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Dom Viret

The vineyards of the domain were purchased by the grandfather of Alain Viret in 1917. Since 1973 Alain Viret has been in charge. In 1998 his son Philippe Viret finished his oenological education and joined his father. In 1999 the new cellars were built and the first bottling at the domain took place for vintage the 1999. The viticulture at the domain is a kind of farming akin to biodynamics called cosmoculture.
Quite many cuvées from the different terroirs are made from their 21 hectares. The wines go through a longer maceration period than normal in the area.They are aged for quite a long period in barrels - up to four years.

Country France
Region Vin de France
Website Dom Viret

Philosophy

Philippe is perhaps most famous for Cosmoculture, a system of farming of which he is the only practitioner and for which he holds an actual patent. Cosmoculture employs knowledge of the earth’s energy fields, known as telluric currents, in deciding where to plant, how to plant, when to harvest, and many other viticultural activities, as well as dictating the construction and operation of the winery itself. A well-established if not widely exposed field of inquiry, knowledge of telluric currents informs research into fault zones, ground-water sources (Viret is built atop a large underground spring, in fact), geothermal activity, and many more areas. Insofar as it involves homeopathic vineyard treatments, polycultural principles (Viret encompasses 60 total hectares of which 35 are planted to vines), and attention to lunar cycles, Cosmoculture can be seen as a sort of extension of biodynamics. And, like biodynamics, Cosmoculture involves practices which may seem at first arcane or esoteric but are in fact connected to ancient wisdom—to knowledge humans cultivated and transmitted for millennia before we allowed technology to begin to supplant it. Of course, this would all threaten to become grand eco-philosophical performance art if Philippe’s wines were simply ordinary; thankfully, however, they are among the most soulful and evocative wines in the entire region.

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