Moore Brothers Blog: learn

Biodynamic Farming at Domaine Barmès-Buecher

greg Greg Moore

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. — Deuteronomy 25:4 A spring visit to Domaine-Barmès-Buecher where we come across Mathieu, Maxime Barmès' best friend who is plowing the domaine’s Hengst Grand Cru parcel. Later we return to the vineyard with Geneviève Barmès to see the results, and the difference careful farming can make. Spring déchaussage at Domaine Barmès-Buecher by “Ursus” (the horse), Mathieu (Maxime Barmès' best friend), and “Pikachu” (the dog).

Beaujolais, Oui!

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Greg Moore at the Tasting Table Often maligned, Beaujolais, from all of its many “places” produces some of the most versatile and compelling wines at Moore Brothers. Greg Moore offers a heartfelt, full-throated defense of one of France's most iconic wines: allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">

Biodynamics and Sparkling Wine:

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Sophie, Maxime, and Geneviève Barmès in the Clos Sand (photo: Greg Moore) The late François Barmès wholeheartedly embraced the Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner’s belief in the interdependence of the forces of life, earth, and the cosmos. So in 1995, in order to undo the damage caused by decades of chemically dependent viticulture, he began the transformation of his vineyards to biodynamics. One of the first principles of biodynamics is the belief that the farm is a self-contained living entity, which gives rise to the rule that a biodynamic farmer may add no organic substance to a product of his farm; if that organic substance did not itself grow within the boundaries of the same biodynamic farm. Which means that the “Champagne Method” isn’t an option in producing biodynamic sparkling wine, because it requires the addition of sugar to a tank of dry wine just before bottling (needless to say, beets and sugar cane don’t grow on the chalk soils of Champagne, or pink sandstone

Robert Ampeau

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Robert Ampeau in 2003 (photo: Greg Moore) Robert Ampeau was a legendary figure, and an admired colleague of the most important producers in Burgundy, including Aubert de Villaine, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Dominique Lafon, and Hubert de Montille, whose cellars all contain Ampeau wine. Ruth Reichl, the last Editor-in Chief of Gourmet magazine, recorded the impression that Ampeau made on other producers in her 1998 memoir, Tender at the Bone, in which she recorded her visit to the Volnay producer Hubert de Montille, accompanied by the wine merchant, Kermit Lynch. Kermit had brought along a bottle of one of Ampeau’s wines (label removed) “to see what he really thinks.” “There is sunlight in the glass,” de Montille said finally, “much sunlight. It is from a very good year…what can it be?” When Kermit told him what it was, de Montille cried, “But I have this wine in my cellar!” He turned eagerly to Kermit and asked, “Did Ampeau sell