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The Camaraderie of Vignerons
My favorite “aha” moment of the day was this: The 2016 harvest was a disaster at Château de Béru. An early killing frost devastated the majority of their vineyards, followed by hailstorms later in the spring. The silver lining to the 2016 weather was a story of the “Camaraderie of Vignerons”. When they heard of the plight of Château de Béru, other organic/biodynamic growers around France sent them grapes so they could make some wine. They commented that someday they may lose a harvest and perhaps Château de Béru would send them some Chardonnay grapes.  At Château de Béru, Gaelle said they had fun making wine from grapes they had never worked with before: Carignan, etc… Such is the spirit of the organic & biodynamic winegrowing community.

Once you find the entry door in the imposing wall outside, you enter the compound, wow.

Finding Château de Béru
We just had time for one day in Chablis, and just one winery visit. Better choose well! I had met Zev Rovine on his visit to Minneapolis in the fall. Zev specializes in small organic, biodynamic and natural wineries, and he imports Château de Béru. I had bought and enjoyed a couple bottles so I was curious to see if we could visit.  Luckily, Château de Béru has a nice website including a way to set up a visit. Yay! Step one completed.

Now, driving into the village of Béru, you have the address loaded in your GPS, but it isn’t obvious where the entry is.  Not too surprising in Bourgogne, as many estates don’t have a fancy entrance. The house dates back to the 16th century, so you might have to search around for the entry and it may be an unassuming door in a big wall. Luckily, after a few minutes we managed to find the entrance underneath the sun and moon dials.

(click on any photo to start the full size slideshow, hit escape to return to the post)

Even though you have an appointment and you have the address correct, you still need to find where to knock on the door

The sun and moon dial s date from the 16th century and seem appropriate for a estate pledged to biodynamic farming today

This is the view behind the main door. Once you figure out where to ring, you’ll enter another world.

Originally built in the middle ages, the chateau has been renovated several times. Most recently in the 18th century!

The interior compound is beautiful, including several B&B rooms.

Touring the historic Clos at Château de Béru
Clos Béru is a special place. Recognized by monks in the 12th century, the vineyard was enclosed in a wall or clos. For hundreds of years, wine was produced. However, when phylloxera hit in the 1900’s the estate was hit hard and they decided at the time to not replant. The land lay dormant until 1987 when Athénaïs’ father replanted the vineyard in the clos. When Athénaïs’ decided to return to the estate and restart making wine, she made the bold move to organic viticulture. This is unusual in Chablis where traditional chemical use is still the norm. The estate has been organic since 2005, and converted to biodynamics in 2011. Today, all their vineyards are being managed this way.  Château de Béru aims to lead the way, to show it can be done.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Gaelle, from the vineyard and winemaking team. She proceeded to give us a complete tour of the vineyards around the estate, the winery and finally a tasting of the wines.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Gaelle (pronounced Gayla), a member of the winemaking team.

The team at Château de Béru is small, so Gaelle was able to explain history, grape growing, cellar work, everything!

The vines are 30 years old. They were grafted on 41B high quality yet delicate rootstock. The density of plantation reaches 6500 plants per hectare.

The rigorous pruning and the regular work brought all year long to the vines maintain a low yield. Year in and year out, the yield averages 35 to 45 hectolitres per hectare.

Replanted in 1987, the vines are now 30 years old.

Chardonnay grapes in Chablis in early July.

1st built in the 12th century, the historic Clos Beru

A little bit of history here

The soil inside the Clos Béru

Millions of years ago, this was a shallow seabed. Some of the rocks in the vineyard show embedded seashells

You always have a view of either the Chateau or the clos wall, or both.

The Orangerie is a separate garden plot next to the chateau. A special place, and they make a dedicated Orangerie wine.

I love to see the place where the vines grow. The soil, the weather, the vineyard.

After an inspiring tour of the vineyard, we proceeded to the cellars. The winemaking at Château de Béru follows the vineyard work in similar fashion. They press the grapes slowly (8 hours) under a pneumatic press. No chemicals, no adjustments, native yeasts. There are no sulfites added until racking and bottling, and then only the minimum necessary.

At one point, this was the press room. There are still a few of the big timbers from those days

Always fun to descend into the cellar

Chateau de Beru uses 500 liter barrels, to reduce the effect of oak

A large shell fossil from the soil in the clos

Severe frost resulted in no 2016 harvest, but there is still some 2015 left

We love to learn more about the region and the particular place occupied by the domaine.

The tasting room doubles as a wine bar and dining space for guests at the B&B

2016 Vintage and the Camaraderie of Vignerons
After touring the cellar, Gaelle led us into a charming space where the BnB guests are served meals, and where they host a wine bar on the weekend. We tasted several of the 2015 wines. Gaelle told us the story of the horrible vintage and the Camaraderie of Vignerons. We enjoyed the 2015 vintage wines, knowing there will be 2017 wines and that organic/biodynamic winegrowers are a tight community.

Clos Beru Chablis
Grape: Chardonnay
Vineyard Size: 1 hectare
Soil: kimmeridgien clay & limestone, high concentration of fossils
Average Age of Vines: 30 years
Harvest: By hand
Winemaking: direct press, fermentation in stainless steel, indigenous yeast
Aging: 14-16 month in old oak barrels
Fining: No.
Filtration: No.
So2: below 50mg/L

Links to Château de Béru
If you’re planning a trip to Chablis, consider stopping at Château de Béru. You can contact them through their website here. I know we’ll be staying at their BnB on a future return visit! There’s more information on the  BnB here. To find their wines in the US, you might start with Zev Rovine, their importer, here. Finally if you’d like to read more, there’s a nice article in Bon Appetit  here.

Château de Béru Chablis back home in Minnesota