« Cette distinction salue l’engagement remarquable d’un domaine en faveur d’une viticulture durable. Le vigneron doit être être tourné vers la protection à long terme de l’environnement et de la biodiversité. L’attribution de la distinction Robert Parker Green Emblem ne se fait qu’au terme d’un examen approfondi. Elle récompense des mérites rares et exceptionnels. Cette distinction est attribuée à un domaine ou un vigneron ayant déployé des efforts qui vont bien au-delà du simple cahier des charges de la certification bio et/ou biodynamique, se faisant ainsi l’ambassadeur du développement durable, à l’avant-garde de la lutte pour faire de notre planète un plus bel endroit pour les générations actuelles et futures.
Les tout premiers domaines à recevoir la distinction Robert Parker Green Emblem en 2021 sont au nombre de 24. Tous ont une réputation irréprochable en matière de développement durable. Ils appartiennent à huit pays répartis sur cinq continents :
Australie : Cullen Wines, Henschke – Autriche : Weingut Ernst Triebaumer – France : Champagne Larmandier-Bernier, Gerard Bertrand, Domaine Leroy & Domaine d’Auvenay, Domaine Bruno Lorenzon, Château Pontet-Canet, Louis Roederer, Felix et Gabin Richoux, Domaine Valentin Zusslin – Allemagne : Weingut Odinstal – Italie : Alois Lageder, Salcheto, Tasca d’Almerita – Nouvelle-Zélande : Millton Vineyards & Winery – Afrique du Sud : Reyneke, Sadie Family Wines – Espagne (1) : Descendientes de J. Palacios – États-Unis : The Eyrie Vineyards, Horsepower Vineyards, Littorai Wines, Ridge Vineyards, Spottswoode Estate
Enjoy wines that are made for a better future
Robert Parker Wine Advocate has just created the Robert Parker Green Emblem.
It is given in recognition of the most extraordinary cases of sustainable efforts in the wine industry. The distinction is awarded to producers/wineries that have achieved outstanding levels of sustainability. It is very rarely given out, and only after careful consideration of firsthand reviewer knowledge.
Robert Parker Green Emblem wineries are those that extend their efforts far beyond the requirements for organic and biodynamic certification. They are true ambassadors for sustainability, leading the charge to make our industry and our planet a better place for current and future generations.
The first Robert Parker Green Emblem includes 24 wineries with impeccable reputations for sustainability. The list is spread across eight countries and five continents :
Australia: Cullen Wines, Henschke Austria: Weingut Ernst Triebaumer France: Champagne Larmandier-Bernier, Gerard Bertrand, Domaine Leroy & Domaine d’Auvenay, Domaine Bruno Lorenzon, Château Pontet-Canet, Louis Roederer, Felix et Gabin Richoux, Domaine Valentin Zusslin Germany :Weingut Odinstal Italy :Alois Lageder, Salcheto, Tasca d’Almerita New Zealand : Millton Vineyards & Winery South Africa :Reyneke, Sadie Family Wines Spain: Descendientes de J. Palacios USA : The Eyrie Vineyards, Horsepower Vineyards, Littorai Wines, Ridge Vineyards, Spottswoode Estate.
Reviewers Commentary
In the 1990s, Pierre Larmandier and his wife, Sophie, began to work the soils of their vineyards and abandoned the use of herbicides, moving toward organic and then biodynamic farming. Sophie provided the inspiration. “I always said I could never marry a vigneron,” she told me, “because of all the chemicals they use in the vineyards, but Pierre changed my mind.” Even if Champagne’s landscape is slowly beginning to change, they have had few imitators. « I thought I could be five years ahead of the others in giving up on chemical farming, » Pierre observed to me, « but I never imagined that I might be 50 years ahead! » Pierre’s father had always advocated picking mature fruit, and with the new farming methods, the wines became almost too concentrated and tightly wound, he relates. So, changes in the winery followed suit: fermentation in wood—instead of stainless steel, and the use of ambient instead of selected yeasts.
About the Producer
Larmandier-Bernier numbers among the Côte de Blanc’s—and Champagne’s—finest estates. Based in Vertus, the Larmandier family farms organically and harvests late, vinifying the resulting wines in wood. The result is vinous, elegantly muscular Champagnes that are concentrated but precise. In a region that still produces far too many meager, brittle wines, Larmander-Bernier reminds us of the plenitude and texture of which great Champagne is capable. — As remarkable for their consistency as their quality, any wine that bears this family’s label is well worth seeking out.