Terret Blanc | amarchinthevines

***Steeve with the last case of 2021 grapes***

Wednesday September 15^th was a day of further meticulous sorting grapes for an amphora. Piquepoul Gris and Terret Blanc from Peilhan vineyard arrived first and the early cases went directly to press ready for use in blending some of the white wines of 2021. Peilhan is becoming a real hub of the domaine, the original lower level of red and white grapes added to by a terrace in 2016 with a range of grapes. In a future post I shall explain how Peilhan is to be developed further.

After an hour or so the pickers moved from the terrace of Peilhan to the white grape plot and the Muscat d’Alexandrie, some of Jeff’s personal favourites. Amphorae wines are, perhaps, most associated with the country of Georgia where whole bunches of grapes go into the vessels often buried in the ground. Jeff takes a more cautious approach to his amphorae and, as last week, the Muscat would go through a series of sorting to ensure all stalks and stems are removed. Stalks can add astringency and, in a complicated year such as this, he was taking no chances.

The grapes were sorted at the vine, then at the égrappoir and then a bunch (sorry!) of us went through the destemmed grapes to pick out every little bit of remaining stalk. Cathérine, Jeff’s sister, joined us in the task as we sat on cagettes and chatted. Also, part of the group was Jofre a young man studying hotel and catering. Jeff used to teach this course himself many years ago and always takes a student to do a placement. Jofre wants to become a sommelier, has a good deal of experience in restaurants and has worked hard during his three weeks with us.

Saturday 18^th was to be the final day of picking for vendanges 21. Like the Wednesday it began with white grapes going directly to press. This time there were a range of varieties, Olivette, Servant, Terret Blanc and Clairette Rose amongst others. There are now a good number of small stainless steel tanks with small amounts of wine, a palette from which Jeff will produce the final picture of 2021 white wines.

We then moved on to the terrace at Peilhan again and picked the Riveyrenc Noir, Riveyrenc Gris and Morastell Noir (not to be confused with Monastrell, the Spanish name for Mourvèdre). The Riveyrencs were large grapes in big bunches whereas the Morastell was mainly small grapes in small, tight bunches. The latter was much easier to sort, the smaller grapes tend to be less prone to disease. As the day progressed the final section to be picked was the Castets. I wrote about this variety a few years ago when it was still unknown and rare, Jeff having some of the very few vines. Fast forward to 2021 and Castets is now an officially permitted grape in Bordeaux and its fame is growing. More small grapes in healthy bunches, a good way to complete the vendanges.

***Castets, early morning on the 18th***

It has been a somewhat stop start harvest due to the weather, the inconsistent ripening caused by frost and drought. Through it all this has proved to be one of the best teams to work with, hard working, fun and supportive of each other. I thank them for welcoming me in as part of the team. It was a joy to be back.

October 15, 2019
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Glass and bottle

En francais

October 2nd proved to be an interesting day in the cellar in two distinct phases. In the morning we were pressing the grapes which had gone into amphorae and then, in the afternoon, we bottled the first 2019 wine! That may sound odd but there is a reason which I shall explain.

The new amphorae had been filled with Piquepoul Gris and Terret Blanc grapes on September 12th and after macerating for three weeks it was time to run off the juice. This is straightforward in a normal wine vat but amphorae take a lot more work. The grape skins and pulp had to be lifted out by hand into the press, a laborious task.

After the bulk of the grapes were removed the rest of the juice could be run off by siphoning it out from the amphorae. The skins were put into the two basket presses and the juice put into a stainless steel tank with the siphoned juice. Some Cinsault grapes had been put aside to add to the mix and they added to the press, making a colourful gâteau after the press. This gateau is then broken up and repressed to add more juice and tannins to the wine.

Just a very gentle press the second time so as not to extract too much bitterness from the pips. The resultant wine, a light pink/orange in colour, tastes really good, there is something textural about the wine as well as the pear and apple flavours. I am really looking forward to trying this when it is finished.

One very odd note about the amphorae. Some sugars from the wine had actually managed to seep through the clay to the outside of the vessel. This resulted in a shiny layer of glass like appearance forming. It tasted like honey on the outside of the amphorae, bizarre.

