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<p>After a long and valiant battle against cancer, Sebastiano De Bartoli passed last<br />
week…I’ve a heavy heart. The middle child and second son of the real-life legend Marco de Bartoli, Sebio is the reason we’ve worked with the fascinating and quite often sensational wines of the two estates – the historic Marsala cellar in Contrade Samperi and the Arabic-influenced Bukkuram farm on the island of Pantelleria. While both cellars were founded by his visionary father, Sebastiano along with his brother and sister, Renato and Giuseppina, brought the wineries into the new century with equal commitment to quality and tradition.</p>
<p>A maverick about preserving the tradition of pre-British Marsala wine -- unfortified with perpetual aging in barrels at a naturally high alcohol level – Marco ran up against the law and put fear in the heart of the large and lucrative commercial Marsala producers. As a result, the fraud authorities unjustly shut down the winery for a few years. Finally, he was found to have done nothing wrong, but the closure had taken its toll and the moment arose when for his kids to move forward and for him to step back. </p>
<p>Sebastiano became responsible for the farm on Pantelleria of 6HA (dividing his time between Marsala and Pantelleria) and Renato and Gipi were in Marsala – Renato perfecting the classic method sparkling wine and fighting the authorities to finally accept their Vecchio Samperi as a legitimate regional wine with long history (though they could not label it as Marsala) and Gipi in charge of affairs. But Sebastiano also lobbied his siblings to create a new line of wines that also represented a regional tradition in both Marsala and Pantelleria – skin-contact dry white wines from Grillo (Marsala) and Zibibbo (Pantelleria) – these are the Integer line of wines.</p>
<p>Sebastiano realized that they were heading in a direction that required a change to their distribution – finding partners that were focused on and understood the importance of their work and legacy. A few of the growers with whom we were working at the time also enjoyed a deep friendship and mutual respect with Marco, and, I‘m guessing here, our name came up. Sebio contacted me and we met up at either one of the trade shows like Vini di Vignaioli or maybe it was Vinitaly itself or maybe both. That was the beginning of a rapport that I’ve always treasured and have missed terribly in recent years. It was somewhere around 2010, I think, that I showed up in Marsala and (am forever grateful) to have had some time with Marco himself<br />
and the rest of the family….in the following years Sebastiano and I spent quite a bit of time together.</p>
<p>Sebastiano was not only a vignaiolo, a thinker, a sculptor, a painter, an innovator, a bit of an infamous lothario, a collector of gorgeous vintage Italian cars, oh, and, damn, a really good cook! But also, finally, a son, brother, husband, father. And like his dad a fiercely proud, enthusiastic Sicilian. One time, for instance, he made our group stop for, what he considered, the best cannoli in a dusty, very hot and tiny town about 30 minutes before Marsala on the route from Palermo. He wasn’t wrong. Sebastiano’s many visits to the US whether with our growers on tour, with his sister on her first voyage to the US or in the company of then-fiancé, now-wife, Eleonora or as a part of the team of young “turks” - Arianna, Saša and Luca Roagna - are cherished memories for all of us.</p>
<p>I send all my best condolences to the entire De Bartoli family and especially to Elenora and the children.</p>
<p>Ci brindiamo tutti quanti con tanto affetto e tutto del mio cuore nostro carissimo<br />
collego nella battaglia per i vini di tradizione e anima. Addio, caro Sebastiano.</p>
producer profile
<p><em><strong>Coming soon</strong></em></p>
producer profile
<p>Domaine Chamonard is a multi-generation family estate run, somewhat unintuitively, by the Chanudet family. At the helm for over 50 years, Jean-Claude "Le Chat" Chanudet has humbly been making "Jules Chauvet" style, semi-carbonically fermented Beaujolais for decades. In fact, Beaujolais lover and good friend Eric Texier considers Chanudet, who is meticulous in his lab analyses of his wines, the closest of anyone to work the way Chauvet intended. </p>
<p>Retired on paper but still a daily presence in the vines and cellar, Jean-Claude recently passed on the estate to his daughter Jeanne, and together they work a total of 5.5 hectares. The vast majority is in the Morgon cru, where they farm seven parcels spread over three major sectors: Grands Cras, Le Colombien and Chateau Gaillard. The rest of the vines are in the Fleurie lieu-dit La Madone: a very steep hill and amongst the most famous in the cru. </p>
<p>While each Morgon parcel is vinified individually, the Chanudet intentionally choose to make a single Morgon each vintage, creating a complex blend of their terroirs. Firm believers in selling this cuvée when it's drinking at its best, they release the wines non-chronologically. For example, they have just recently sold out of the 2021 and just now commercialising the 2020. They also intentionally hold back significant quantities to intentionally age and release them many years later, hence our opportunity to offer you the 2015 vintage. The Fleurie, on the other hand, is bottled as La Madone and, due to the style and limited amounts produced, released chronologically.</p>
producer profile
<p>For years now, Jean-Christophe Garnier’s complex <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blancs</glossary> and easy drinking reds are wines we have loved and admired from afar. From first discovering them at The Ten Bells in the late aughts (the cash only days!), ordering bottles whenever in Paris or the obligatory <glossary term="Magnum" title="617">magnum</glossary> following post-<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteille </glossary></span></span>romps at le Cercle Rouge in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Angers" title="104">Angers</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Garnier’s work is something we’ve long admired as fans. And based on the immediate excitement of our customers bringing the wines back to the US market after a six year hiatus, it would seem many of you feel the same way!</p>
