Bernard Vallette

Last year I was in France visiting winemakers and staying with friends. I had a list of winemakers that I wanted to visit and since I didn't speak French I enlisted the help of my friend, Anna, to help me contact them. “Oh, this winemaker is practically my neighbor!”, said Anna.  She opened her neighborhood directory, as one does when looking for top winemakers, and began dialing. Yes, I asked my French speaking friend to cold call winemakers. I sat at her kitchen table as she called Bernard Vallette wringing my hands like a giddy teenager. “He said you can come by tomorrow, oh and he speaks English.” Now I felt stupid. I could have called him myself.

The next morning I drove to Bernard Vallette and it was so close, I could have walked. Bernard was waiting outside when I arrived and before I could even close the door to my car he said “Bonjour. Ah, you know, we have no Beaujolais. I don't make ANY Beaujolais anymore! I make Gamay.”  Yeah, about that “Beaujolais” thing…. If you ever decide to strike out and become a winemaker in France bear in mind that you must submit a sample to the French government for permission to bottle your wine under your area’s designation (i.e. Beaujolais). If your wine is rejected, you can still sell your wine, but it cannot carry the designation for your area. Bernard Vallette’s wine was rejected for being “atypical”. He hasn't submitted any wine since.

We walked over a large lawn on the side of the house to a beautiful view overlooking 6.5 hectares of densely planted vines, with approximately 10,000 vines per hectare. There were holes dug in between some of the vines where fruit trees would soon be finding a new and happy home. This domaine can be traced back 150 years to the Marquis de la Guiche and was later purchased by the grandparents of Bernard Vallette. The domaine has been certified as organic since 2004 and biodynamic since 2006. And those densely planted vines? All are harvested by hand.

After our brief vineyard jaunt we went inside to taste some remarkable wines. Bernard Vallette makes a beautiful Chardonnay and four wines from the Gamay grape: a rosé, a sparkling rosé (method traditionalle), and two red wines. All of the wines are produced using natural yeasts during the fermentation process and are not chaptalized, meaning that the wine has no added sugar. The domaine has been certified organic since 2004 and biodynamic since 2006. And those densely planted vines? All are harvested by hand. Here is a perfect example of a winemaker whose wine needs no designation.