Les Chemins de Bassac
Who: Bruno Triguero and Thama Sakuma.
Where: Puimisson, Côtes de Thongue (Languedoc, France)
What grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Roussanne, Viognier
Key facts: Certified Organic for over 20 years and converted to fully Biodynamic in 2017. Les Chemins de Bassac is truly a passion project for husband and wife, Bruno & Thama. 17ha of healthy soil and lively vineyards give expression to clean and elevated wines.
Website: http://www.cheminsdebassac.com/en/
Instagram: @cheminsdebassac
Les Chemins de Bassac “Bouteillou — Les Parcelle Petillantes”
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: Viognier
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days. Secondary fermentation in bottle. No Sulfites added. Unfined, non-clarified, non-filtered.
We never seem to be able to get enough of this delicious gem. Keep an eye out for it when it arrives because it will go fast. I first had it freshly disgorged on the side patio of Bruno and Thama’s house on a Sunday afternoon full of friendship and laughter. I meet a red-headed flat-coated retriever named Nina who stole my heart. Wine dogs. — az
Les Chemins de Bassac “Obscure — Les Parcelle Petillantes”
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days. Secondary fermentation in bottle. No Sulfites added. Unfined, non-clarified, non-filtered.
Tiny Bubbles…hey how did Don Ho get in here? You have to be a certain age to get that one. Don’t miss out on this sparkler when it shows back up in North Carolina for a brief and shining moment. Buy as much as you can! It will not last long, and you definitely want to have a bottle or two or more. — az
Les Chemins de Bassac “RAÏZ” Blanc Côtes de Thongue IGP
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: 60% Roussanne, 40% Viognier
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days. Fermented in enameled lined cement tanks.
The new line of everyday wines from Bruno and Thama are wild yeast fermented for 20-30 days, and kept in enamel-lined cement tanks until bottling. I need to step back for a moment to consider how our favorite Brazillian expats create certified organic, minimal intervention, pure-and-bright terroir driven wines for such a great price. I couldn’t make you a sad junior high art class coffee mug for that price. The Roussanne/Viognier blanc is my personal favorite of team Raiz, it feels like otherworldly fruit is overflowing the glass. Is that starfruit, or passion fruit, or something from a distant galaxy of better tropical flavors. Persimmon? In my golden years I want to go on a victory lap toupr of places that sell ripe fruit and ponder the intellectual and corporeal damage caused to me/us all by the industrial underripe banana factory that is our food system. — JM
Les Chemins de Bassac “RAÏZ” Rosé Côtes de Thongue IGP
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: 60% Grenache, 35% Mourvèdre, 5% Pinot Noir
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days. Fermented in enameled lined cement tanks
Les Chemins de Bassac “RAÏZ” Rouge Côtes de Thongue IGP
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: 16% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 22% Mourvèdre, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Pinot Noir
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days. Fermented in enameled lined cement tanks
Les Chemins de Bassac “A DERIVA — vers la nature” Côtes de Thongue IGP
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Syrah
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation lasting 20 - 30 days.
2020 Les Chemins de Bassac A Deriva It’s a wild ride. An aromatic tour-de-force, a must-have for lovers of Syrah, or wintry red wines with compelling aromatic appeal. Bruno and Thama dive deep into the terroir of Puimisson, western Languedoc, and bring back a seamless, evocative, pure red for white beans and sausage. Low sulfur, no dirt. A realisation of the promise of biodynamic agriculture. And because it’s Languedoc and they are earnest, honest Brazillians, they aren’t cashing in on the craze. Hipster Friendly. 202 bottles available, so get some soon. — JM
Les Chemins de Bassac “Roussanne” Vin de France
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: Roussanne
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation, no addition of any oenological products. Grapes are gently pressed, light debourbage before clear must is vatted for fermentation in concrete tanks. Bottling occurs by gravity without filtration according to the lunar calendar.
Les Chemins de Bassac “L'Incandescente” Rosé Vin de France
Viticulture: Certified organic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: Syrah
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation, no addition of any oenological products. Grapes are gently pressed, light debourbage before clear must is vatted for fermentation in concrete tanks. Bottling occurs by gravity without filtration according to the lunar calendar.
