Lambert Speilmann
Tell us a little about what you were doing in life prior to wine?
I mostly worked in social services, working with people with disabilities and older people. I also travelled a lot, and was a fisherman in New Caledonia and a chef in Switzerland too.
How did you come across your first natural wines?
It was in 2012 whilst passing through the Loire. I started by tasting wines that were quite straight such as Pierre et Catherine Breton, and then a little bit more rock n’ roll with François St Lo… it was interesting meeting him, we spoke and tasted a lot and I managed to discover his universe and philosophy (concerning farming, and wine just as much as his personal journey and surroundings). It was certainly the moment that pushed me to go back to school and to start making wine. It was quite motivating and impossible to go back after that. I had certainly already drunk some Pierre Frick in Alsace before that though.
Did you work with anyone prior to being set up on your own?
I did a two year apprenticeship with Yves Amberg in Epfig who wasn’t making natural wine per se, but had been !working organically! Since 1997. During those two years he left me some vineyards that I could farm and vinify how I wanted (…a great school! These were my first two pseudo-vintages in 2017, 2018). Yves also helped me set up Domaine in Black by renting me 1.5 hectares of vines.
I worked for Christophe Lindenlaub for 2 months just before starting my own domaine in 2019. With him there was a focus on the other sides of natural wine such as tasting, vinification and commercialisation… it was interesting!
What inspired you to set up in Alsace?
Originally I wanted to set up in the Loire. It’s the place where I drank my first natural wines; there are really interesting grape varieties, and also the price of land is relatively affordable… which is not at all the case in Alsace !
Like I said, Yves offered me some vineyards to get me up and running (something that is extremely rare in Alsace) and Florian Beck-Hartweg also offered me one plot of vines to rent. So I said to myself that I’d stay in Alsace where I learned to make wine, close to my friends and family… it was a superb opportunity.
Being from Alsace, do you have any family that make wine?
No one in wine, or agriculture. My mother is a nurse and my dad was a metal worker… completely different :D
Since you are relatively new to making wine and you don’t come from a winemaking family, was it complicated to build the infrastructure behind the domain?
I keep coming back to Yves Amberg, but it’s thanks to him that I could start with 1.5 hectares of vines. I found a warehouse online for cheap, and I made it into a cave by buying winemaking equipment. I’d like to say that contrary to most young winemakers who don’t have a winemaking family in Alsace (there aren’t many), that I was privileged. To have access directly to vines (they had been farmed organically for over twenty years too!); to easily find a place to vinify close to the vines, and to fall on some great deals to find barrels and tanks… I was so lucky. A destiny without many complications compared to others. Without Yves, I certainly would not be in Alsace.
Can you tell us a bit about how you chose the name “Domaine in Black” and also the inspiration for your labels?
A lot of alcohol and a lot of friends which always creates goofy puns and ideas, everything that I like ! :D
I’m lucky that my tattooist offered to make my labels and is someone that follows me with all my ideas, so we have a great time!
How does your love of punk rock and music in general inspire your wines, be it in the cellar or in the vines?
Wine and music go together… vibrations, emotions and freedom. They are unifying. There isn’t one that inspires the other, they go together. I’m rarely not listening to music whether in the vines or the cellar. If there is one thing that I have been inspired to take from punk and bring into winemaking it is definitely the word “freedom”. I really have a tendency to feel free in my vines (just like when I was a fisherman in New Caledonia) and even freer in my vinification. Actually, just in my life in general.
Speaking of farming, can you tell us about your farming practises?
Pretty much everything is done by hand. I don’t like the noise and the smell of tractors and I don’t feel at ease using one. I thought about using a horse in the vines, but I don’t think I’m really a horse person :D.
I’m constantly looking for biodiversity, cool air, shade and humidity. Forests and rivers in proximity, trees, no trimming of vines and no mowing. I think these are the solutions to the hotter and drier summers that we’re now facing. I am also constantly questioning how I prune; my uses of trellising, and the grape varieties that I farm. I have just planted Syrah and Gamay that will be head trained. We’ll see what happens.
I was really interested in biodynamics when I started. I am still working with plants and the moon pretty much all the time, but I am starting to distance myself more and more from certains aspects of biodynamic farming that didn’t appeal to me so much.
Do you use any specific techniques in the cellar?
Just grapes. No additives, no filtration.
It’s been like that since the start and will always stay that way. I try to bring in the healthiest harvest possible, it’s the base of everything. Once the harvest is in the cave I’m looking for very little extraction from my macerations. The macerations are short with no punchdowns and no pumping over. I use a pump once after pressing, otherwise all other movements are by gravity. All the wines are bottled manually.
