In a lengthy interview – ‘we’re very talkative in the family’ – this great professional, attentive and sensitive, opens up. In Gevrey-Chambertin, with a calm tone, a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, he talks in no particular order about climate change, biodynamic viticulture, the virtuous practices he has put in place, ‘his’ Alsace and his local wines, since his wife Andrée took over the family estate there… Fascinating.
The Trapet family weren’t always from Gevrey-Chambertin..
In fact, as small winemakers we cultivated vines, not in Gevrey-Chambertin, but in Chambolle-Musigny, before Louis Trapet, my great-great-grandfather, married Marie Raillard and they jointly acquired – a rare occurrence – their first parcel on 23 October 1859. The estate grew by dint of hard work and common sense. But there were also encounters that were as decisive as they were fortuitous, such as that with a nurseryman in the south of France, at the dawn of the spread of phylloxera. As a young officer enlisted in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he inspired my great-great-grandfather with the idea of grafting… A happy coincidence : it saved our vines and marked the start of a new era.
How did you get into biodynamic viticulture?
It’s always been in the family. It includes one of the earliest biodynamists: Bernard Ronot. He was a colourful character, an icon, who Andrée and I naturally turned to after taking over the running of the estate in the early 1990s. In Burgundy, we’re lucky enough to produce wines that are appreciated the world over: we have to be exemplary. That’s important to me. We had already done away with herbicides. But we were still marked by my grandfather’s stories about winegrowers who lost entire harvests to mildew. The vines had to be ‘clean’. He was obsessed with this. At the end of his life, he even sent my grandmother to go and check that the sulphate machine had left the estate, which he thought was a sign that we were using it. In fact, my father used to park it in a corner of the village… But in the end, Andrée and I took the plunge. It made no sense to do things by halves. In 1997, the entire estate went biodynamic. Today, as in the past, it’s a conviction, it’s something we do pragmatically, without dogma.
Just like the experiments carried out by Biodyvin…
Yes, we set up this association in 1995. Chaired by my friend Olivier Humbrecht, it organises tastings and training courses. Above all, it promotes the work of independent researchers seeking tangible and reproducible proof of the benefits of biodynamic viticulture for grapes, plants and soil.
Coming back to the estate now, what are the broad outlines of the practices you’ve put in place?
Climate change is cruel. They encourage us to be active, even pro-active. Following the example of the association set up by Aubert de Villaine to protect Pinot Noir, we have set up our own conservatory. If a vine is grubbed up, we systematically take care to replant a sample plot. And with good reason: this variety, with its incredible genetic diversity, is a true translator of place. Tomorrow, several of these cultivars could be very useful to us.
Have you also raised your vines?
Yes, I have two children, Pierre and Louis, who are particularly keen on virtuous practices. They have lots of ideas and just as many experiments to carry out. They wear us out (laughs)… One of them is changing the trellising system, with high stakes or trellises. In our case, we’re talking about more than 50,000 stakes! That’s no mean feat… Over and above the work involved, I had a few doubts. I have to admit it. Fortunately, they turned out to be unfounded. For the moment… I’m knocking on wood. The first of these is linked to the fact that the vine needs all its energy during flowering. I was afraid that this looser growth pattern would constrain them. This is not the case. I was also worried about the greater risk of disease, given the greater leaf surface area. This is not the case. Basically, I wonder if cutting off the top of the vine doesn’t disturb it even more. It’s as if letting the vine stop growing when it wants to does allow it to express itself better. Not to mention the more significant shade, which facilitates working conditions, reduces water pressure and provides good acidity, even in vintages like 2022; or the question of plant cover, which is even more relevant in the presence of raised vines. For 3 years now, we’ve been sowing: first a legume, often vetch – although I’m beginning to find it too invasive – then a cereal such as barley or rye… It’s all very exciting!
So the machines had to be adapted?
Exactly. The traditional tractors no longer span the ground. We opted for high models, including an electric one. A machine designed by a couple of engineers, the daughter and son of farmers. It works pretty well, even if we had a bit of a rough start. But you have to go through it, don’t you? In addition to these tractors, there’s a whole range of self-propelled wheelbarrows… Pierre and Louis share a very holistic vision of things. They’ve even gone so far as to set themselves targets for carbon expenditure per hectare…
And what about the winery?
Here too, there’s been a lot of experimentation. In 1996, for example, we launched our first sulphur-free cuvée: A minima. It was created when Julien Dutruy came to the estate. A winemaker in the Genevois region, he wanted to learn about biodynamic practices with us. At the time, I’d just read the excellent Jules Chauvet ou le talent du vin by Jacques Néauport. I felt I was up to the challenge of doing some trials together in vats without sulphur… We opted for Gamay, the most tough of the grape varieties, combined with Pinot Noir. The result? A pleasurable wine, with good acidity – no mean feat in those days. But when it comes to SO2, you have to keep your wits about you… Another playground: the containers. Like ovoid vats. It’s hard to say for sure, but this shape is thought to encourage Brownian motion and therefore exchanges… It remains to be seen. In any case, wine is about aesthetics: working with this type of format makes sense.
As someone with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Alsace, what do these two wine regions have in common?
In my opinion, there is a great deal of common ground between Burgundy and Alsace winemakers. They both celebrate local wines and wines for ageing. When you love the beautiful, the good and the true, that’s the only way to go!