Les Mets d’Âmes
Céline Oulié is fortunate to possess an ideal environment for her vines in Madiran in Southwest France. While she has 30 total hectares of land, vines only make up only five of those hectares. The rest of the property is comprised of cereal fields, forest, prairies, a lake, two ponds, a host of donkeys, sheep, and several beehives. With all of this biodiversity, it is no wonder Céline often forages the ingredients to make her biodynamic preparations. The property has been in Céline's family since 1924 when her great-great-grandmother started farming there, and Céline is now the fifth generation female farmer to work the land. While Céline's father was the one who decided to plant grape vines 40 years ago, it was Céline's mother who took over as a winemaker after a career change. The name of the domaine is a play on words that pays homage to the women (les mesdames) who have been in charge of the domaine over the years and also to the soul (âme) that they put into their work. Céline makes wines in the appellations of Madiran (for the reds) and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh (for the whites) and is the only producer in these appellations to be certified biodynamic. All harvesting is by hand, only indigenous yeasts are used, and sulfur additions are kept to a minimum.
