Approx read time: 10 minutes
By Tiffany Vernon

Bastien Tardieu likens his job role at Maison Tardieu-Laurent to that of a Swiss army knife — needing to be adaptable and involved in every aspect of the business. Although a trained oenologist, his contributions to the family business are not solely focussed on what happens in the cellar…
His father, Michel Tardieu, established the micro-négociant-éleveur with partner Dominique Laurent in the 1990s. Inspired by the Burgundian winemaking philosophy, Maison Tardieu-Laurent only purchases old vine fruit grown on iconic terroirs across the Rhône Valley, with careful management of expressing each vintage. The growers they work with remain a secret, but Bastien and Michel know each vineyard intimately as if they were their own. Today, there are nine people making up the Tardieu-Laurent team, working with just shy of 100 growers and three different coopers.
During his recent visit to C&B’s London office, I managed to steal half an hour of Bastien’s time for a one-to-one chat. Tremendously charismatic and quotable, he eloquently summarises the work behind some of the Rhône’s most loved wines.

The estate has longstanding relationships with growers up and down the Rhône Valley. How do you manage to maintain these relationships?

We work with almost 100 producers along the Rhône Valley, some of whom we have worked with since the very beginning. My father created the micro–négociant in the ‘90s, but at this time, the Rhône wines were not very trendy. He decided to visit each producer to buy their grapes or wine because he wasn’t very interested in the winemaking, but what happens before the winemaking. He wanted to visit the vineyards to taste the berries and pay attention to the viticultural work done before the harvest. This was the main difference between Tardieu-Laurent and the rest of the négociants in the Rhône because my father was interested in what happened before the wine was made. When you pay attention to this work, I think you build a relationship with the producer.

How welcoming and relaxed were your producers initially in allowing your father to visit their vineyards and taste their grapes?

They were happy because we don’t say to our producers, ‘You have to do this, and you have to do that’. I like to say that the job of a négociant is 20% winemaking and 80% diplomacy, psychology, etc, because you have to manage lots of different personalities. So that’s why it’s not very stressful when we visit the producers because we just want to have a look, to just test the berries, and there is no judgement. It’s very important for us to understand the vintage when we are going through the vineyard, so this is the main reason we visit each producer. It’s not only to understand the vintage but to begin anticipating the winemaking. When you see the berries and test the berries, you think about whether that vintage requires a little more extraction than usual or not. That’s why it’s very, very important to see the vineyard beforehand.

Are you always on the lookout for other growers you can work with?

Always. It’s the part of the job I like the most — the sourcing and finding new producers. It’s also important to do maximum testing with an existing producer because sometimes the wine is no good that year because the father or the uncle made it. There is a new generation now, and they’re making good wine, but you have to test every year. Sometimes, the new generation, the son or the daughter, will take over the winery and improve it, but sometimes it’s the opposite, so you have to be aware! On other occasions, the father used to bring his grapes to the Cave Cooperative, but when the son or daughter takes over, they create a domaine and start to make their own wines. There is always a new estate or a new winery every year.

How does it work when you are sourcing a new producer; who approaches who?

Usually, we approach. But (Bastien motions for me to lean in closer and lowers his voice as if he is about to whisper a secret), there is the best way of sourcing [new producers]. For example, when I am visiting a historic producer, I will ask, ‘What kind of Gigondas are you currently enjoying drinking?’ he will then say to me, ‘Ah yes, there is a new producer, he’s a friend. Maybe I’ll have to introduce you because he has very good terroir with old vines, which is perfect for you.’ So (Bastien leans back into his seat and holds up his finger, indicating a lightbulb moment), being introduced to a new producer by an existing producer is the best way. It also means that the new producer is more relaxed, and it’s easier because when they are introduced, they already have confidence [in us].

Your wines are focussed on terroir; is it easier or more challenging to do this with such a wide variety of plots and grape varieties?

I think in the Rhône Valley, there are more opportunities to experiment and be creative. For example, in St-Joseph, it’s a very long appellation, more than 60km in length. So you have different styles of St-Joseph in the north and south [of the appellation]. The south is a bit like Cornas; it’s full-bodied and a bit richer. But the north is more like Côte-Rôtie; it’s more floral and very elegant. As négociants, we have the chance to blend north and south, which is not the case when you’re a producer. Usually, your vineyards are around the estate. So when your estate is in the south, your vineyards are located in the south and vice versa. But we have the ability to blend, and I think it’s a huge opportunity because you can bring the freshness and the floral, violet note from the north, and simultaneously, you have the roundness and structure from the south. So, in the end, you have a balanced wine. And I think when you compare that to Burgundy, for example, where there is just one climat, there is not the same opportunity to experiment.

Part of this experimentation includes the grape varieties you work with, has this evolved over time?

