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Le Clos Liebau
France
Alsace
The grandson of winemakers, Sébastien Schwach-Burkard initially turned his back on the family tradition and did not pursue a career in viticulture. He worked for a time at other wineries, both conventional and organic, an experience that left him skeptical of a certain «organic business» that was content to meet only the maximum thresholds allowed by the specifications.
In 2017, at the age of 33, he finally gave in to the call of the vineyard and established his own estate, Clos Liebau, in Ribeauvillé, taking over about 3 hectares that belonged to his mother. Rejecting the drive for growth and mechanization, he chose to keep the estate small so he could maintain direct control over each plot. The estate now spans approximately 3.2 to 3.5 hectares, cultivated according to the principles of biodynamics, permaculture, agroforestry, and syntropy.
The plots are neither plowed nor weeded: chickens, geese, and Ouessant sheep control weeds and enrich the soil instead of tractors, while hundreds of pollarded trees provide fertility and protection for the vineyard.
Sébastien limits his interventions to what is strictly necessary—a few treatments a year using herbal teas that he prepares himself. Alongside the classic Alsatian grape varieties (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Auxerrois, Sylvaner, Muscat), he is experimenting with about fifty varieties from all over Europe to anticipate climate change.
In the cellar, the grapes are pressed using old wooden presses, with pre-fermentation maceration playing a central role in his approach: he describes it as the backbone of his work, the element that gives the wine its structure and brings it closer to the fruit. The wines—white, rosé, orange, red, or sparkling—are aged in old barrels or stainless-steel tanks and then bottled without filtration or added sulfites, as soon as the microorganisms allow. Among his wines are Le Clos Liebau, a blend of all Alsatian grape varieties; the naturally sparkling Soley Kouché, made from 100% Pinot Gris; and La Marmite, an orange wine macerated for seven days.
