Domaine de la Tournelle Savagnin

In the field... Evelyne and Pascal Clairet are vignerons in Arbois, in eastern France. The Clairets use biodynamic techniques in their viticulture, and credit these methods with the health of their vines and success of their wines even in challenging vintages. They are dedicated natural farmers. This philosophy manifests itself in a variety of ways at Domaine de la Tournelle. Vineyards are replanted en massale, a technique that retains the genetic diversity of the farm's vine stock. This older form of planting stands in contrast to replanting clonally, with genetically identical plants, a method which is the norm in commercial viticulture. The winemakers use organic fungicides and avoid synthetic chemicals in their vineyard and cellar work. They control pests using natural methods, focusing on the creation of an ecosystem in balance with natural predators for vine pests as a part of the solution. They harvest all of the estate's fruit by hand.  Yields are kept low, in the vicinity of 35 hectoliters per hectare.