Alsace Review Part 3: Laurent Barth
1/16/18 -
Last summer I spent a few days in Alsace, to get a sense of what the new generation of winemakers has been up to, and to visit a few estates that I have admired for years. I discovered that Alsace is burgeoning with young vignerons who are carrying on their families' traditions of organic and biodynamic agriculture (Alsace has an impressive number of long-time organic estates), and embracing the idea of "natural" vinification (less filtering, no additives, and little or no SO2 at bottling). After numerous tastings and conversations, I realized that the estates I have admired for years were in fact the inspiration for this growing movement in Alsace. There's a direct lineage from winemakers like Pierre Frick, Christian Binner, Patrick Meyer, and Bruno Schueller to the new generation of natural winemakers... and somewhere in the middle, there's Laurent Barth! Perhaps it's because he hasn't been on the scene as long as the old-timers (no Christian, I'm not talking about you!), but has been around longer than most of the younger folks. Maybe it's because he's the most humble and soft-spoken person (let alone winemaker) I know... but somehow the wines don't seem to get the coverage we think they should!
Laurent spent many years learning winemaking far from his roots in Alsace, and returned home to take over his family's estate in the late 90's. At the time, Laurent's father was selling grapes to the local co-op, but Laurent had other plans. He was interested in organic farming, and was impressed with the what he learned from other growers like Patrick Meyer, and Marc Tempé, so he fulfilled the last contract with the co-op, and then transitioned the vineyards to organic viticulture and started incorporating biodynamic treatments in the vineyard. He plows once a year (around 5 cm deep) with a small tractor in the spring, has a weedwacker for weeds, and passes occasionally with a "rollofaquer" (I have no idea how to spell this) - a French made device that pushes over plants to create organic cover and protect the humidity and biodiversity in the soil.
In the cellar, Laurent has different strategies for dry and sweet wines. All his dry wines are fermented and aged without any SO2 added. He typically adds 1g (sometimes none, and at most, 2) at the bottling and does not filter. Sweet wines see the small addition of SO2 after fermentation and at bottling and are normally filtered. He understands his land well, and is both fascinated by and in a great working relationship with the deep deposits of granite that lend a unique minerality and structured finish to all of his wines. Laurent has truly come a long way since his first vintage in 2004, and now, more than a decade later, the Barth vineyards are vibrant, healthy, and teeming with life, and the wines are balanced, mineral, and absolutely delicious! -Eben Lillie
