Back at Claverach, Sam Hilmer has been making wine for almost 20 years. He first became interested in grape growing while raising vegetables on his family’s farm, where Claverach now operates. It wasn’t long before wine grapes were added to the list of crops. Claverach’s first wine, made with Norton and Chambourcin grapes, was bottled in 2002.
The vineyard has expanded over the years to include European and French-American hybrid grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, Marsanne, Viogner and a tiny planting of Pinot Noir, along with Chambourcin. European varietals now account for about 60 percent of its yield.
Shulman says the vineyard’s soil is particularly suited to these varietals. “We have very high limestone in the soil, which is common in France,” she says. “That’s one of the things that keeps us growing French wine grapes.” The limestone in the soil allows for quick drainage, even after heavy flooding from the nearby Meramec River.
Hilmer plants his vineyards in a European fashion, as well. Unlike other Missouri wineries, where the average vine density is 500 an acre, the European varietals in Claverach’s vineyard have up to 2,500 vines an acre. Hilmer plants the rows extremely close together, and harvesting and pruning must be done by hand. “It’s more difficult to farm, but the ultimate reward is a more interesting flavor,” Hilmer says.
Over the past 14 years, Hilmer has made many European-style wines, but this is the first year Claverach has released its pét-nats, those “cloudy wines” inspired by the oldest-known method for making sparkling wine that has made a resurgence in Europe.
Claverach produced about 1,000 bottles of red and rosé pét-nat this year, which will be sold at the farm and might make it into a few retail stores in the St. Louis area. The rosé is made with 100 percent Chambourcin grapes, and the red is a blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc. Hilmer has also experimented with a blend of white European grapes grown at the winery (Bianca, Petit Manseng, Viognier and Marsanne) but he’s still perfecting the wine.
And then there’s the sediment resting at the bottom of each bottle of Claverach’s pét-nat, giving it that signature cloudy quality. Usually such sediment is dispelled by disgorgement, a process in which the lees are frozen and removed from the wine. Hilmer decided to skip the step to achieve a more authentic French-style pét-nat.
Some revere the cloudiness as superior – a sign that wine hasn’t been manipulated. Others see it as form of rebellion in the industry, or pushing the limits of new-world winemaking. “That’s an old-world thing; the resurgence of cloudy wines is America looking to Europe,” Hilmer says. “Most wines in the commercial market are disgorged because it’s not common to have cloudy wine, whereas in beer it’s accepted these days. But I think as we go forward, we’ll see more wines that are cloudy.”
Another traditional quality of Claverach’s pét-nats is the absence of added yeast. “After a period of time in a winery or in a cellar, yeast become indigenous, so you don’t necessarily have to add anything,” Hilmer says. “It’s sort of a leap of faith, initially, when you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
The inherent risk involved in producing pét-nats and their unknowable quality is what makes them exciting to Hilmer – and other contemporary winemakers.
The movement first began to emerge in France in the ’90s when several young winemakers left their jobs in vineyards and at wine cellars to experiment with making small batches of unique wines in garages and other small spaces. They were dubbed garagistes, and their wines were called vins de garage, or “garage wines.”
Like Hilmer, these winemakers were exploring techniques and approaches outside of the mainstream wine industry. Their yields were extremely low, and the vines were heavily pruned by hand. Everything was hand-picked and de-stemmed, and often crushed by foot, in an effort to master every step of the winemaking process. They plucked individual leaves off grapevines to expose grapes to specific windows of sunlight for targeted growth and let grapes hang on the vine long past normal harvest to yield fruit with more concentrated flavor.
Inspired by the garagistes, Hilmer says Claverach’s pét-nats offer something unique in the local wine industry. “It’s not that I dislike traditions; it’s just that I think we have to question why we do things in certain ways,” Hilmer says.
By combining European grape-growing methods with traditional and modern French winemaking techniques, Hilmer and Jerry Mueller have produced wines made with grapes that thrive in Missouri’s climate – and yet are truly French-inspired in structure and character.
“I’m looking to do something different,” Hilmer says. “I think there is a place for people making Norton and Chardonel and the standard varieties here, but I think there’s also room for people who want to grow European grapes. As consumers become more educated and open to different things, you’re going to see more experimentation with producers.”
Jerry also sees an opportunity for the local wine industry to grow through European approaches. “[Missouri wines have] been categorized and boxed into this idea that if it’s from here, it’s sweet or it’s uninteresting,” he says. “But if we apply these techniques, then the industry has an ability to compete at a high level.”
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