They say that the traditional pruning of Marco de Jerez, called “Vara y pulgar”, is like a simple “Guyot”; However, it would be correct to say it the other way around: Guyot pruning is like “Vara y pulgar” pruning, since the documentary records are much earlier....
I don't know at what point the Palomino grape was reviled. I guess it was in the 70s when chemicals and tractors entered the vineyards of Marco de Jerez. This caused the production per hectare to triple -because the Palomino is a variety that can become very...
The French word “vigneron” has no translation in Spanish; and it has no translation because that figure has barely existed. Vigneron is a person who cultivates the vine, produces his wine by hand with grapes from his vines, and markets it under his brand (which is...
This year we have completed 10 years since David Léclapart and I met. It was on a trip - which I consider initiatory - through France. I did not know anything about the world of wine or biodynamic agriculture. At that time I was in the middle of writing my doctoral...
Until very recently, they only talked about the wineries in the Marco de Jerez. The uniqueness of the criaderas and soleras system, and the complexity of the biological (under flower veil) and oxidative breeding methods, allowed it. The Marco de Jerez wineries have...
I love telling this anecdote, because I think it symbolizes very well the figure of the “vigneron” that I learn with David. –Vigneron- would be translated into Spanish as a viticulturist; however, in French it has another symbolic meaning. In the world of French wine,...
When we started looking for plots where we could apply biodynamic agriculture and make our dry white wines, we were clear that we wanted to find old palomino vines. The main reason is that the old palomino vines are of mass selection; that is: they did not come from...
I like to think of vineyard treatments as messages that we send to the vines. Biodynamic agriculture itself limits the use of minerals such as copper or sulfur enormously compared to conventional agriculture: possibly to a tenth of it. Conventional winegrowers...
The three basic principles of good work in the winery are cleanliness, cleanliness and cleanliness. David is strict about very few things, and cleanliness is one of them. When you work with minimal sulfur in the cellar, and you do not want to intervene in anything,...