Les Chemins de Bassac “Le Champs des Maures” Rouge Vin de France
Viticulture: Certified organic / Biodynamic / Vegan
Soil type: Limestone-clay originating from ancient Quaternary alluvial terraces
Elevation: 100m
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Method of fermentation: Wild yeast fermentation, no addition of any oenological products. Gentle maceration in concrete tanks. Bottling occurs by gravity without filtration according to the lunar calendar.
Notes from a visit to Les Chemins de Bassac, 2/2/2018
Whatever shred of professionalism I cling to is reinforced by the existence of these notes. I was a week into the onset of pneumonia when I arrived at Les Chemins de Bassac. It was to become the sort of death march across Europe that every wine professional endures at least once in their career, and tells tales of eternally, to tamp down the allure of this work. Kid, it ain’t all glamour. One day you’ll be asleep in the back seat of a small Fiat outside the pharmacy of a nameless Tyrolean town, tossing and turning through fever dreams as paracetamol struggles to take hold. In that cramped and sweaty moment you’ll see how much fun it is being in the wine trade.
Why must we rain on the parades of others? Is there a German word for deliberately dampening the spirits of enthusiastic colleagues?
Bruno and Thama are from Sao Paolo. They bought Les Chemins de Bassac several years ago. It’s a certified-organic farm near Puimisson, a village of 1,000 residents in the western Languedoc, Cotes de Thongue appellation. Their winery is a vast 19th century farm building with massive concrete fermentation tanks and giant wooden beams supporting a roof perhaps 30 feet overhead? At one time the farm needed this enormous space, in the middle of the 20th century it stretched across 80 hectares. In recent decades the focus drifted from volume of production to smaller scale viticulture. The best 17 hectares of the historical farm were kept, restored with an emphasis on quality winemaking, the rest was sold off and mostly converted to mixed-use agriculture, cereals etc.
Walking past the ruins of “Bassac” with Bruno, we passed hunters who had bagged a few small game birds. It’s a quiet, empty landscape. Lots of plowed farmland and stands of green space. These two particular sportsmen run a burger truck in Puimisson, apparently. We passed a real array of vines: Pinot Noir, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cabernet, Syrah, Viognier, Roussanne, maybe more. There are fragments of oyster shells and coral in the soil, unsurprising for an almost-coastal zone.
Concrete tanks are used for the fermentation on the reds. Bruno and Thama work via gravity, easy enough when your winery is so massive! A metal gangplank runs from the front entrance of the building alongside and above these cement fermentors, traversing the length of the space, to Thama’s office.
To make clean natural wine they utilize temperature control. Most vessels are kept at 10-12 degrees Celsius in the summer, and monitored for volatility every three days. It is labor intensive work, for sure. Some sulfur is added at bottling to ensure stability during transportation.
25-year-old tronconic wooden barrels are used for assembling the final blend for Bruno and Thama’s “Raiz” line of wines. It’s a new project, a creation of the estate that has slowly become wholly theirs. The Raiz blanc tastes fresh and clean, with appealing mineral dryness on the palate. The aromas are vivid, tropical, bordering on banana. The light, pleasant, well-made Raiz rose can’t get here fast enough! It’ll be perfect for present-and-future beach excursions. The Raiz Rouge has fresh tart berry fruit, and is again quite mineral on the palate. It is rich and complex in mouthfeel in comparison to reds made at Les Chemins de Bassac in the past.
The a Deriva is a little lactic on the nose. It’s dense for Pinot Noir, with slightly mouth coating tannin. Plenty of sweet fruit mid-palate, though. Until it’s a year or two older I’ll want it with hearty meals, which aren’t hard to find in the Languedoc.
The Sagarana was my favorite of the reds, in spite of being a little clunky on the finish when tasted very young. I’m eager to encounter it again in the USA, now that time in the bottle has tamed it.
Bruno and Thama are passionate natural farmers, Brazillian expats who believe in the importance of organic viticulture enough to have jettisoned careers, and the comforts of urban life, uprooting with their two young daughters to explore a different form of existence halfway around the globe. As we sat in their kitchen, a string of local French friends wandered in, sharing jokes and stories and glasses of wine. It felt casual, convivial. The new arrivals are breathing life into this sleepy town and its farmland. I’m glad we get to see the story develop.