In the afternoon, bottling. Now you may well ask, as I did, why on earth were we bottling a wine which had been grapes hanging on a vine exactly a month earlier? Too soon?

That would certainly be the case for a still wine but what Jeff was making was a PetNat, a sparkling wine made in the bottle. The juice goes into bottle and although the main fermentation is complete there will still be more taking place inside the bottle. The resulting carbon dioxide gas becomes the bubbles. In a few weeks the bottles will be disgorged removing any lees and leaving behind the sparkling wine which will be topped up and resealed. I described this process in this post in 2017. A cap is used as the pressure from the CO² would push out a normal cork.

We filled a thousand bottles with the wine from La Garrigue’s white grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat. This must be one of the earliest bottlings of 2019 in France but, hopefully, you now understand why.

September 17, 2019
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Harvest 2019 – Eight Grapes A Day

En francais

Carignan Blanc, Carignan Noir, Terret Blanc, Piquepoul Gris, Muscat d’Alexandrie, Macabeu, Castets, Morrastel.

These were the eight grape varieties picked on Thursday September 12th (Day 10 of vendanges). There are some unusual ones in there. Morrastel is a Spanish grape by origin (known as Graciano there). Part of the 2015 new plantation of Peilhan, it is already giving generous fruit in big bunches. Castets, from the South West of France, was very rare but has sprung to fame in 2019 as one of the new varieties which the Bordeaux AOC is allowing to be included in its wines. Jeff planted some in Peilhan long before this in 2011, its small, concentrated berries mark it out.

Tackling the Morrastel on a hot day Castets (right)

In Decanter magazine Andrew Jefford recently described winemaking as the litmus of climate change. I think that is an excellent way of describing the situation. When Carignan, a Mediterranean grape, is badly affected by the kind of heatwave we experienced this summer then there is something wrong. Castets, along with other varieties, has been added to the Bordeaux mix to help its vignerons adapt tot he new climate situation. Morrastel and other Spanish/Italian/Greek varieties might well be part of the answer for regions such as the Languedoc.

Jeff is well aware of the problem and it is one of the reasons he has experimented so much with different grapes in recent years, trying to add nuances of flavour, variety and the best way for his terroir to express itself being other reasons.

The Carignan Blanc went straight into the press, it will form its own cuvée or be assembled, we shall see how it turns out and how it might add to other white wines of the year. The Terret Blanc and Piquepoul Gris, both from the same 2015 plantation as the Morrastel, were added to the two new amphorae. This will be an interesting wine to follow as Jeff has previously used red grapes in the older amphorae. I think the white version could well be more interesting still.

The Muscat d’Alexandrie always produces big grapes, perfumed like most Muscats but this is picked before it becomes sweet. The grapes were destemmed and put into tank. They have been used to make the OW (orange wine) in recent years, I suspect this will follow that route.

The Macabeu is another Spanish grape (known as Macabeo or Viura there) but it has taken well in the Puimisson vineyards, often producing its own synonymous cuvee. It was pressed immediately and put into stainless steel like the Muscat. The Carignan from Peilhan was again destemmed and will be used for blending. The Carignan from Rec D’Oulette (the Flambadou grapes) meanwhile is likely to be the last of the harvesting this year.

A fascinating day with such variety of grapes and stories. A sobering one too in reflecting on the litmus situation.

Icare and Bulles (Alain’s dog) certainly found it hot

September 7, 2019
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Harvest 2019 – Getting Better

En francais

Day 3 was all about grapes from one vineyard so Day 4, September 4^th, was a contrast. Muscat from Peilhan, the remaining Syrah in Ste. Suzanne (Metaierie) plus a few rows of Grenache from there, a few rows of the Syrah of Segrairals were all picked.

The highlight for me, however, was picking Rome. This is my favourite vineyard, I think most readers will know that by now. The semi seclusion, surrounding trees, wildlife and collection of vines in gobelet (free standing) all make this one of my favourite places on Earth, just look at the photo under the heading.

The variety and nature of the vines make them more interesting to pick, they are individual with bunches spread around them rather than the more uniform growth in most vines trained on wires. This makes it slower work but the rewards of Rome make the work pleasurable. Jeff will blend these grapes with some of the others to make a cuvée as Rome, like most of the parcels, was producing rich, concentrated juice but small quantities due to the drought.