<p>With no family ties to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> or winemaking, Garnier found his passion for wine as a <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary> in his home region of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In the late 1990’s, he took a year off to go study <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> in hopes to deepen his knowledge before opening a wine bar with a friend. Due to its proximity to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> he enrolled in a school close to the <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> region of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> where he was placed in an apprenticeship working with Mark Angeli of the legendary Ferme de la Sansonièrre. Typical of Angeli, Mark immediately encouraged JC to start a new life by creating his own <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> After completing his curriculum, Garnier went back to restaurants for a couple of years but ultimately returned to <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> after Angeli found him a couple of <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> to start his own <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in 2002.</p>
<p>Far from the hotbed of forward-thinking producers that currently populate the area, <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> was at the time a struggling region known mostly for its sweet <glossary term="Bonnezeaux" title="177">Bonnezeaux</glossary> and <glossary term="Coteaux-du-Layon" title="349">Coteaux du Layon</glossary> <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> wines, with generic <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> whites mostly produced as cloyingly sweet, <glossary term="Filtration" title="447">sterile-filtered</glossary> copycats of the aforementioned <glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary>’s. The wines made with red grapes weren’t faring so well either: <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Tannin" title="1010">tannic</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> rustic <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> and <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary>/<glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet Sauvignon</glossary> <glossary term="Blend" title="168">blends</glossary> or Rosé d'Anjou, another cloyingly sweet, <glossary term="Filtration" title="447">sterile-filtered</glossary> beverage that had become increasingly difficult to sell by the turn of the millennium.</p>
<p>Garnier, along with a small group of now legendary trailblazers- Mark Angeli, Richard Leroy, Patrick Baudoin and Agnès and René Mosse to name a few- took advantage of the region’s identity crisis, gaining access to cheap, readily available land from the mid 1990’s through the mid 2000’s. Decades ahead of their time, these outsiders saw the potential to break away from sweet wine production, particularly by producing dry or off-dry whites highlighting the incredibly varied types of <glossary term="Schist" title="933">schist</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Microclimate" title="656">micro-climates</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">expositions</glossary> and <glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevations</glossary> the region has to offer.</p>
<p>Starting with 2.3 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> in 2002, from the beginning Garnier’s production has consisted of <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single vineyard expressions</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> starting with les Dreuillés (no longer in production), over the years this has come to include Bézigon, la Roche, Rouchefert and the recently acquired Les Justices and 13 Vents, with each wine named after their respective <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Lieu-Dit" title="594">lieu-dit</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> grapes are <glossary term="Direct Press" title="392">direct-pressed</glossary> and, while <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aged</glossary> in various vessels, the intent is always to express <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> through wines approachable in youth but ultimately meant to <glossary term="Cellaring" title="255">cellar</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Aging" title="74">age</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Reds came only in 2010, with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> and <glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet Sauvignon</glossary> rounding out the lineup. In contrast to the more serious nature of the whites, JC opts for short, <glossary term="Infusion" title="1378">infusion</glossary> style <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary> <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerations</glossary> for his reds, resulting in a more <glossary term="Vin de Soif" title="1094">vin-de-soif</glossary> style. Most of his reds are <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary> very early -some as early as November of the same year- and meant to drink relatively young. The one exception is "Les Tailles", a <glossary term="Lieu-Dit" title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> planted in <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> that sees a 12 day, <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary> <glossary term="Infusion" title="1378">infusion</glossary> <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary> then <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">ferments</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">ages</glossary> 12 months in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary> before release.</p>
<p>The estate has been <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified</glossary> <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> since its inception. Garnier currently farms 10 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, though a significant amount of that land consists of new plantations, of which only some of the <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> are just starting to produce fruit. Four distinct and seperate sectors are farmed, three surrounding the village of <glossary term="Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay" title="983">Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay</glossary> and one in the village of Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné. Creating competition for the vines so they can sink their roots further into the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Mother Rock" title="690">mother rock</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> he likes to plant at a much higher density than what is tradtional in the region, 6500 to 7000 vines per hectare versus the typical 5000 to 5500. </p>
<p>In addition to his own production, for the last few years Garnier has purchased the equivalent of two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organically</glossary> farmed fruit from a nearby <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> with soils quasi-indentical to those he farms. Including the single <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> "Les Nouettes", production is split roughly 50/50 between white and red wines.</p>
