Liber Pater and Loïc Pasquet. The fight to bring back Bordeaux's lost taste.

What phylloxera took from Bordeaux

In the late 19th century the phylloxera louse, imported from America, destroyed nearly all of Europe's vineyards by attacking the roots. The fix was to graft European vines onto resistant American rootstocks, and that is how almost every vine in Bordeaux grows today. Loïc Pasquet believes something was lost in the process. In his view, grafting acts like a filter between vine and soil.

He lists three losses: the native grape varieties, the culture of very high planting density, and the direct link between the vine and its soil. His mission, as he puts it, is to rediscover the taste of fine Bordeaux at the time of the 1855 classification.

Franc de pied in Graves

Loïc plants his vines franc de pied, on their own roots. It is risky, and the film shows a Burgundy grower whose ungrafted plot, planted in 2005, eventually died from phylloxera. Loïc argues that some sandy and gravelly soils, like his in Graves, make it hard for the insect to reach the roots, but he must check his vines constantly.

His vineyard also looks like the 19th century. Instead of rows on wires, he plants about 20,000 vines per hectare, double the usual Bordeaux density, each tied to its own stake. Dense planting, he says, forces deeper roots and a clearer expression of the place. He propagates by massal selection rather than buying clones from a nursery.

Forgotten grapes and a conclave

Using a book printed in 1853 as his bible, Loïc has hunted down cuttings of nearly forgotten Bordeaux varieties, often in southwest France. He calls Cabernet Sauvignon by its old name, Petite-Vidure, and grows rarities such as Castets, Pardotte, Saint-Macaire and Camaralet. One critic in the film admits the old name first seemed like smoke and mirrors, since Petite-Vidure is simply Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine ages in amphorae rather than new oak, which Loïc feels masks the terroir. Each year a group of eight tasters gathers in a mock-solemn "conclave" to approve the blend of Liber Pater, a ritual you have to see.

In court with INAO

For the French, the AOC system run by INAO is close to sacred. Loïc's unusual grapes, ungrafted vines and dense planting broke its rules, and he was sentenced to six months in prison. Watch the film to find out what happened on appeal, why he still battles INAO, and how neighbors reacted to an outsider telling Bordeaux it had lost its way. Vines were cut and poisoned, and wildfires in the surrounding forests later threatened the estate.

Is it worth the price?

Loïc also takes aim at the critics. He feels many châteaux chased high scores with riper, oakier wines and forgot their heritage, and that the 1855 classification ranked châteaux by price rather than by site. Not everyone agrees, and the film gives his critics plenty of room, from a Bordeaux expert who still sees value in the 1855 classification to a friend who admires Loïc but tells him to calm down now and then.

Liber Pater is listed at prices said to range from 3,000 to 30,000 euros a bottle. Critics, sommeliers and fellow growers in the film disagree about him. Some see a brilliant marketer, others an honest believer who reminds Bordeaux that wine should reflect a place rather than a critic's score or a château's brand. In one scene a collector flies him to a dinner to taste Liber Pater beside one of Bordeaux's most famous bottles. See how that comparison goes, and decide for yourself whether Loïc is crazy or simply asking the questions Bordeaux should be asking.

Go furtherWant to taste along? Find Liber Pater’s wines and where to buy them near you on Wine-Searcher.