I see concrete vats in the cellars of the vignerons whom I respect and whose wines I love. Matthieu and his father Bernard Baudry have concrete vats in their chai;
Thierry Puzelat and his brother Jean-Marie have them; and Jean Maupertuis has them, too. There is something supremely pure about fermenting and
aging wine in concrete vats. They are neutral. They do not take away or add
anything. The thermal inertia of concrete vats is enormous. Thus, allowing the
wines at a steady temperature. Concrete vats breath. The wines that see concrete vats are not as 'square' as, say. from those wines that see stainless steel vats.
There
is wonderment of energy and purity about the wines that see
concrete vats. I especially like wines
that spend their time in the traditional concrete vats. Jean Maupertuis, for example, has concrete
vats that are probably made before WWII. Jean Maupertuis himself does not know when his concrete vats were made. The picture above is Jean Maupertuis in front
of his concrete vat. Oh heck, Jean Maupertuis' vats are not even ergonomic. When I
visited him in the tiny village of Saint-Georges-sur-Allier in Auvergne
