Interview with Clothilde Lafarge
May 27, 2020
by Eléonore Lafarge
Can you give us an overview of your domaine? How long have you been working at the domaine?
Domaine Michel Lafarge has been established in Volnay since the beginning of the 19th century. Today, it’s my parents - Frédéric and Chantal (8th generation) - and I (9th generation) who take care of the vineyard and the winemaking.
We farm 12 hectares of vineyards based in Volnay but spread between the prestigious villages of Meursault, Pommard and Beaune.
Since 2000, all the vineyards of the domaine are biodynamically farmed. The total production is divided into 3 tiers:
One third of regional appellation: Bourgogne Aligoté, Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Bourgogne Passetoutgrain
One third of village appellation: Meursault, Volnay and Côte de Beaune Village
One third of Premier Cru appellation:
Volnay Premier Cru Clos des Chênes
Volnay Premier Cru Clos du Château des Ducs Monopole
Volnay Premier Cru Les Caillerets
Volnay Premier Cru Les Pitures
Volnay Premier Cru Les Mitans
Pommard Premier Cru Les Pézerolles
Beaune Premier Cru Les Grèves
Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Aigrots - Red and White
I started working alongside my parents in January 2018. After graduating from a Wine Marketing and Management MBA in Bordeaux, I pursued my studies in the wine world. I studied viticulture and oenology in Beaune while doing an apprenticeship at Domaine Trapet in Gevrey-Chambertin. Then, I wanted to expand my horizons, so I traveled to do a harvest at a biodynamic domain in New Zealand called Seresin and another harvest at Lingua Franca in Oregon, to eventually come back to the family estate. All of that the same year! 2017 was a busy one for me with three harvests!
Did you make some changes in the vineyard and cellar work when you took over?
As we say in French, on ne change pas une équipe qui gagne - we don’t change a winning team!
I haven’t made big changes yet. I am still learning everyday with my father and my winemaker friends.
My biggest personal contribution was to bring back the horse for ploughing. I chose to reintroduce this ancient practice as a baby step in the small 1er Cru parcel of Les Caillerets in Volnay. This vineyard has been farmed without any machinery for the last three years.
I am passionate about horses and did horse riding for years, hence this decision.
I took over a two century old estate and I think my role is not to change everything. I like the wines made by great grandfather (I had the chance to taste a few vintages), my grandfather and my father. I want to continue in the same traditions.
Have you always wanted to be a winemaker? Was taking over the family domain as a winemaker an obvious decision or did you have to think about it?
When I was younger, I never imagined I would take over the domaine. I grew up surrounded by vineyards and wine and I wanted to see something different. That’s why I left Burgundy for a few years only to come back! I studied in a business school. Since I was enjoying wine I made a MBA in wine. As soon as I started studying wine it became an obvious choice to come back to Burgundy and work with my family.
What is your general winemaking philosophy?
There is no secret, a good wine starts in the vineyard!
By being careful in the vineyard, the grapes give us some love. We have our hearts set on letting the terroir express itself in our wine. For example, all of our Volnay Premier Crus taste different because of the different terroirs. They all have in common some traits of Volnay style such as the finesse and elegance.
My grandfather started working as a winemaker in 1950. Even at that time, he refused to use any chemical in his vineyard. When my dad started working with him, he discovered biodynamic farming. Today, our 12 hectares of vineyards are farmed biodynamically. I was raised with the idea that we have to respect the land we farm. It is important for me to continue in this philosophy.
During the vinifications, we are not really interventionist. Fermentation is done naturally with indigenous yeasts. We do a few punch downs and pump overs to get nice tannins. The elevage then lasts for 18 months in our 13th century cellar.
What is your favorite wine? Do you have a favorite vineyard to work in?
You can’t pick your favorite child but of course I really like Volnay Premier Cru Les Caillerets because of the work we are doing with the horse. The soil is now softer in the vineyard and these changes make me happy.
I also like Les Lombois, one of our parcels of Bourgogne Passetoutgrain that was planted with half of Pinot Noir and half of Gamay by my great grandfather 92 years ago and never pulled out since!
For the 2018 vintage, I created an unique cuvée “Anthologie” to celebrate the 90 birthday of my grandfather and the vineyard.
Do you have a special memory of a wine you’ve tasted?
The most memorable bottle of wine I’ve tasted was a Clos des Chênes 1928 from the domaine. This wine was made by my great grandfather, Henri Lafarge. The first time I tasted it was with my parents, my siblings and my grandfather Michel who was born in 1928!
It was an emotional moment considering the age of the wine, its ageing in our centuries old cellar and the explanations from my grandfather who was telling us about the vintage. It felt like tasting history.
We shared this bottle at the Troisgros restaurant in Roanne. Pierre Troisgros, also born in 1928 was with us.
Wine is meant to be shared. This experience was an amazing moment of sharing with family and friends.
With this complicated situation, can you still work in the vineyards and the cellar?
This situation is disturbing but we are trying to adapt because nature doesn’t wait! We are able to work in the vineyard and in the cellar. But we are being very careful. We provide masks and hand sanitizer for the employees so they can stay safe.
In April, we bottled the 2018 and we are now done with ébourgonnage in the vineyard to control the yields and help with upcoming pruning. The temperatures are very high in Burgundy this year, so the vineyard is three weeks earlier compared to last year.
What is being done in the vineyards and the cellar right now?
Currently, we are doing the palissage to make sure the vines are growing straight and get nice sun exposure so the grapes can reach the perfect maturity before the harvest.
We are working our soils as well. We ploughed our vineyards to get rid of weeds between the vines.
Is it more complicated for a woman to be a winemaker?
There are more and more women in the world of wine and as winemakers today which is a great change. I actually think being a woman is an asset because we bring more precision in the wines.
There is a nice solidarity between women in Burgundy nowadays. My friend, Camille Thiriet, created the “Mi filles, Mi raisins” tasting to promote lesser known wine appellations made by women. I am happy to be part of this group of women helping each other.
Does climate change make it more difficult to work in the vineyards now compared to the generations before?
Climate change is bringing us new challenges and we’re trying to adapt. We have more hailstorms than before and later frost situation as well so we had to find solutions against these.
A few years ago, we would count 100 days after the flowering started to fix the harvest date. Since 2003 and its heatwave, this is no longer a rule of thumb at the domaine. Depending on the vintage, harvest can start 85 days or 120 days after flowering. The harvest date requires a lot of precision. Today, not all our vineyards reach maturity at the same time. We have to adapt by stopping the harvest for a few days.
We must therefore help our vines cope with this climate change. We are very lucky with our grape varieties. Due to their popularity, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are planted around the world. That proves they can adapt to a lot of environments and weather conditions.