Clos de Trias

Even Bakke spent his childhood bugging his mother, the chef, to teach him about cooking, while the engineer father shaped his ever questioning and methodical mind. Wine wasn’t in his Norwegian origins though, but if you meet him, there will be no doubt in your mind it was in his providence. Even discovered wine while working his way through college as a sommelier. In 2005, Even and his young family moved to Southern France, and after 2 years of intense searching, they found their special spot. But a special spot indeed: In the Southern Rhone; the Northern Provence. On the foothills of white-caped Mt Ventoux, At 350 meters above sea level. On Triassic soils. 17 hectares of old vine Grenache with a bit of Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan. Even farms the vines organically, with a strong inspiration from Rudolf Steiner, Pfeiffer and Fukuoka. Following the biodynamic calendar, they treat with plants, work with rock powders, leave soil un-tilled with natural cover crop, prune late and try to enhance the vitality of their ecosystem as a whole. His approach isn’t just ecological. It is spiritual and guided by the research for the expression of Terroir. In the cellar, Even’s work is light-handed. He uses indigenous yeasts, bare-minimum sulfur, trusts the grapes to adapt to their own ferment temperature, and likes to give them air early on. After 10 harvests, each offering very different possibilities, it can be said that he uses no recipes. The wines of Clos de Trias are clear, alive and conversational. They are lush with a backbone, intense with style, rich with freshness.