ANYONE who watched the BBC4 documentary, The Firm, might have been surprised to see a young Scotsman tending his own plot of vines in France's most traditional region, Burgundy. There are Scots all over the world making wine, but David Clark is the only one I know of who is living among the most hallowed wine fraternity of all, growing the famously fickle pinot noir grape on the Cote d'Or slopes.
The story is all the more fascinating when you discover he is actually a Grand Prix-trained engineer who does all the manual work himself, even ploughing his vineyards with a horse, rather than a tractor. How on earth did Clark end up behind a plough
in Vosne Romanee?
"My parents are Scottish, but lived in America for 27 years," says Clark. "They are returning to retire in Morningside, when they are not out here helping me with the vineyards."
Clark was born in Indianapolis, but was sent to Strathallan school, near Perth, for a good Scottish education before going up to Cambridge to read engineering. It was at the age of 18, during a gap year at IBM, that Clark discovered wine, through his local Oddbins. After university, he worked as cellar-rat at Mayacamas in Napa in California and Chateau Tahbilk in Australia, before accepting a job in "pit stop strategy" for Formula 1. It was during his Grand Prix years that he amassed enough money to indulge his fantasy of owning a vineyard.
After enrolling at Beaune's Lycee Viticole and working the bakingly hot 2003 vintage with grower Patrice Rion, Clark saw an advert for a tiny plot of vines in Morey St Denis. "I knew how rarely these vineyards came up for sale, so I snapped them up – and have since been adding to my purchases," he says.
He now owns two hectares and has bought a tiny cellar from a retiring vigneron, with just enough space to vinify and store his bottles. He has also struck a lucrative deal with Berry Bros & Rudd to buy half his wines.
So does he think being a Scot has helped? "Initially, I was viewed with a bit of suspicion, but the French like the Scots. Now I've been here five years, I am viewed more on attitudes and actions, than on nationality." Clark's calm, reserved manner and meticulous attention to detail have impressed both young and old in the village.
"For example, a wonderfully old-school producer like Jacky Truchot has shown kindness typical of the welcome I received here; my most prized bottle is his Charmes Chambertin 2005, his last vintage, given as a gift for work during harvest," says Clark.
Clark's engineer training has helped him fine-tune his attention to detail. His precise pruning and care ensures yields are very low (25hl/ha in 2008) and he hand bottles everything himself. He has also designed his own vineyard "buggy".
The 2009 harvest will also be Clark's first year as a fully certified, organic producer. "I have been trying to go as far as possible in organic production – by minimising the use of bouillie bordelaise and sulphur," he says.
Burgundy has one of the most restrictive appellation systems, in comparison to the freedom of the New World. So as an outsider, how would Clark suggest that this old system could be updated?
"The Cote de Nuits is well served by the AC system, but Burgundy would benefit from eliminating Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire and Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. They could allow pinot noir from these ACs to be called Bourgogne – and at the same time create a vin de pays du Cote d'Or for other varieties such as gamay – and for anyone who wants to make a New World-style pinot noir," he says.
Clark grows both pinot noir and gamay grapes. He bought his gamay vines from Christophe Roumier of Chambolle Musigny, used in his Bourgogne Passetoutgrains.
And the horse? Well, Nougat does not in fact belong to Clark. He's owned by the sister of a neighbouring vigneron who is teaching Clark to manage the plough in his vineyard.
"It's incredibly hard work using a horse plough," says Clark. It's clearly not something that his pit-stop experience prepared him for.
RedBourgogne
PASSETOUT GRAINS 2006
DOMAINE DAVID CLARK
(£12.20, Berry Bros & Rudd: 0870 800 4300: www.bbr.com)
Rich, spicy forest fruit aromas: vibrant red berries with good concentration, although slightly short on its length - a very impressive effort showing good potential from a winemaker who clearly pays enormous attention to detail
THE BEST DEALS THIS WEEKEND
RoseCINSAULT SYRAH VIN DE PAYS ROSÉ 2007
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Gutsy rich red-fruited Languedoc rosé, finishes crisp and dry.
White ARNEIS ROERO 2007
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An unusual Piedmontese with an exotic fragrance and almondy, herby undertones on the palate.
Red POGGIOTONDO 'CERRO DEL MASSO' CHIANTI 2007
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Grapes were once sold to the local co-op; now bottled as a delicious herby powerful Chianti at a good price.