<p>In the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Garnier began omitting <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary> from his wines in the 2006 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the same year he intentionally <glossary term="Declassification" title="383">declassified</glossary> his wines from <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> to <glossary term="Table Wine" title="1006">Vin de Table</glossary> (a now common occurence that was all but unheard of at the time). Many <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary> were <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary> entirely without added <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary> between 2006 and 2016, though in two vintages Garnier felt obliged to use very small amounts at <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pressing" title="827">press</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> However, with time and experience he has come to believe those <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> additions did nothing to alter the identity or course of those wines, leading him to stick to a stricly zero <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary> policy from the the 2016 <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> onwards. From our experience, this decision comes less from dogma and more from JC's cerebral, attentive nature and conviction that <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifying</glossary> this way best expresses his <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>For more in depth information, please read our interview with Jean-Christophe.</p>
interview
<p><em><strong>This interview with Jean-Christophe Garnier took place over Zoom in September 2024.</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>What were you doing before becoming a vigneron?</strong></p>
<p>I’m from <glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary> and first got into wine working as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It was my career for about a decade. I eventually decided to open a wine bar with a friend, but before doing so I told him I wanted to take a year off to learn more about working in the vines. All of my wine education up until that point had come from books, so I wanted to experience things first-hand.</p>
<p>In 1998, I enrolled in a <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> school not too far from <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> and was lucky enough to find myself apprenticing with Mark Angeli at Ferme de la Sansonièrre. From the start, he was very supportive and insistant that I start my own <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> After finishing my program, I went back to restaurants for a bit but ultimately decided to come back here to start making wine myself. That was in 2002.</p>
<p>Mark helped me find 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> to launch my project. I then found a house in the village of <glossary term="Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay" title="983">Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay</glossary> for my family with an adjoining <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> for my wines. And from the strong <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> community in the village, I was able to grow and develop the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> to what it is today.</p>
<p><strong>Today, Anjou is arguably the most dynamic region in the Loire for newer producers just starting out. When you started it was a very different climate. What made you want to make wine in Anjou?</strong></p>
<p>First and foremost, <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is relatively close to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>!</span></span></span> And I’d been selling <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> wines for quite a few years as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> There was also the strong support from Mark Angeli and what I suppose has become the first wave of forward-thinking <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> from that time (Mosse, Leroy, Baudoin…) There were also lots of cheap vines to recuperate and room to build out <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellars</glossary> as well.</p>
<p>Working with <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> -a grape with incredible versatility- was also an exciting prospect. <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is also a region where you have access to lots of different grapes, both red and white, as well as a fascinating variety of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> And it’s close to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>!</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>Did you make appellation wines in the beginning?</strong></p>
<p>Yes I did. At the time it was very rare for <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> to intentionally <glossary term="Declassification" title="383">de-classify</glossary> their wines.</p>
<p><strong>And what were those early wines?</strong></p>
<p>I started with 2.3 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> 80 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the rest in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> From the beginning I made dry whites, but in a different style than today. At the time everyone picked in “<glossary term="pouri plein" title="1493">pourri-plein</glossary>”, where we’d intentionally seek some over-maturity in the grapes. This picking style makes for very interesting <glossary term="Aromatic" title="120">aromatics</glossary> in a wine’s youth, but is also prone to heavy <glossary term="Oxidation" title="754">oxydation</glossary> and not very beneficial for <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>This technique for <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary> is a style really pioneered by Mark Angeli around 1995. 2005 was the nail in the coffin for picking this way, as the years were getting violently solar and it was impossible to make stable wine with slightly <glossary term="Botrytis/Noble Rot" title="181">botrytised</glossary> grapes without using <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>I’ve never understood why people feel the need to systematically add <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> to wine, so I started picking at optimal ripeness instead. Today, I’d even posit I look to pick at a slight under-maturity as to keep <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> But recently I’ve decided I want to go back to a slightly riper style. It means a bit more alcohol, but you get more complexity. I suppose it’s being in the middle of both extremes I’ve worked with in the past.</p>
