Kevin Barbet
Originally from the Loire, Kevin bought the Lafage estate in 2015. He produces terroir-driven wines on this fertile small-scale Quercy farm, when he’s not chasing his British Blonde cows.
Kevin Barbet, Ferme de Lafage
The Quercy region may be better known for its melons, truffles, saffron, walnuts, lamb and goats’ cheese than wines - but any fan of fresh, deep, fruit-forward reds with plenty of body and spice wouldn’t want to miss Kevin’s line-up. He vinifies and matures his juice by plot by plot. He works on each variety separately and decides whether or not to blend at the end. It’s all 100% natural: the yeasts, the fermentations and the ageing process, which lasts for 8 to 36 months in concrete or stainless steel tanks, or old wooden barrels. Kevin describes himself as a “paysan-vigneron”: a wine farmer. He works with the cycles of nature to get the best out of his soils - red clay on chalky rock: “We’re on a geological treasure here between Bordeaux and Cahors, between the Aquitaine Basin and the Massif Central, between the valley of the Aveyron and the limestone plateaux of the Lot. Everything grows here. That’s why the winemakers here are almost always farmers too. It’s been like that for centuries, but after the Phylloxera endemic, lots of them replaced their vines with crops that were less work and more profitable”.
Kevin welcomes you onto the farm with open arms. In front of the house is the one hundred year-old oak tree that features on his wine labels, a sign of good grape growing land since Roman times. He farms 25 hectares in total with 13 hectares dedicated to the vines, many around 35 years old. There’s Tannat, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Gamay and Syrah. There’s an orchard, a vegetable patch and pasture land too. His British Blonde cows (Blondes d’Aquitaine) get to roam on twice as much land than is officially required: “Cows are the cornerstone of any farm. They produce huge quantities of the richest fertiliser all year round. I think we should all go back to small-scale farming - have less cows, but happy cows, less vines, but happy vines. I don’t need much to be happy.” Kevin heats his home with a wood burning stove and lights it using solar energy. He feeds his family with his own produce and makes his wines just the way he likes: “I like to keep things simple and the easiest way to do that is to work with nature.” He grew up in Sancerre surrounded by vines. He loves wine and was always attracted to the profession, but he also likes people, so he started out as a social worker. He moved down South to open a community bar & café which is still going strong ten years later - but without him. Kevin went on to study viticulture and oenology, joined the team at Lafage and in 2015, he took over the farm with its organic and biodynamic credentials in place.
“Lafage has always been organic and going biodynamic was just a natural extension for my predecessor. It’s nothing new. It echoes the way people used to work before.” Kevin prefers to talk about good farming because he thinks biodynamic farming has been hijacked by global marketing: “People make the wrong assumptions when you talk about being “biodynamic”. For me, viticulture is monoculture whereas biodynamic viticulture is based on polyculture: a mix that promotes biodiversity and distinct flavours produced by indigenous yeasts.”
His wines are tasty. Spicy and fruity. At the top of the range is “21” named after the highest hand in the French card game ‘tarot’: Tannat aged in large old barrels for 3 years and topped up with juice from the same plot each year, a full-bodied explosion of crushed ripe fruit and allspice with smooth tannins. L’excuse is a 100% Malbec (or Côt as it’s known round here) with notes of black fruit and a zingy freshness. La Suite - a silky-soft Cabernet Franc aged for 24 months with a touch of Malbec & Merlot: “we’re on baked blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and peppery notes, La Suite is a true ambassador for our terroir,” says Kevin.
At a Glance
Hectares
13
Terroir
Red clay on chalky rock between Bordeaux and Cahors, the valley of the Aveyron and the limestone plateaux of the Lot.
Grape Varieties
Tannat, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Gamay, Syrah
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