For Thierry Michon, the gregarious force behind one of the Loire’s best-kept secrets, Domaine Saint Nicolas, it’s all about the soil. Working on […]
Keep ReadingFor Thierry Michon, the gregarious force behind one of the Loire’s best-kept secrets, Domaine Saint Nicolas, it’s all about the soil. Working on schist and silex, a stone’s throw away from the Atlantic, Thierry is the prophet of biodynamics in this tiny viticultural area. His vineyards never see a non-organic product. He has slowly purchased buffer zones all around his property to prevent chemical products from other winemakers from seeping into his parcels. For him, biodynamics isn’t a pragmatic consideration. It’s a religion.
Domaine Saint Nicolas sits at the extreme southern end of the Loire delta, just south of Muscadet, but no Melon de Bourgogne is planted here. Instead, Thierry works old vines of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Grolleau Gris, Gamay, Pinot Noir, Negrette, and Cabernet Franc. If you think working 40 hectares biodynamically (certified by Biodyvin) is easy, you’re crazy. Working by horse and tractor, Thierry usually answers his cell phone from the vineyard, often as late as 10:00 at night. You will not find a more dedicated vigneron in France.
Harvest is, of course, by hand. The whites pass through a sorting table and are then gently pressed and fermented in large wooden vats or stainless steel tanks. The reds are sorted and then crushed by foot in foudre. The whites and rosés are released as early as March of the year after harvest, while many of the reds are aged for up to 18 months in large oak vats, foudres, or demi-muids.
Thierry’s years of hard work are starting to pay off. For years he worked all week in the vines and then took off on Friday afternoons for the 5-hour drive to Paris. From the back of his truck, he sold his wines to restaurants and small shops. When the wines starting showing up on the lists of Guy Savoy, Taillevent, and Arpège, people starting paying attention. Now he is a leader of France’s biodynamics movement, the defender of his little appellation, and one of France’s most respected winemakers. These are soulful wines of amazing purity.
CloseThe vineyards right before harvest, no synthetic products have ever been used in the farming at Domaine Saint Nicolas
Chenin Blanc planted on sand. Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly at Bona Fide Productions.
Sand - one of the terroirs at Domaine Saint Nicolas.
A new Negrette vineyard planted on red schist.
Red schist - another terroir at Domaine Saint Nicolas.
Many of the vines at Domaine Saint Nicolas are untrellised and sprawl along the ground.
Quartz - another terroir at Domaine Saint Nicolas. This is a larger example.
The gentle, bucolic landscape of the Fiefs-Vendéens
Thierry showing off his biodynamic compost.
As a sign of his commitment to biodynamic farming, Thierry's vineyards are surrounded by fallow buffer zones filled with wild flowers. Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly at Bona Fide Productions.
Thierry runs an integrated sustainable farm at Domaine Saint Nicolas with the by-products used to make his own biodynamic treatments
Damien Laureau and Jon-David in the fermentation room of Domaine Saint Nicolas
Old barrels in the new cellars of Domaine Saint Nicolas. Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly at Bona Fide Productions.
The Atlantic ocean – a short drive from Domaine Saint Nicolas
The typical cuisine of Fief-Vendéens
