A page turns to better write the following ones.
Arrived in Béarn for the 2008 harvest, 2019 were our last on the lands of Guirardel.
Twelve vintages to discover a profession, make it a passion, experiment, go far, perhaps too much.
Since 2012 in Organic (certified in 2015) then without fertilizers or amendments, then without topping and with the minimum of copper (less than one Kg per hectare per vintage) and sulfur (thanks to essential oils) we have come as close than we could from a natural balance in the field.
In the cellar, the approach was symmetrical, with the successive abandonment of settling, fining, sulphiting, filtration to arrive from 2016 at wines 100% grape juice free of any input, the indigenous yeasts having generously ensured the alcoholic fermentations without slack for 4 centuries.
And after ? How to get out of a viticulture of clones (for those who don't know, the vast majority of vines have nothing "wild", they are clones selected and not necessarily based on quality criteria for the finished product 'elsewhere) ? How to move away from mono-culture fundamentally in opposition to the natural balances always stemming from diversity?
How to live, to assume the studies of our young teenagers when our professional choices make the production costs soar beyond what "the market" can understand and accept?
The social balance is made of compromises but their practice is unfortunately not natural to us.
We take no pride in it and we deeply admire those who know how to find it while remaining sincere.
Without remorse or regrets, we are placing this jewel that is the Guirardel hillside in the hands of the one who, we sincerely hope, will be able to do what we have not been able to do: gently adapt this heritage to the requirements of the 21st century. century.
We can never thank enough those who have advised us, helped us, by their encouragement or, unwittingly, by their sometimes scathing but fair criticisms. Those who trusted us and followed us on our journey of learning, who loved our wines and understood their evolution. We will quickly forget the enthusiasts of all kinds whose promises only engage the naive who listens to them, the noisy defenders of "small winegrowers" or "clean wines" who seek above all to make their business run by looking for "nuggets less than 10€. They also taught us a lot but from there to say thank you, we still have a long way to go.
The rest of the adventure will take place in the Basque Country where a very old mill, converted to hydroelectricity at the beginning of the 20th century to supply a spinning mill and then a chocolate factory, is in the process of seeing the building converted into stones that housed these noble activities in the cellar. Natural vinification requiring
time, we take with us our cuvées in the making to finish, as it should, what we started. So there will be wine from Guirardel, for the faithful and their friends, for a decade or two.
To avoid any confusion with future productions of the Guirardel estate, we have chosen a new name for our wines in relation to this new place: Ugo. The Basque name being Uhaguneko Eihera, we have simplified it a bit.
During the transition we are trained, among other things, in agroforestry. The forest or more precisely its edge is the original environment of the vine. It is in similar conditions, surrounded by trees that serve as support that it can really give the best of itself without the need for nutritional support or "treatment". Brewing beer, cooking, growing avocados, mushrooms or pigs, getting people to meet and talk to each other, live performance, are other ideas that run through our heads and go take shape in the months or years to come.
Natural winemakers, here's the information we need to register you on Raisin.
DESCRIPTION OF YOUR DOMAINE
Please provide the information about your estate including location, size, treatments used,
horses, tractors, harvests, etc. within 300-500 characters. This description will be added to your profile.
CERTIFICATIONS (ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC) :
Please send us all certifications (organic, biodynamic, etc.). If your estate is not certified,
please explain why and describe your farming practices.
INFORMATION ON EACH OF THE WINES YOU PRODUCE:
wine name
color
grape variety(ies) by year(s)
appellation
sparkling
label photo (.pdf format - printer's proof)
volume of free and total sulfur
analysis of each vintage
Is your wine from Négociant activities?
PHOTOS :
a photo of you (the winemaker)
photos of the winery and cellar (between 6 and 12)