Tony Boris et Alain Alain, Boris Fabrice

Picking there did give me the opportunity to get to know better the 2019 team. Fabrice, a long-time friend of Jeff’s, I have got to know a little over the years but it is good to have more time with him. Alain, Tony, Boris are new friends. One of the benefits and joys of each vendange is getting to know new people. Most of these guys are spending their holidays as volunteers, they are all good company, work hard and are shaping into one of the best teams I have known in my six years here.

Day 5 brought another interesting harvest. Riveyrenc is a traditional, but rare, grape variety in the Languedoc. Thierry Navarre in St. Chinian has done much to maintain its profile and deserves much credit for his very good wine. In March 2015 Jeff planted Riveyrenc Noir and Riveyrenc Gris along with other rare varieties such as Terret Noir and Blanc, Piquepoul Noir and Gris, Morastel. I was there that hot day and four years later these vines are producing really good grapes already.

We picked around 37 cases of Riveyrenc and, I’m happy to report, the grapes were much juicier than anything we had picked so far. It was a joy to see juice in the cases as we sorted them back at the cellar, up to now the cases have been very dry. The Terret Noir and Blanc were rather less generous in quantity but were added to boost the quantity. That these vines are producing such good fruit so young promises well for the future.

Riveyrenc Gris Terret Noir and Blanc

Syrah and Grenache (just a few rows of each) from La Garrigue were also picked in the morning. The afternoon brought the first Cinsault of the year, from Segrairals. Cinsault grapes are commonly big and juicy, the vintage means that is not totally the case this year but the idea was to bring in some low alcohol fruit to blend with other varieties, mission accomplished.

**The boss patrols the Syrah of La Garrigue**

I also helped Jeff carry out a débourbage of the white and rosé, that is separating the juice from the solids which remained to clarify the wine as it begins its fermentation. The colourful residue always looks interesting, but it has no place in a fresh wine.

Rome, juicy grapes, cellar work, rare varieties – it’s getting better all the time.

Jour 4 Jour 5

March 29, 2019
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Loving Languedoc

After tasting wines from around the world at RAW I opened a bottle or two at home. By chance the bottles I reached for were from the Languedoc, my first love. And how richly I was rewarded.

First up was the Grenache Blanc, The Velvet Underschiste, from La Graine Sauvage in Faugères. The domaine is the work of Sybil Baldassarre and I have got to know her through Jeff Coutelou. Sybil is a trained oenologue who decided to show she can make wine as well as advise upon its making. This bottle had witty references to Velvet Underground all over the labels but the wine itself was What Goes On (sorry). Pure Grenache Blanc the 2016 had lovely tannins underpinning the apple and pear fruit. However, what made this wine stand out was how it evolved over the course of an evening. The last glass was the most delicious of all, the wine had opened out to reveal more fruit. This was a wine of real quality. I have been fortunate to taste other wines of Sybil and suggest that she is a real star to follow.

Next up was another white from Faugères, known more for its reds. Clos Fantine is a long time favourite of mine and I wrote an article about the Andrieu family and their work a few years ago after spending a couple of days with them. Their gobelet bush vines high in the Faugères hills provide clean, pure fruit. Valcabrières is their white wine from the rare Terret Blanc and Terret Gris grapes. More white fruit flavours, pears to the fore but with a clean, fresh acidity. Again this was a wine which opened up as we drank down the bottle, complex and delicious. This was a 2014 and I believe the wine would age much further but it was pretty perfect now.

And, for good measure, I opened a bottle of Jeff’s, Flambadou 2017. The pure Carignan has been a star of the Coutelou domaine for a number of years, certainly whilst I have been there in 2014. This bottle was very youthful, the wine bright purple in colour and full of fresh black and red fruits backed with soft tannins. I shall keep my other bottles for a few years to allow them to develop complexity but it is good to follow a wine’s progress. With every wine of 2017 I taste I become more convinced that it is an absolute peak vintage for Jeff, the fruit and freshness backed with tannin and depth of flavour, they are stunners. Flambadou is a great wine, this 2017 definitively so.

