Yves Pouzet - Man who introduced Méthode Traditionelle in India

I had met Yves Pouzet- the French Chilean biodynamic wine producer in 2010 at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Santiago during my visit to judge at Grand Hyatt Cata d’Or wine competition. He had invited me to his winery in Alto Cachapoal but due to paucity of my time, he offered to visit me at the hotel where I was very impressed with his Tipaume red wine but at $30 I found it too expensive for India. But I had been intrigued when he told me had worked in Champagne India, founded by Sham Chougule and introduced Méthode Traditionelle (term Méthode Champenoise may not be used outside for sparkling wines that are made outside Champagne), for the first time.

‘I worked with Mr. Sham Chougule as the Vice-President from 1988-1990. The sparkling wines were then being made through the consultancy offered by Pipe Heidsieck. Mr. Chougule was a true pioneer and I found him very passionate about wine. But he did not have full grasp of the sparkling wine making technology and I don’t think Piper Heidsieck was giving him the right consultancy. They had chosen the cheaper alternative of using Charmat method- doing the second fermentation in the tank when I started working after he had persuaded me to quite my job and come to India. They had been tinkering with the ‘Méthode Champenoise’ but unsuccessfully. I introduced the method and set up the line. Wine from the first lot of these wines was sent to London at a competition- I don’t remember whether it was International Wine Challenge or Decanter but the wine won the first medal for Chougule and for India.

There may be detractors and those challenging his assertion that Thompson Seedless grapes and not Chardonnay or Pinot Noir were used in Marquis de Pompadour. He also stresses that for the style that was created in which wines were to be drunk young, Thompson was an excellent grape giving high acidity; the wine that won the first medal for India in an international competition also had the same grape.  It made a very fresh but young drinking wine.

Viña Tipaume

After leaving India Yves went back to France where he worked a couple of years with big wine producers and then decided to go to Chile which he has since made his home- of course travelling across the globe sometimes giving consultancy, including in India where he had a couple of assignments but is now focussing more on his own winery Viña Tipaume.

He bought 5 hA of vineyard land near the Tipaume (Tee-paoo- may) River near Rancagua, 90 minutes and 120 km south of Santiago, decided to name it Tipaume; even as the label for his only wine. He has added another one called Grez, named after his Chilean wife Valentina Grez.   

Always committed to sustainable farming, he started growing the grape vines in 1996 from scratch on organic and biodynamic principles, introducing Carménère, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Lacrima Cristi, Viognier, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese in the vineyards.  After getting certified first as organic his vineyards were certified bio-dynamic in 2011.

Basically, he makes only one label, Tipaume. It’s a field blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carménère, 5% Merlot, 3% Lacrima Cristi and 2% Viognier and aged in French barriques. He has brought out another variant and labelled it as Grez-named after his wife Valentina Grez. It uses the same blend as Tipaume but instead of using oak barrels he uses clay amphoras for fermentation. This unique technique enhances the authentic form of the wine, which makes Grez a very special wine- a Natural wine, if you will.

Located in the Alto Cachapoal at the foot of the Cordillera de los Andes which offer an astounding view from the winery, at around 400 meters above sea level, the terroir has profound, well drained soils of low fertility, and a very cool climate that allow a long period of maturation in autumn, making Tipaume a rather special wine, he asserts.

Yves who built up an underground winery in 2005 also has a Tasting room called the Terroir Room where the soil has been cut and used as two bare walls so one can get a feel for the soil while tasting wines. Wine tourists are brought here for tasting after the vineyards visits costing $50. There is an optional Lunch ($40)-primarily a local BBQ called Asado that includes a glass of Tipaume. One can buy the full bottles at 30% discount, making the visit even more worthwhile.

How does he feel about bio-dynamic farming? ‘In all honesty, I had a life before certification and totally another one after we got certified. To maintain the status, the things we have to go through, makes me a different man altogether and I am very happy about being bio-dynamic,’ says he. ‘I am also proud to say that based on a list that I have there are only 5 producers in Chile who are Demeter certified- the only Swiss organisation that gives this certification.’

Going bio-dynamics has its own challenges. ‘We make 6000-8000 bottles a year. The cost of annual renewal is €10,000 which is prohibitive for us. If there is a poor vintage you still have to follow the principles even if it means no fruit. Indeed 2016 was a very bad vintage when there was too much rain in Cachapoal and many people in this area lost all their grapes- primarily Carménère. We could make only 2,000 bottles! But you have to live with that, ‘ and added, ‘one can bear a bad vintage if it occurs once. 2 bad vintages make it very difficult but 3 bad vintages and you may have to go out of business.’ He has been fortunate keeping himself afloat.

One might not expect him to export with such small quantity of production-he cannot buy grapes from outside even if he wanted to, he has a steady demand from Brazil which is the only exported country. He exports 2 palates- 1,440 bottles every year at the same price as in Chile.

Those dealing with Chilean wines in big volumes would consider his prices prohibitive but Brazil has a niche market. Yves has now also introduced a few other models at cheaper price, where he gets the wine made and bottled according to his own specifications and supervision as another label to market at competitive prices.

Visiting Chile might mean visiting wineries that produce wine in millions of liters. Here is a winery so different, so small that owners-Yves Pouzet, the man who introduced <Méthode Champenoise>  at Champagne India/Indage Vintners in India, or his wife Valentina Grez will personally take you to the tour of the vineyards and taste with you.

You may contact Pouzet at tipaume@tipaume.cl

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