Domaine Béatrice & Pascal Lambert
Béatrice & Pascal Lambert's winery is located in the Loire Valley in the Chinon region, where the couple cultivates two typical varieties of the region together with their son Antoine and their team. The total area of the orchards covers 25 hectares, of which 20 hectares are Cabernet Franc and 5 hectares Chenin Blanc. Pascal Lambert founded the farm in 1987 in the village of Les Chesnaies, east of Chinon, where the orchards are located on soils made up of sand, gravel, limestone and clay. By 1995, all the orchards on the farm were managed completely organically, and the Ecocert certificate for the operation was obtained in 2005. Biodynamic principles were followed, inspired by Nicolas Joly, and from 2012 onwards, the wines have been certified by Biodyvin. For the Lamberts, biodynamics means finding the best possible balance between plants and their habitat. An important part of this balance are also the people who live alongside the vines throughout their life cycle. There wouldn't be healthy vines if someone didn't take care of them, and quality wine wouldn't be made if grapes weren't collected or processed using working production equipment. According to the Lamberts, the country gives people the opportunity to work, and it would be sheer stupidity not to use this opportunity.
The vines in the Lambert nurseries have not been selected from clone catalogs, but the vines have been planted based on massale selection collected over generations. The time to cut the vines is decided based on the moon cycle. During the year, no chemicals are used in garden work. The soil below the vines is worked with the help of horses, so that the grass growing in the paddocks does not compete too much for the available nutrients and minerals with the vines. Every year, other vegetation is planted between the vine rows, such as mustard, oats, rapeseed and rye, which help balance the copper and sulfate concentrations in the soil and produce nitrogen. The rhizomes of these plants help in the development of soil diversity and enrich the otherwise monocultural nature of viticulture. The use of compost made from the farm's grape must, clippings, tree bark and cow and horse manure and supplemented with biodynamic preparations and lactic acid bacteria contributes to the vitality of the nurseries. Crop amounts are limited by removing the buds and the health of the vines is taken care of with precise leaf work and various plant extracts.
After harvesting by hand, when the grapes arrive from the orchards to the winery, they are carefully sorted. After removing the stems, the grapes are poured into the tanks without the help of pumps, so the grapes are not crushed too violently. The fermentation of the wines begins in cement and oak vessels with the help of a natural yeast strain. The temperature is controlled, but the fermentation processes are slow and last a long time. In addition to cement tanks, oak containers and barrels of different sizes, as well as amphorae made of Tuscan clay, are used as maturing vessels. The tanks are filled and the wines are bottled at times considered to be favorable, taking into account the position of the moon. Sulfur dioxide is only added to wines during bottling.
Lambert's wines taste of their origin and the undeniably high quality of the grapes. The couple's down-to-earth attitude and nature-respecting principles make these wines truly unique examples of what the Loire Valley has to offer the wine world.
The producer has a Biodyvin certificate.
