Vincent Ricard in his tasting room
We had forgotten how much young Vincent Ricard had irritated the local growers ten years earlier when he withdrew from the cooperative to bottle his own wine. Why the fuss? With Vincent’s startling, terrifically concentrated, mineral wines withheld for estate bottling in his own new winery, the local cooperative's blend became little more than simple, anemic piquette. So the jealous locals tried everything they could to shut him down. They even petitioned the I.N.A.O. to deny him the status of Appellation Controlée. Their whine? Vincent Ricard’s wines are “atypical of the region.” Right. They’re too good.
Vincent Ricard now farms seventeen hectares planted mostly to Sauvignon Blanc, with parcels of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Gamay. The farming is organic, incorporating practices taken from the discipline of biodynamics, which Vincent encountered during his stages with Didier Dagueneau in Pouilly-sur-Loire, and François Chidaine in Montlouis. The entire harvest is bottled at the estate.
