Written By
While I was in the Rhone I visited an estate called Domaine Viret more out of curiosity than anything else. It is here outside of Vaison La Romaine that they practice “Cosmoculture” – the first of its kind. They were filmed for the Oz Clarke wine show because they are truly out of this world. Biodynamics is one thing, but Cosmoculture is another level. It is quite complex but their main focus is “acupuncture of the earth”. They believe that by channelling the earth’s energy and releasing its pressure points (by using menhirs and various metal poles) they will guide better balanced and “˜dynamised’ energy into their grapes. They also align the molecules in the water or various plant treatments (like Biodynamic followers “˜energise’ their water by stirring clockwise then counter clockwise). They do this by changing music into frequencies and then expose these solutions to the frequencies. It’s complicated for someone (like me!) who has never studied physics. They also choose to not use sulphur dioxide at any stage of the process (not even at bottling) and are experimenting with amphora’s for fermentation purposes just like the Romans used to do (they are further experimenting with different clay types for different wines). It is all “˜far out’, so I was quite curious to taste the wines to see what the results were like. I can say that they are different and that they were not exactly my type of wines. But what an interesting place to visit. And just when you think most wine domain’s operate in a similar fashion…