I try to adapt to the vintage in front of me. In a hot vintage the fermentations are generally more complicated… more volatile acidity; complete stops in fermentations, mouse. It’s at these times that I try to be the most vigilant.
Where do you see the future of Domaine in Black going? I know you’re buying more land and plan to move to the mountains…
I don’t see myself with more than 3 hectares of vines. Today I have 2.5 hectares… we’ll see but that feels pretty good to me.
What’s for sure is that I’d like to move closer to the mountains and plant varieties from the Jura and Savoie. I’d also like to find a place where I could diversify crops a little and not only have vines but also grow fruit and veg, maybe some animals. I will without doubt continue to make wine but I’d also like to open a little hotel/bistro… I miss the sea too.
So many ideas, so many questions… lets see where the wind takes me ;)
La Grange 476
Can you tell me about where you are from and a little bit about your lives before you started La Grange 476?
Marion is originally from Auvergne. She studied to be a nurse in the Berry where she worked for a while. After arriving in the Jura together in 2019, she continued working as a nurse until March 2020, when she started a course on the agricultural uses of animal power. This meant we could introduce horses into our vineyards. Afterwards, Marion bought a horse named Solferino that has been working in the vines with us since March 2020. Dimitri comes from the Berry. He started doing vineyard and cellar work in a biodynamic domaine called Rippon Vineyards in New Zealand in 2009. He then went on to do a BTS Viticole (wine studies) in Beaune, after which he worked in Sancerre, Bourgogne, and Limoux.
Can you highlight any particular moments/experiences that drove you to want to start your own domaine?
In 2015 we started making wine with some friends on the side while Dimitri was working as a vineyard manager. This sparked the desire to make our own wine from our own vineyards, in the way that we wished. Traveling around France in a caravan gave us the opportunity to meet like minded winemakers which really peaked our interest. Meeting Marc Angeli was a moment that really motivated us to start something of our own.
Did you have an idea of the kind of wines you wanted to make before starting your own domaine?
We knew we wanted to work the vines biodynamically, but we didn’t have a clear vision in terms of expectations for our first vintage. Our main wish was for our wine to be as pure as possible, with little human intervention, following the path of the wines we are used to drinking. Without a clear expectation in mind, we let the wine express itself.
Could you tell us about how you ended up in the Jura? Were you looking to be based in Chateau-Chalon specifically?
We visited a few regions where owning a plot of land remains accessible for young winemakers like us. Namely: Auvergne, Anjou and Sologne. By chance, we stumbled upon Menetru-le-Vignoble which checked all the boxes! Those being: great terroir; an old cellar underneath the house, and a sufficient amount of vines for a decent price.
Can you describe the terroir that you are working in? How many hectares are you farming, with which grape varieties?
We farm 4 hectares of vines consisting of Poulsard, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Savagnin. All of our vines are less than 5km away from our house, so they all express a little bit of the magic that makes the Chateau-Chalon terroir so special. That being, a gray marl bedrock covered by a soil composed of clay and pebbly limestone. The vines also vary in orientation. We have parcels exposed to the west, east and south.
How would you summarize your approach to farming the vineyards?
Our approach to farming reflects us and our ideas. It needs to be the most artisanal and natural possible. All the labor is done by hand and follows the moon cycle. All the while, we give the greatest importance to the use of animal energy in the vines.
Could you tell us a little bit about why you chose to work with a horse in the vineyard for certain tasks?
We always work the land by horse. We carry out tasks such as hilling up and down the vines and a very light tilling. We also use horse manure as an organic fertilizer for the vines. Our approach to working with a horse is maintaining the sensitive balance between horse, man and terroir. Thanks to Marion, the introduction of the working horse into our vines was seemingless. We’re also happy to honor a typical breed of horse from the Jura, the Trait Comtois.
Can you describe your approach to winemaking in the cellar?
Our approach to the cellar work is rather simple, as we believe the wines are made in the vines. Once the grapes are in the cellar, we watch over them throughout the aging process. The wines age in demi-muids of 500L or barrels of 228L. Working without additives requires unflinching attention. We are looking to make wines that are as pure and representative of the terroir as possible. This means wines with tension, minerality, salinity and balance. That is why we age our wines for at least 18 months before bottling.
What drives you to work without any additives during the winemaking process?
Working without additives allows indigenous yeasts to fully express their varied characteristics leading to wines that possess their own unique traits. In order to express terroir you must work in the most natural way possible. This is also the case for making wines with great drinkability. We want to make and drink wines that feel good for the body and the soul. And not to be hungover after a few too many!