SOMM TV: Liber Pater Wines

During the winter, (wait, it's spring!) we are engaged in our continuing education in wine. This past week, we were watching an episode of SOMM TV which featured the Liber Pater Wines. Loïc Pasquet is the winemaker at Liber Pater, but he insists that he is a vigneron. His claim to fame is that he is currently acknowledged as selling the most expensive wine in the world.
How did this come about? Just a litle bit of history. During the time of Napoleon III, when Napoleon commissioned the 1855 classification, the grapes were grown on pre-phylloxera soils. After phylloxera came to Europe and caused the near extinction of grape vines, in order to survive, almost all European grapevines were grafted on to American rootstock. Some claim that own-rooted vines have a different flavor profile than grafted vines.
Enter Loïc Pasquet! After pursuing engineering studies in Dijon, Pasquet became side-tracked by the world of fine wine, and most specifically by a desire to (re)discover the ancient grape varieties of pre-phylloxera Bordeaux. Guided by his mentor, Savoyard Michel Grigard, who was instrumental in bringing back Mondeuse, Altesse, and Jacquère to the Alpine vineyards, Pasquet began his quest to ressurect pre-phylloxera Bordeaux varieties such as Castet, Pardotte, Tarnay, Petite Vidure, Mancin, Camaralet, and Saint-Macaire. To date, Pasquest has “exhumed” 14 varieties in total!¹
Pasquest identified the small commune of Ladiras with its “magnificent gravel outcrop” and excellent drainage, and a “cocktail of sandy topsoil” as an excellent location to grow his own-rooted vines.
Pasquet farms two plots, Liber Pater and Denarius. Pasquet says that both Liber Pater and Denarius wines are 100 percent ungrafted, organic, and made with native grape varieties. Of his two vineyards, he says that, in the Denarius vineyard, “we have more clay, so the wine is very soft, while Liber Pater is very elegant, more for the gods.” ²

What is it that is so unusual about Loïc Pasquet wines? The main grape variety used in both Liber Pater and Denarius is Petite Vuidure, an old name for Cabernet Sauvignon. It is blended with the nearly extinct varieties Mancin, Castets, Saint-Macaire, Pardotte, Gros Cabernet, and Cabernet Goudable, as well as Tarnay Coulant.
After the 2015 vintage, the wines at Liber Pater are being made from 100 percent native varieties and 100 percent ungrafted vines (Franc de Pied). Pasquet produces only 500 bottles a year. Some years he doesn't make any wine from Liber Pater. What will a bottle of Liber Pater cost you? $33,000.00! Pasquet will say that what he is offering is time traveling in a glass. An opportunity to taste a wine that Napoleon III might have enjoyed from a pre-phylloxera, own rooted vineyard.
Is this resurrection of ancient varietals on own rooted vines enough to justify the price? I for one will never know. Sad.
References:
1. Simon Field, Liber Pater: The shock of the old, The World of Fine Wine, August 17, 2023.
2. Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, Why a $33,000 Wine Made From Rare Grapes Is Polarizing the Wine World, Robb Report, October 27, 2024.