Three Views of a Secret is a blend of grapes Patrice has sourced from Domaine Humbrecht, an Alsace-based domaine who farm biodynamically. It consists of one third each of Pinot Gris, Muscat & Gewurtztraminer. 4 weeks on the skins has given the wine a wonderful orange/pinkish colour. The Muscat makes its presence felt but its flavours do not overpower the other grapes, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer add weight and poise to this wonderfully flavoursome and perfectly balanced wine.
PATRICE BÉGUET, Arbois – Biodynamic, natural
Patrice Béguet’s winery is located in Mesnay, a little village a stone’s throw from Arbois in the Les Planches-près-Arbois gorge.
Patrice gave up a job as an IT Consultant in Paris, took the Wine Diploma at Beaune, and took over what has now grown to around four hectares of vines in Pupillin, Arbois, and his home village of Mesnay. He is committed to biodynamic methods, and is Demeter certified, quite unusual for such a small producer. In a region where biodynamics and natural winemaking are hardly a rarity, few are as committed to all aspects of ecology as Patrice, and few young vignerons work as hard as he does too.
All the wines are fermented only with wild yeasts, never chaptalised to increase the degree of alcohol and are produced from vines sprayed with the lowest possible doses of copper, thanks to the use of herbal concoctions which strengthen and regulate the vines’ natural defences.
Since 2015, which was Patrice’s best vintage to date, the wines are bottled without the addition of sulphur, and with no fining/ filtration either. This was normal for his reds, but a first for his whites. Patrice said that he sees a different wine emerge after those interventions and to be able to release the wine he has lived with through its élèvage, unchanged, is so satisfying. Above all, the wines keep their brightness of fruit and Patrice feels this is a big evolution in his winemaking.