IN THE VINEYARD | Rodrigo Zamorano, Domaine Hubert Brochard, Sancerre
Founded in 1900, Sancerre’s Domaine Hubert Brochard was acquired by the Bollinger family in 2022. Chilean Rodrigo Zamorano has since been appointed as head winemaker, having brought to his interview several Chilean wines as an example of the style he wanted to pursue. He talks about the challenges of the Loire Valley summer in 2024…
‘There is no way around it – this season has been very challenging for us so far in Sancerre. We had a mild winter with a spring that started a little bit sooner than anticipated, so initially we were predicting an early harvest. But from mid-April until now, we have had cold days with quite a bit of rain, completely changing the trend we were expecting. Today we find ourselves fighting against diseases and weeds – stoic as usual in this corner of the world. And the season is now presenting as rather late, with a style that seems to be a return to the past, via deep, mineral-laden wines, rich in acidity.
‘At Domaine Hubert Brochard, we have had to reinforce our team with new recruits, develop a very organised strategy to protect the vineyard against diseases, and return to manual work in many of the vineyard management tasks. As we are moving towards organic viticulture, everything is harder to control in a wet season like this one. Weeds must be eliminated by working the soils by machine and sometimes by hand to avoid having an invasion and too much competition for the vines. To control diseases such as mildew, we need to spray organic product immediately after any rainfall of more than 15mm, so we have to be very reactive and ready to treat – on weekends too, if needed. We have also been removing some leaves in cases where vigour is stronger and we lack aeration.
‘In Sancerre, due to the fact that our vineyards are planted in a tighter framework with many steep slopes, we have a very particular and challenging job in the vineyard, which pushes us to give our best every day, even if sometimes it hurts! But today we are happy to see how we are reaping the rewards of our hard work with good overall expectations for the 2024 harvest. As the French always say when finishing a discussion… BE BRAVE!!! This year, that is more necessary than ever….’
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