Make no mistake the Languedoc can produce top quality wine, these three bottles were absolute proof to me that it will always be the source of my favourite bottles. I urge you to try them and other wines from the region which is my other home.

January 16, 2018
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Grapes and climate change

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/donald-trump-koch-brothers-war-climate-science/

Jeff forwarded me an interesting article from Le Figaro this week. The subject was research published in the journal Nature, Climate, Change focusing on the effects of climate change on viticulture and the likely need for change.

NCC

Some, such as Trump, deny such change of course but those of us in the real world can consider evidence. Vendanges in France now take place on average 2-3 weeks before they used to around 1970. The long history of wine writing means that we know that in Burgundy, for example, harvests are at their earliest in 700 years. Extreme weather in all seasons is more common, made worse by some agricultural practices such as soil impaction from machinery as well as the effects of herbicides which discourage rain from soaking into the soils.

As average temperatures rise seemingly year on year and water shortages occur more frequently in the Languedoc and other regions then viticulteurs face the problem that traditional grape varieties ripen earlier and earlier and struggle in drought conditions such as those shown in the map below indicating ’emergency’ zones in summer 2017.

en-bleu-les-zones-touchees-en-rouge-les-communes-touchees_2371463_667x333

The researchers, such as Elizabeth Wolkovich from the Harvard University Centre for the Environment, suggest that testing different grape varieties will be necessary. At present many of the world’s leading wine producing countries are dominated by 12 ‘international varieties’ such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Noir.* The list at the bottom of the page shows how much these vineyards are dominated by the international varieties.

France is more varied with 43.5% planted with these grapes (though 85% under the top 20 grapes). Altogether more than 300 grape varieties are planted around France. Organisations promoting rare and forgotten grapes, eg Wine Mosaic, are gaining traction and the researchers believe that by finding grapes with longer growing seasons and later ripening then regions badly affected by climate change might find ways to preserve their vineyards and traditions.

Labelled

I have reported many times how Jeff Coutelou has been planting many different cépages. He believes that not only do they provide variety in the vineyard and bottle but that the mix of different grapes in vineyards helps to prevent disease spreading. Castets, Piquepoul Noir, Terret Blanc, Morastel, and even an Inconnue (unknown) are grapes planted int he last few years and he is looking at others such as Picardan which is related to Clairette and Mauzac. Great wines such as Flower Power have resulted from these plantings, more will follow.

This is the way forward, experimenting to find grapes which make good quality wine and which can stand the climatic changes which we face.

* % area of vineyards under the 12 varieties

China – 93 (almost 75% Cabernet Sauvignon)

New Zealand 91.6

Australia 84.5

Chile 77.6

USA 70

September 6, 2017
by amarch34 3 Comments

Visitors – Vendanges 17

P1020936

An unusual few days to report upon. Let’s start with some bad news. Twice in the last week people have dumped their rubbish in Jeff’s vineyards. As these were at opposite ends of the village it must be assumed that there are two selfish, anti-social idiots who would prefer to spoil the local environment than drive to the local tip (déchetterie).

Another unwelcome arrival was Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean. Jeff’s sister Catherine and her husband live on Guadeloupe so we were all concerned for their welfare. Happily she reported that the worst of the storm missed the island. Others may not have been so lucky of course.

Jeremy cleaning the cuve from inside

Selene supervising a remontage

For me there was one more unwelcome visitor. As I entered the cellar on Tuesday morning I mentioned the smell of Carbon Dioxide in the air. This had built up from fermenting grapes and with the cellar being less busy than usual the CO2 had built up. As Tuesday was hot the cellar doors stayed shut as much as possible and with remontages and open vats the CO2 was strong. Alas it seems I am particularly sensitive to it and it made me breathless and nauseous. I can understand better how some people have serious accidents with gas build up when they are working at open cuves. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old but the others were unaffected, and I’m the non – smoker! Happily, I have soon recovered.

Yet another visitor arrived in the form of the inspector who controls organic certification for Ecocert. I wrote about her annual visit in 2014, this was a spot check during vendanges to ensure that everything is done following organic principles. Reassuring for those of us who want to know that Bio wines are truly organic. Obviously, there was no concern as Mas Coutelou goes well beyond the standards required.

