put in place for a few years with the team “ comments Charles Lachaux modestly. The technique of this winegrower consists in part of bringing the uses of the past up to date. “Techniques which were used by the ancients and which were forgotten when agriculture modernized for comfort, mechanization, yields and productivity.”
“We no longer work the soil” explains the winegrower
On the ground as in this vineyard of “Romanée Saint-Vivant”, the most prestigious of the domain, one century old in the middle of the Grands-Crus of Vosne-Romanée, the way of working has changed considerably since taking office by Charles Lachaux. “We no longer work the soils, we have raised our trellises to 1m60 to allow the vines to grow very high, to make small yields and to have successful grapes and fairly simple vinifications “.
– Thomas Nougaillon
It was the very first edition of these “Golden Vines Awards” intended to eventually become the equivalent of the Goldens Globes or the Oscars in the cinema. It is Liquid Icons, the foundation created by Gérard Basset, best sommelier in the world who died in 2019, who launched these “Golden vines Awards” with a double objective: to raise funds to promote diversity and inclusion in viticulture and to make the world of wine more “mainstream”.
Find our report in the morning of France Bleu Bourgogne this Thursday, October 21, 2021 from 7am to 9am (98.3 or 103.7)