Falstaff Magazin International 00/2021

wine / BORDEAUX Morning

wine / BORDEAUX Morning mood in the Bordelais vineyards. Below: Jean-Pierre Boyer of Château Bel Air Marquis d‘Aligre. < vessels – illustrates how far the avantgarde has come in rethinking. It is exactly this quest for maturation vessels which have less influence on the wine than oak that looks to the past. There is one principal witness for this: Jean-Pierre Boyer of Château Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre. The 88-year-old has harvested 70 vintages on his estate in Soussans near Margaux. His vineyard soils are pervaded by flint – Château Margaux grows wines for its Pavillon Blanc on a neighbouring parcel – and Boyer turns the low yield of his old vines into a scented, delicate Margaux. He is a master in keeping tradition. Not due to obstinacy or luddism, he simply sees no necessity to change anything and has not for decades. You look in vain for barrels. The wines mature for three to four years in cement tanks. Boyer likes to mock his colleagues’ faith in technology WHAT HE DOES IS ALMOST GROUND- BEAKING. YOU CANNOT HELP BUT SEE IN HIM THE VERY SOUL OF PURE AQUITAINE VITICULTURE MADE MANIFEST. and takes visitors to the weather station in his vineyard: an old metal box with peeling paint. Boyer holds that this apparatus, when used properly, is more reliable than the weather forecasts on TV, throwing a questioning glance that is mischievous, cryptic and guileless at once. Perhaps Boyer, revered like a rockstar by sommeliers in recent years because his wines are so incredibly fine and gastronomic, is the last remaining link to a Bordeaux that preceded agrochemicals and Parker points. He is so retro that he has almost come full circle: what he does is almost ground-breaking. Talking to him reveals his thoughtful nature and incredible wit. You cannot help but see in him the very soul of pure Aquitaine viticulture made manifest. His is a spirit that revolves around gnarly old vines, around anthocyanins and aromas, wide awake, pensive, sober – a spirit that will always prevail, in any generation, simply because it is one of a kind. < Photos: Shutterstock, provided 36 falstaff summer 2021