The first sulphite-free organic wine by an 1855-classified Cru Classé

The first natural organic wine with no added sulphites sourced from the vineyards of an 1855-classified Pauillac Grand Cru”, Cérès is one of the most innovative wines in Bordeaux, claims Château Haut-Bages Libéral. The 2020 vintage AOC Haut-Médoc “ticks all the boxes. It comes from a biodynamic vineyard with ground cover and trees in the vineyards. And what's more, it has no added sulphites”, says Claire Villars-Lurton, owner of the Grand Cru, who has a fairly high intolerance herself to sulphites.

She points out that the reduction in sulphite concentrations already imposed by Demeter meant that the winery was already equipped to produce wines without added sulphites. With 24 days of soaking using neutral gas and one volume of wine pumped over per day, the winemaking process involved the use of nitrogen as an inert gas at every stage of transfer. “Making wine without sulphites is a challenge”, admits Thomas Bontemps, production director at Château Haut-Bages Libéral.

With a consumer price tag of €20 to €22 in wine merchants – supermarket sales have been ruled out – Cérès is being sold by G&C Lurton Estates through Bordeaux merchants. Selling a natural wine “is a bit of a first for our merchants, who specialise in Grand Cru wines”, comments Villars-Lurton, who points out that while some customers are asking for more – “change is afoot in Bordeaux and it is refocusing on novel wines” – other markets expect something different from Bordeaux – “they prefer to buy sulphite-free wines in Languedoc and the Loire, but not from a Grand Cru”. “We are blazing the trail but our experience will be replicated”, claims Villars-Lurton, pointing to tastings of Cérès by interested classified estates. “The more we have this type of project, the better it will be for Bordeaux,” she concludes.