• Olivier Guyot,
you were born into a family of wine-growers, weren’t you ?…
Absolutely ! My mother went into the hospital on the last day of
the grape harvest, after the Paulée, on 23rd October 1963
- the harvest was late that year. Just a few days later my parents
would leave me in my Moses basket at the end of a row of vines
while they worked.
• You learned
a lot from your grandfather, I believe ?…
Oh yes. I used to go with him all the time to the vineyards,
his nursery (his main job was as a nurseryman). He taught me
to graft, to prune, to plough and always in ways that respected
nature.
I learned wine making in other estates in France and I’ve
gradually gained experience by making wine here on my own estate.
• Yours is
a demanding job. What made you take up bio-dynamic cultivation
which surely imposes additional constraints ?
Yes and no. I have always believed that each of us, in his
own way, can respect the environment. The older generation
believed that heavy use of fertilizers was good for vines.
This is not case. For ten years now I have worked the soil
hard – ploughing, earthing up, de-earthing – this
all takes time, but I no longer have to weed. The quality of
the grapes has improved and this is reflected in wines that
are naturally well balanced and have the ‘feel’ of
their terroir. This is the very spirit of Burgundy.
I do not want to become officially Organic as this involves
a huge ADMINISTRATIVE burden, but I believe and practise everything
that the organic movement stands for.
• What advantages
does this form of cultivation have over the more traditional
methods ?
Rather than bore you with technicalities, let me just give you
a recent example - 2003, the year of the heat wave and drought.
I was talking about this just now. Because I’ve been working
the soil hard for a number of years, the roots of my vines go deep,
as much as 10, even 15 metres. At that depth they were able to
find what they needed to survive the drought. What’s more,
we didn’t thin the leaves so as to protect the grapes. You
could see the difference between ours and the neighbouring vineyards – the
foliage was green and much denser. When you see results like that
you really feel inspired to carry on.
• You can’t
be everywhere at once, so I assume that your wife, Réjane,
is a great help to you ?…
Oh yes ! Réjane is responsible for all the administrative
side of the business. This means that I can concentrate on what
I really love : vines, winemaking and tasting.
• Your most
unusual helper must surely be Indigo (see photos and videos),your
sturdy carthorse !
He has been a great help for 6 years now, especially in working
the vineyards.
• What gave
you the idea of using a carthorse ?
After a holiday… in a horse drawn caravan, Réjane
and I both love horses so we bought Indigo for work and pleasure – ploughing
and carriage rides (for us and our customers).
• When we see
you so at home in your vineyards, it’s hard to imagine
you anywhere else. And yet you travel a lot to present your
wines and share your love of winemaking…
Yes, I need to keep in contact with wine lovers, I think it’s
important to hear what they have to say.
After almost two years’ work, growing vines and maturing
wine, I can finally spend time to get to know them – I
always look forward to these meetings but I’m pretty
anxious at the same time.
• So tell me,
how would you describe your wines ?
On the whole, my wines are floral, elegant, gourmand, sensual
when drunk from two to six years old
The Gevrey and the Grand Crus are more concentrated, more substantial,
wines to be laid down to gain fullness and finesse as they
age.
• What ambitions
do you have for the future ?
To keep improving so as to satisfy those who appreciate good
wine !… also to expand sales throughout the world. Constructing
a vat-room would make our work easier.
But the most important thing is that every one of the bottles
we produce is enjoyed to the full by those who share it !
