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Leading Swiss biodynamic winemaker dies
Jean-Denis Perrochet, the winemaker and owner of Swiss wine estate La Maison Carrée, died suddenly last Sunday at the age of 63.
Perrochet, who ran the 10 hectare biodynamic estate in the region of Neuchâtel, in the west of Switzerland, alongside his wife Christine and son Alexandre, died suddenly from a heart attack during a bike ride at the weekend.
The Perrochet family has a history of winemaking going back to the 17th century, though when Jean-Denis Perrochet took the reins of the estate, which had been in his family since 1827, in 2008, he decided to switch to biodynamic methods for the two vineyards, in Auvernier and Hauterive. Since 2012, both vineyards have been 100% biodynamic. Pinot Noir is the only variety used for La Maison Carrée’s reds and rosé, while white varieties planted include Chardonnay, Chasselas, Savagnin Blanc and Pinot Gris.
Importer Dynamic Vines has praised how Perrochet was able to “harness the power of different soil compositions to create wines that are the furthest from the messy ‘farmyard’ wines people have stereotyped previously”.
As well as running the estate, Perrochet was a keen campaigner on a number of issues, including a ban on the use of synthetic pesticides in Switzerland, though the resultant referendum on the issue in 2021 rejected this proposal.
He also, according to Arc Info, pushed against Swiss Wine Trade Control’s (CSCV) inspections of his stock for three years, considering the trade body to be “illegitimate” and claiming that it imposed “unnecessary controls”, though a 2023 court verdict ruled against Perrochet.
But 2023 did also bring rewards, as organic Swiss wine competition BioVino named Jean-Denis and Alexandre Perrochet as the best organic winegrowers in the country. Alexandre, who first started working on the estate in 2015, will now be the seventh generation of the Perrochet family to take charge of La Maison Carrée.
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