Ampelidae
It was some years ago that I first discovered the wines of Ampelidae, specifically the high-class range of varietal wines made from local varieties, including Le S (Sauvignon Blanc), Le C (Chardonnay), P.N. 1328 (Pinot Noir) and the wine that I personally found most impressive, Le K (you might not be able to figure out the blend for this one, but I provide more details later on in this profile). The quality of these wines, small-volume cuvées from select parcels of vines, was certainly enough to prompt me to investigate further, as well as to buy and cellar some of them, such as the 2005 Ampelidae Le K which showed very well a couple of years ago, when it hit its tenth birthday.
When I investigated further I soon realised that this small range of wines was just the tip of the iceberg. Proprietor Frédéric Brochet has created a huge enterprise, part-domaine, part-négociant, run using organics but with 21st-century attitude. Frédéric is not one of those characters who sees organics as a return to the ways of his forefathers, a simplification of his work, or ‘a return to the soil’. Instead Frédéric seeks to blend modern science with organic viticulture to maximise the benefit of the methodology to his soil, his vines, his wines and his customers. And it is a genuine philosophy that runs through all aspects of the business, and through Frédéric’s life. When you bear in mind that each year Frédéric vinifies fruit from more than 500 hectares of vines (this is not a typo – I did mean to write 500 hectares) this is really an incredible feat.
I provide more detail on the domaine as it stands today in this profile, but first let’s look at Frédéric’s story.
