Domaine Barmés-Buecher
Balance, harmony, and the quest for the truest and purest expression of varietal, vintage, and terroir: these are the goals of Barmès Buecher.
The Domaine was created in1985 by François Barmès and Geneviève Barmès (born Buecher) with vineyards that had been in their families since the 17th century.
In 1995 the vibrant couple converted the Domaine to biodynamics, working in accordance to the cycle of the planets and the moon. The goal was simple: to encourage the vines to return to their natural state of being that had been masked by modern man’s agriculture and to encourage each vine to find harmony and balance. Barmès Buecher is a Domaine with a unique energy and harmony. Geneviève and François, aided by their children, Sophie and Maxime, have sixteen hectares of vines that each year produce wines that respond to the ebb and flow of Mother Nature and which always carry the Barmès signature. A bottle of Barmès Buecher is the result of carefully orchestrated work that occurs day in and day out 365 days a year with the sole goal of extracting the truest and purest expression of varietal, vintage, and terroir.
All plantings at Barmès-Buecher are made from massal selections taken from their own vineyards. Their goal is to maintain the natural balance and energy of the grape varietal, terroir and vintage. The vineyards are planted with 6 000 to 8 000 vines per hectare in order to induce a healthy competition between the roots thereby encouraging them to plunge deeper into the earth for nutrients.
Any treatments that are used are made from various herbs such as nettle, horsetail, wicker, yarrow, chamomile, and valerian. When necessary, homemade biodynamic compost is also used.
The vineyards: Rosenberg · Leimenthal · Pfleck · Clos Sand · Herrenweg; Grands Crus: Hengst · Steingrubler · Pfersigberg. Soils: various – clay limestone, sandstone, flint, gravelly, chalky limestone. The limestone confers power; the clay gives fatness, the sandstone & flint, minerality, subtlety and breeding.
Each varietal is harvested separately and the grapes are hand-sorted to eliminate any undesirable berries. Each cuvee is delicately pressed very slowly for up to 16 hours. After pressing, the juices are collected, undergo a light 12-hour settling, and are then transferred to large wooden casks, or barrels, or stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Prior to bottling, the wines are racked and lightly filtered. No chaptalization, no enzymes or yeasts added, and there is no fining. Maxime is intensely passionate about biodynamics and is fully dedicated towards it. Wines are racked when the moon is descending and then bottled after a very light filtration. The domain has been certified as biodynamic since 1998 and member of Biodyvin since 2002.