DOMAINE DE L'ÉCU

Domain philosophy

Domaine de l'Ecu is first and foremost an avant-garde estate that has been certified organic since 1975, and Biodynamic by the Demeter label since 1998. Since 2014, the vineyard has been certified Biodyvin.

Fred, the estate's owner, has been convinced since his early days in viticulture that a great wine has its roots in the terroir and the vine. The more the vines are treated traditionally and manually, the more nature is respected, and the better the wines can express the terroir.

In the vineyard as in the cellar, no superfluous technology is used, and the wines produced are far removed from the standardized schema that is becoming increasingly widespread in France. For example, the company refuses to use any yeasting, enzyming, thermovinification, flash détente, reverse osmosis... and other non-natural processes. The wines have no added sulphur, or are sulphited to a minimum of 30-40 mg/L (the Demeter threshold is 90 mg/L).

Domaine de l'Écu vinifies its wines exclusively in amphorae. Following in the footsteps of our ancient heritage, the use of amphorae is part of our desire to perpetuate a tradition that has gradually been lost and replaced by aging in barrels or stainless steel vats.

Vinification in amphora requires much more attention and work, but the naturalness and neutrality of terracotta means that the purity of the fruit and the expression of the terroir are fully respected. The wines are therefore free to express their terroir to the full, and are in no way made-up.

Terroir

The Domaine de l'Ecu vineyard covers 23 hectares.

Treated using organic and biodynamic methods, the vines benefit from special care. No unnatural inputs are sprayed on the vines or dispersed in the soil. The famous 500 "horn dung" (organic cow dung in cow horns) and 501 "horn silica" (powdered quartz in cow horns) preparations are buried in winter to ferment and transform into natural humus, strengthening the link between vine and soil, vine health and photosynthesis.

Ploughing and harvesting are done by hand to respect the soil and vines as much as possible, and to select the best grapes for the highest quality wines.

Cuvées

The wines produced by the estate have been acclaimed by numerous bistronomic and gourmet restaurants. Fred and his team are also proud to have won the trust of prestigious three-starred establishments such as l'Astrance in Paris, le Bernardin in New York and le Noma in Copenhagen (best restaurant in the world in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014).

The Domaine de l'Ecu refuses to market its wines through supermarkets, preferring instead short distribution channels and trusted cellars that can recommend these exceptional products to customers who are truly sensitive to the company's philosophy.