Animal visitors too. Buried in a case of Grenache from Sainte Suzanne was this 6cm caterpillar, quite a size. And, amongst the Carignan vines today was this dragonfly who was there with others and many butterflies. Which makes the actions of the fly tippers even more senseless.

Terret Blanc, Piquepoul Gris

Maccabeu

And so to grapes. More cépages to keep me happy. Piquepoul Gris and Terret Blanc along with Maccabeu picked from Peilhan on Tuesday morning will form a new white wine. The pink tint of the Piquepoul Gris will not colour the wine as it was pressed directly to remove the juice from the skins.

Grenache, La Garrigue

The aforementioned Grenache was supplemented with more Grenache on Wednesday this time from La Garrigue. So good was this harvest that Jeff is considering making a special cuvée with it. Together with the excellent Syrah from the vineyard La Garrigue has certainly performed well this year. Cinsault from Segrairals followed on.

Vincent, Julien and Selene

Max and Roxane

With smaller yields and dry weather the picking has been quick this year, efficient too with an excellent team working well. You will see in the photo below how they work in pairs across a vine to ensure that all the fruit is picked, hopefully avoiding each others’ fingers.

P1020930

So, what remains? Well probably five days of vendanges with Cabernet, Mourvèdre and Carignan still to come, the latter of course being the headline act in recent years. There are also a few rows of vines in Peilhan, eg the reds such as Oeillade and Castets and more Muscat too. All is set fair for a good finish.

Carignan

Muscat d’Alexandrie

Peilhan red

September 30, 2016
by amarch34 1 Comment

Vendanges 2016 #9 – Days Like This

“When all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit
Then I must remember there’ll be days like this” (Van Morrison, Days Like This)

l-r, Morgane, Jeff, Julien, Thierry, Michel, me, James, Howard

As we approached the end of vendanges a number of the team were moving on. It was an inspired move to have a farewell day, picking, tasting and celebrating together, though we were already missing some like Charles, Carole and Maylis.

The morning dawned over Peilhan and the vineyard which we planted in March 2015. Rows of Terret Blanc and Noir, Riveyrenc Gris and Noir, Piquepoul Noir and Morastel produced grapes this year. They cannot be used in major cuvées sold to the public as they are too youthful. However, Jeff decided to pick them to make something for himself out of interest. So, on a bright, warm autumnal morning we gathered, picked, chatted and laughed.

Terret Blanc

Piquepoul Gris

Riveyrenc Gris

Piquepoul Noir

Morastel

Meagre Terret Noir

Interesting to see how some varieties produce more than others already, more precocious perhaps, the Terret Noir being especially shy. Altogether we picked around six cases only but there was a real mix of colour and some nice looking fruit which went into a small cuve in whole bunches.

Howard

James and Julien

Later that day we gathered again, this time in the main cellar along with Thierry Toulouse, Jeff’s oenologue. We tasted through the whole range of 2016 wines in cuve before heading to a local restaurant for a meal. The results of the tasting were fascinating. Clearly, they are in a stage of transition, fermentations still progressing. Nonetheless the wines were already showing their character. I won’t go into too much detail here, though I did take notes to help me record how the wines change in coming months.

Me, Thierry and Priscilla

Priscilla, Morgane, Jeff and Julien

l-r, Morgane, Jeff, Julien, Thierry, Michel, me, James, Howard

In summary though I was amazed. I have said many times on here how difficult this year has been. A very warm winter, drought, mildew, delayed summer being just some of the problems. Yet here we tasted some lovely fresh fruit, lively acidity and other promising signs. I would mention the Carignan Blanc, lovely Syrah and Grenache from La Garrigue, juicy Mourvèdre and in particular the wonderful Carignan Noir of Flambadou. All those puzzles which Jeff had to hold in his head about harvesting dates, moving wines, possible assemblages etc, well those puzzles were solved in the glass. I had expected some disappointments but somehow Jeff has conjured some potentially top quality wines.

