A Young Turk Succeeds with Organic Wine

Vincent Careme is one of many young winemakers who are creating great white wines in the area around Vouvray, near Tours, France.

Compared to the storied wine regions of Burgundy and Bordeaux, land costs in this part of the country are cheap, allowing twenty-something winemakers like Careme to begin early.

He grew up on a farm where his father cultivated vines, and in 1998, at age 21, he began his journey into winemaking. Though his family was better known for their vegetables, he’s now making a name for himself at top restaurants in the Loire Valley, where many of his customers come calling after they’ve had his wines at dinner. His sparkling and still Vouvrays are crisp and oaky. He says that the sparkling wines outsell the rest of his varieties.

While we visited the small winery in the village of Vernou-sur-Brenne, that produces just 80,000 bottles a year, customers from Belgium and Switzerland drove up to pick up some cases. Tania, his friendly South-African born wife, helps with the bookkeeping and managing and his faithful yellow lab Provence stuck around our feet while we tasted his products. Inside, Pierre, their 2 1/2 month old son, sleeps under the watch of his mom. Someday he may become a winemaker too. “Or an accountant!” said Tania with a laugh.

“What makes your wine special?” I asked. “It’s all organic, and it’s hand picked,” he said. Tania said that Vincent has always been particular about chemicals, preferring not to have them in his food, or in his house. This adds much to the labor costs. They do things like spray their vines with water that’s been soaked in poison ivy to prevent fungus, and a lot of close tilling to keep the weeds down.

When we walked his vineyard, it was a big change from what I’ve seen in other growing regions: long grass, a few weeds and a much healthier overall environment. “We use copper and sulphur, and we have to hire more people but we think it’s worth it,” he said.