Domaine de la Sénéchalière, 2016 Update
There are few figures more iconic for the ‘natural’ wine movement in the Nantais than Marc Pesnot, of Domaine de la Sénéchalière. Indeed, are there any? Whereas a number of my favourite domaines in this region follow an organic or biodynamic viticultural philosophy, Marc has gone further than that, adopting an approach with less intervention wherever possible.
In my mind, the ‘natural’ approach is a sensible one, but only up to a point. After all, why should a vigneron need to add yeasts when nature has been doing a perfectly good job for so many millennia? And why do we need to hurry the débourbage with the addition of enzymes or even fining agents. Why not simply allow time to do the job, which will do it just as well?
These are both good examples of where stepping back from commonplace interventions perhaps too-often carried out without really thinking can be a sage approach to the vinifications. I am not so keen, however, on winding back the additions of sulphur dioxide. Here the issue is more complicated, because countless vignerons tell of the negative impact on the aromatics and vigour of wines when this preservative is added, and so they see its exclusion from the process as a real benefit.
Unfortunately, unlike the situation with enzymes, yeasts and various other additions, I can also see an obvious down-side to its exclusion. First and foremost, it leaves the wines prone to oxidation, bacterial contamination and even refermentation, none of which hold any appeal to me. Secondly, in tandem with my first point, without any sulphur dioxide there is nothing to prevent the malolactic fermentation, a bacterial process. This tends to soften the acid profile of the wine, and yet for my palate acidity is an essential part of Muscadet. What is more, I find other aromatic compounds that develop during the malolactic fermentation to be quite injurious to the style. I am not a fan of Melon de Bourgogne that smells of banana fruit, toffee or marshmallow. As a consequence, I am not really a fan of zero-sulphur winemaking. Yes the wines can be super, but it is only fair to say that they can also be real flops. And they are also unpredictable; a wine that starts out in the first category can soon end up in the second.
