No Recipe.
Just Feeling.
In Ammerschwihr, Alsace, Christian Binner tends 15 hectares of old vines—some planted by his grandfather in 1930—using horses, biodynamics, and intuition. Since 1770, the Binner family has worked this land, creating wines equal parts structure and improvisation.
A Family Alone in Organic Farming
The Binner family has farmed in Ammerschwihr since 1770, but it was Christian's father Joseph who stood alone in the 1970s when the "green revolution" promoted chemicals. He tried synthetic spray once, decided it wasn't for him, and returned to plowing while neighbors used chemical weed killers.
This meant Christian inherited soils that had never been killed by chemicals—soils that had never seen synthetics. He took over in 1999, releasing his first vintage in 2000, farming vines his grandfather planted in 1930 via massal selection.
"When I was a child, he was ploughing while all of his neighbours were using chemical weed killers. It must have been very complicated to be alone in that. But today, it means we have soils that have never seen chemicals; they've never been killed."
— On his father's legacy
Biodynamics & The Vibration of Life
By 2000, Christian found organic farming wasn't enough—copper and sulfur alone couldn't provide the vines with power to combat disease. He discovered biodynamics, realizing that everything alive has a vibration: animals, trees, soil, people.
All Grand Cru sites are plowed by horse from the village. Biodynamic preparations are dynamized by hand in wooden vessels—Christian believes wood feels softer and more alive than copper—and sprayed via handmade backpack sprayers.
After converting to biodynamics in 2003, the estate achieved Demeter certification in 2020. Vines became naturally more resistant to climate change, fermentations more alive, disease pressure lowered without chemical intervention.
"Biodynamics gives balance—to feel when plants are more sensitive—or when they're not. Everything which is alive has a vibration and communicates with other alive beings. Animals, trees, the soil, the people working in the vineyard—they're all in communication."
— On biodynamic philosophy
The Anthroposophic Cellar
Inspired by the Goetheanum—Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophic headquarters in Dornach, Switzerland—Christian spent over 5 years constructing a bioclimatic cellar using only local materials: pink sandstone from the Vosges, fir and oak from nearby forests.
No Right Angles
There are no right angles, no hard edges—everything flows in curves. Beams are positioned roots-down; stones maintain their original quarry orientation. This preserves proper polarization and design flow, creating temperature stability and serenity for yeasts, bacteria, and humans alike.
The cellar philosophy is simple: longer aging periods are crucial for zero-sulfur wines. "It can take six months or three years. It's not me who decides—it's the wine. Some develop quickly, some need more time. That's it—it's exactly like children."
Varieties as Community
Christian rejects the Alsatian tradition of single-varietal bottling. "Varieties are like people in a community. It's important to have different kinds of people, so they can exchange together, and together make something more complex."
Les Vins Pirouettes
In 2015, Christian launched Les Vins Pirouettes—a collective project to help organic and biodynamic growers in Alsace make and sell soulful natural wines at friendly prices, rather than selling grapes to cooperatives.
Glou Glous for drinkability, Eros for macerated wines, Tutti Frutti for blends, Brutal for carbonic Pinots—each wine expresses its maker's personality while following zero-addition principles.
Unlike a négociant, each cuvée is vinified at the grower's own place, by their own team, respecting their history. Christian provided the platform; the growers provided the soul.
Christian stepped down from Pirouettes in 2023 to focus entirely on his domaine, leaving a legacy that brought natural winemaking into French viticultural curriculum (Rouffach wine school joined in 2023).