Micro-domaines: good wines with limited resources

Taking care of a very small area of vines and producing quality cuvées with little equipment: this was the heart of the "garage wine" movement in Bordeaux in the 1990s. Who are today's micro-domaines?

Justine Knapp Published on 10/25/24 at 7:26 AM

In the early 1990s, in Saint-Émilion, a handful of winegrowers stood out in the Bordeaux landscape, producing critically acclaimed quality wines in small quantities and with limited resources. Nearly thirty years on, what are the reasons for choosing a micro-domain? Can you make a living from it? Three recently enlarged estates share their experiences.

Domaine du Petit Poucet, Gérard Blaess

Gérard Blaess: I'm the smallest wine merchant in Alsace. My father was a winegrower. He cultivated two parcels that had belonged to his father, including a very old vineyard in the Steinklotz Grand Cru. When he fell ill, my mother wanted to sell them. That was nearly thirty years ago, when I was 35, and I decided to go back to my first job as a technician in an engineering office in Obernai. I took care of the vines in the evenings and at weekends, a pleasant physical activity, and I'd take a day or two off to harvest the grapes - that was enough.

I also wanted to show that you could make wine with very little technical means. In my vineyards, all you need is a pickaxe and a small tractor. For the first nine years, I delivered my grapes to a major wine merchant, because I didn't have a cellar. One day, seeing my beautiful little organic bunches crushed by industrial vinification, I made up my mind. I took a year's sabbatical and passed my professional exam to start my own winery. Always double-active, I signed my first vintage in 2009. My small cellar equipment paid for itself after eight years.

I recently retired from my other job as a technician. For the first time, thanks to the time I've saved and land opportunities, I've extended the surface area of the estate, from 45 to 70 ares. Expanding was a way of chasing away the boredom of my semi-retirement.

The estate :

Appellation Alsace
0.7 hectares (biodynamic)
www.domainepetitpoucet.com

Domaine de la Bénisson-Dieu, Régis and Aude-Reine Anouil

Régis Anouil: When we changed our lives at the age of 50, we wanted to find a place where the two of us could work together without mechanization, as far as our physical means allowed. In 2019, we settled on the minimum surface area to be considered as a farm (which varies by region, Editor's note), with no particular economic plan.

If all goes well, this year we'll manage to pay ourselves our first salary. Our foundations are fragile, we've underestimated our sales time, and sales don't fall by themselves. And the yields from our vines are very low, around 20 hectolitres per hectare, half the appellation average. But we're not afraid of this, as it gives the wines a density that's very appealing.

We have, however, planted an additional 1.3 hectares of hybrid grape varieties. To save money and out of curiosity about what we see as the future. These varieties are more in line with our agronomic project. Because of their good resistance to disease, they require little or no copper and sulfur. Our idea is not to enter a race for acreage, we simply want to make a living from our work on the land.

The estate:

Côte Roannaise appellation
2.6 hectares (organic)
https://domaine-labenissondieu.fr

Closeries des Moussis, Laurence Alias and Pascale Choime

Laurence Alias: I was an agricultural engineer and Pascale an oenologist. We had a political idea in mind: to make wine in the Médoc with little technological means, and to do it well. Wines that could be drunk young or kept over time, vibrant like the airy Cabernet Sauvignons of the 1960s that had given us great emotion in the region.

The Bordeaux garage wine movement had caught our attention, and we knew it was possible. The old-timers recall that double-activity was a classic in the Médoc. It was not uncommon to come across a baker cultivating 30 ares of vines next door. The region was full of small wineries.

Our idea was to make a small investment, which became a reality in 2009. We rented 2 hectares of vines for a small fee, worked in the vineyards by hand and on horseback, and in a well-insulated winery that requires little energy. We only needed a loan of 25,000 euros to set up, in addition to our salaried work which financed the beginnings. This low level of bank involvement gave us a great deal of freedom. We were able to take risks right from the start: organic growing, vinification with naturally occurring yeasts, very few sulfites. Our first vintage sold out completely, and customers followed us thereafter. With two hectares, we were earning two full-time salaries.

However, we had to prove the viability of our business in order to obtain the status of winegrowers and contribute to our future pension. Winegrowing micro-activity is not encouraged by the profession.

After eight years at this pace, 2017 changed all that. Since then, spring frosts have become systematic and mildew increasingly virulent. In 2020, we decided to double our surface area and buy a few more vats. It wasn't a decision that went without saying, but living off so few vines with the vagaries of the weather was no longer an option.