In 2008 Christophe’s parents retired from grape farming and the land was to be divided between the children, as it had been for generations. We chose the small parcels, the ‘unwanted’ vineyards difficult to reach by tractor or machines. The plots, to us, are perfectly positioned far up the hillside, surrounded by forests and garigue and isolated from the low land vines that are over produced and chemically sprayed. These little hard to farm vineyards were catastrophic for anyone looking to mass-produce grapes but to us, they are our treasures. They are older and established with strong root systems reaching deep into the terroir. They are secluded and protected from other farmers all too common chemical treatments. And in a perfect sort of karmic favour the stunning backdrop of forests and garigue that protect our vines is also what helps give La Combe du Jardinier wines their distinctive rich flavours.
“We sing the song of our home because we are animals, and an animal is no better or wiser or safer than its habitat and its food chain. Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place." - B Kingsolver
Christophe grew up in these vineyards and his roots grow deep here. The story we are telling through our wines starts with the weight of his place here, in this landscape we hope will be timeless. My relationship with this area is a newer one, I fell in love with the light and the life style and climate and the views as a young artist on holiday. For me discovering this area was strangely like coming home. Our love and respect for this land is fierce. Taking care of it is of our highest priority.
“My goal is to leave the land, the actual dirt alive and in better condition then when I started farming it, when I am old and gone the next generation should be able to farm from this land or if no one wants to farm it, nature should be able to balanced and healthy” -‑christophe jammes
The methods we use to ensure of the quality of the soil, vineyards and ecosystems directly result in the high quality of our wines.The soil is enriched with animal and green manure which gives the vines and grapes the nutrients they need to be healthy. Our vines are worked in the only way it is possible to produce grapes capable of a natural fermentation process and that is with out the use of chemicals. We combat pests and disease with 100% natural plant based sprays such as thistle, consude, prele and garlic. Chemical sprays are literally small doses of poison to the consumer who drinks the wines, the farmer who sprays the vine and the plants environment. Natural sprays protect the vines not only without the negative side effects of chemical poisons but with healthy and positives side effects of enriched nutrition and natural vitamins and minerals in the plant based sprays.
All of our vineyards are harvested by hand at full maturity. Small comports and hand picking insure the grapes arrive at the cellar totally undamaged with no need to add sulphites to combat oxidization to the grape. Starting out with a healthy grape is the important key to our delicious wines.
We prune our vines by hand, thinking not only of this year’s harvest, but of how they will grow for years to come. As we are pruning we think of quality not quantity – both for the sake of the wine and that of the vine. We prune by hand with old fashioned secateurs, it's a slow rhythmic job, much slower than if we used electric scissors and incomparable to the speed of the new pruning machines but in the time we take with each vine we get a little closer to them, we notice how they are growing, if they are lacking in nutrients or water in which direction we need to go for their best results.
It is a slow conversation between vigneron and vine.
A vine should be able to live a long life of well over 100 years but vine's that are constantly damaged by harsh contact with pruning and picking machines have to be uprooted and re planted every 15 so years.
We take our time and choose much more labour intensive methods to ensure our vines will develop and prosper through to full maturity and produce grapes of the highest quality.