2003 Roberta

At the end of the current wines Jeff also shared a 2003 bottle of white wine based on Grenache Blanc, Noir and Gris, called Roberta (it’s a long story!). This was one of three cuvées which were the first that Jeff made sans sulfites. Yet it was complex; fresh, fruity, nutty. A wine which made my heart sing, proof that SO2 is not required for ageing wines as we are often told. Perhaps in 13 years time we shall be tasting the 2016 wines and marveling at them too.

A fitting way to close the vendanges period, a team rightly proud of what it had achieved.

“When all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit
Then I must remember there’ll be days like this”

p1020104

March 8, 2015
by amarch34 3 Comments

Old vines, new vineyard

Version francaise

Friday March 6th brought a hot sunny afternoon and the birth of a new vineyard at Mas Coutelou. Well, a new section of vineyard at least. Peilhan is the most southerly of Jeff’s parcels and already contains a variety of grape varieties ranging from Carignan planted in 1992 to fairly new white grapevines such as Maccabeu, Grenache Gris, and Carignan Blanc. However, also planted are some rarer old varities such as Clairette Muquée and the Castets which I have so praised before.

Peilhan

If you look in the photo towards the top you will see a sloping area of land just beyond the planted vines and it was this section which, after lying fallow for many years, was to be planted. I have highlighted it below.

Being Jeff Coutelou though this would not be a simple planting of Grenache, Syrah or Mourvedre but instead he wants to increase the diversity of vines in the vineyard and contribute to the movement of restoring old Languedoc vines to a prominent role in the region. So 24 rows of vines would be planted, almost 2,500 plants of 6 cépages ;

Terret Blanc 1 row
Piquepoul Gris 6 rows
Riveyrenc Gris 2 rows
Riveyrenc Noir 6 rows
Terret Noir 3 rows
Morastel 6 rows

They would be planted as a mix to help resist disease as well as diversity.

Piquepoul Gris vine

The plants are laid out ready, roots in water. Renaud, Michel, Carole and Jeff lead the way. Jeff, as usual, is on the phone as someone wants some wine!

The vines came from a trusted supplier in Carcassonne and resembled large matchsticks. The vine foot is an American rootstock, the only ones capable of resisting the phylloxera beetle which almost wiped out French vineyards in the 19thC. The plant is grafted onto this root stock and then covered with the red wax to protect the grafting stopping air getting between the plant and the root stock. The wax will fall away naturally in the next few days. As you can see they arrived with long roots and we had to cut these down to make them easier to plant.

Jeff had hired two expert plantsmen to lead the way, the two to the right in the photo above. They demonstrated how short the roots should be and left Renaud, Michel and myself to carry on whilst Jeff and Carole (in the photo) went to help the planting.

The field was marked out to show where the vines would be planted. Each variety was to be planted at different intervals according to its specific needs, some need wider planting such as the Piquepoul Gris, others should be planted more densely such as the Terret Noir. The spaced to the right of the rope will be planted with hedges, including rose trees. These will provide shelter for birds and bats, natural predators of damaging insects and vers de grappe (worms) as well as providing a natural boundary to the parcel.

Wire cables ran along where each row was to be planted, in the photo you will see a blue mark where the vine was to be planted. The two experts did the planting with Jeff and Carole (later Michel) dropping the vine for them to plant.

This video shows just how fast they work, on a hot day it very impressive. There was a welcome beer break (with English beers from County Durham no less!) but the work continued solidly for 4 hours.

New vineyard takes shape

Icare supervised, of course

The new plants need water of course so Jeff and Carole set to work. 1500 litres were used for 2 rows of vines!

Jeff asked me at the end of the day what my thoughts were about the planting, how I felt about it. I had to think about it for a while. It had seemed like hard work but it was with a real sense of being present at a new beginning. The vines have a 99%+ survival rate and they will in a few years be producing white and red wine of great quality. And I was there for the birth of this project, a privilege. It was impossible not to feel excitement about what was to come and to wonder at how these small sticks would become beautiful vines. And to feel proud that Jeff is willing to plant something which reaches back into the past as well as providing for the future. Let’s hope we are here to enjoy the wine in a few years.

As if to crown my day of feeling close to nature I was able to take these photos of bees on the rocket flowers in the main parcel at Peilhan. This is one corner of the Languedoc where nature still rules, with a little help.