Yes, for example, in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, you have over 20 different grape varieties permitted in the appellation. Again, I think this is a huge opportunity, especially with global warming because, as an example, Grenache and Roussanne are interesting varieties, but the alcohol levels are a bit higher than they were 30 years ago. But you also have varieties such as Picpoul, Bourboulenc and Clairette, which reach ripeness at 12.5 [potential alcohol], so you get more acidity and a kind of saltiness in the wine which is very interesting to balance the blend with. In the customer’s mind, white wines from the Rhône Valley are very rich and not very well balanced, but now this is not the case because of the kind of grapes [we work with]. As a result, Rhône whites are in more demand.

With the effects of climate change, are your growers approaching their viticulture differently and needing to adapt? How much do these methods vary from grower to grower?

In the vineyards, we are not really involved. That means each individual producer will make the final decision about things like spraying and green harvest — all the work they need to do during the growing season. But because we visit each producer before the harvest and they know what we are looking for, although we are not involved, we do influence them. Of course, we see a trend in the changes in their practices. For example, in the northern Rhône Valley, all producers used to remove the leaves around the grapes in summer to get maximum sunshine exposure. But in 2003, there was a heatwave in the Rhône Valley and so all of these [exposed] grapes burnt. Since then, the practice has been to keep more leaves around the grapes to create some shadow and protection. This creates a microclimate and helps the grapes to retain some freshness. But each year, you learn something new, this is what keeps the job so interesting! And every year, you improve your practices. Of course, this means we have seen a lot of changes in the last 15 years.

How would you describe the philosophy behind Maison Tardieu-Laurent?

The DNA of Tardieu-Laurent is to purchase wine and grapes from old vines located on the iconic terroir of each appellation. Because when my father created the négociant, he wanted to produce wine for the connoisseur.

This was a unique concept for a négociant when Tardieu-Laurent was established. Have you since seen an upward trend of other négociants adopting a similar concept?

We were established in the 1990s, with our first vintage in 1994. I am proud to say that my father was a pioneer in having this approach as a micro-négociant. Of course, Guigal, Chapoutier, and Jaboulet are all existing négociants, but my father’s approach to visit the producers before the harvest and be involved in the winemaking, he was the first [to do it].

Did people initially see this approach as strange?

Oh yes, definitely! Especially when after the fermenting had finished and my father was bringing his barrels — in fact, it is still the case now — but he was bringing his barrels to the producers who would rack the wine into the barrels, and we would bring the full barrels back to our cellars on a truck. We were the first négociant to do that at the time, it was not very common. And you can imagine that during the first vintage, producers were afraid to see what would happen [to the wine] because it was so uncommon to move full barrels in a truck. It was very unique, once again, and they thought ‘fou!’

Can you update us on your project to bottle wines from specific climats?

So the first cuvée of our single vineyard wines was in 2018. We don’t produce this cuvée every year, and it changes every year. Sometimes, it will be a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, sometimes a Gigondas or Condrieu, and sometimes, we don’t make it at all. It really depends, it’s more a question of quality. For example, in 2018, which was not the best vintage, I visited a producer in St-Joseph, and I tasted the berries, and I said, ‘This berry is perfect’. It was from the oldest part of the [producer’s] terroir and I asked the producer to vinify this part of the vineyard separately. It’s more a question of feeling, you know, because you taste the berries and you have a revelation and that’s why it changes every year. So that’s why in 2020, for example, we made a Côte-Rôtie and St-Joseph but not in ’21 or ’22. And we will see in ’23, we may produce a Châteauneuf and Gigondas, but we will see the progress. Maybe after that, there will be nothing for five years because it really is a question of feeling when you see the vineyard and the grapes and taste the berries.

Aside from your Bandol wine, would you consider expanding beyond the Rhône Valley in the future?

Honestly, for the moment, no, because we are very busy — the cellar is 250 km from Côte-Rôtie, so there is a lot of driving involved! For now, we are not looking to produce wine in another region, but maybe, maybe… We will see.

Finally, of all the wines you produce, which one are you most proud of and why?

You know that is the worst question; it’s like asking would you prefer to cut off your left hand or your right hand?! Definitely (Bastien takes a long pause before launching into a confident response), the Châteauneuf Cuvée Speciale. In terms of approach, style and winemaking, it is the most Burgundian wine we have in our range. It’s our flagship wine because it’s just one grape, Grenache, which is more than 100 years old, [planted] on sandy soils and not destemmed. [Using stems] is very common in Burgundy but not very common in the Rhône Valley. Of course, it’s not a Burgundy wine, but in terms of approach and style, it is. It is a cuvée that is very delicate, very fine and very elegant. It’s not what you expect from Châteauneuf-du-Pape — something very rich and full-bodied — it is more focussed and perfumed.
We first made this wine in 2001, before my time actually. It comes from the west of La Crau which is quite cold for Châteauneuf because it’s shaded by the nearby forest, and it is always picked seven or 10 days after the rest of the appellation. But because it is cooler, you can use the stem because it ripens at the same rate as the grape. So you don’t get that green, vegetal flavour in the wine.