<p><strong>You just brought up sulfites. Where does your conviction to not use S02 come from?</strong></p>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, all of my wine knowledge originally came from books. It was all about regions, grapes, <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> etc… I had zero notions on how to actually make wine until I started doing it myself. <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">Sulfur</glossary> seemed to be this very important and necessary additive in winemaking, and I never really understood why. So very quickly, I started not using any.</p>
<p><strong>So you weren’t already a proselytizer of sans souffre wines while working as a sommelier?</strong></p>
<p>I sold some but there were very few readily available when I worked in restaurants. I recall some <glossary term="Côtes du Rhône" title="372">Côtes du Rhône</glossary> producers… For us the focus was more on <glossary term="Artisinal" title="122">artisanal</glossary> production from small, independent <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>What were your first “aha” moments with wine?</strong></p>
<p>I worked in <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary> and <glossary term="Collioure" title="319">Collioure</glossary> for a little while. While there, I met some of the local <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> and also travelled in other parts of the <glossary term="Roussillon" title="880">Roussillon</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> in particular was going through a pretty exciting revolutionary period in the 1990’s. It was during that period that I really began to understand that good wine came from well farmed vines first and foremost. And this feeling was amplified when I did my apprenticeship in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> So yeah I’d say the <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> and then the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Loire Valley" title="602">Loire</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>We touched on your beginnings in Anjou. Can you run us through the evolution of the estate over the years?</strong></p>
<p>I started in 2002 with 2.5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In 2006 I got to 4.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> which grew to five <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> by 2008. Then in 2010, I met a young man who was ready to invest in vines but didn’t want to start as full-time <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> for a few years, so he needed someone to farm it in the interim. It was a <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Up until then, I basically made all white wine, with the <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> destined for sweet <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Fellow <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> told me that making red wine was a good opportunity; at the time in France, you’d sell three bottles of red for every bottle of white. But I still wasn’t convinced about making red wine: in fact it strayed from my original vision. In the end I rather enjoyed the experience, particularly with <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I worked those vines from 2010 to 2020. The guy eventually decided not to become a <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> and sold the vines to a young upstart for the 2021 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to use those vines anymore and had built a reputation for my reds, I’d been actively seeking out new <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> to buy. I was able to find a good amount of land, some bare, some where I had to rip out and replant. I’ve planted or replanted mostly <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis,</glossary> but also more <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> in certain sectors. In 2017, I jumped to nine <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then in 2021 I bought another <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> and currently find myself farming 10. But much of surface consists of very young vines as I had to rip out and replant a lot. Some are just really starting to produce. It’s been a huge amount of work.</p>
<p><strong>Are you certified organic?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve been <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified</glossary> <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> since the very beginning.</p>
<p><strong>Can you give us a breakdown of the grapes you farm?</strong></p>
<p>I farm six <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with an additional <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> planted in vines too young to produce. Then there is one <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> with a tiny bit of <glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet Sauvignon</glossary> (which I plan to rip out and replant at some point). There is 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary><span>, 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary></span></span></span><span class="zalup"><span> </span></span>of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Savagnin" title="922">Savagnin</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> 1.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> and <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> are about two <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Then there is the <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> project which comes from a nearby two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of red grapes planted on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Loam" title="1291">loamy</glossary><span>-</span></span></span><glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> soils.</p>
<p><strong>What about the evolution of the cuvées? Was the focus always on single vineyard wines?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve been doing <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single-parcel</glossary> wines from the beginning. For me it was pretty important. But over the years and when faced with difficult <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> I’ve sometimes felt obliged to combine <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> together (ex: La Roche-Bézigon).</p>
<p>In 2005, I started making Bézigon. Then La Roche, then Les Tailles, which is the name of the <glossary term="Lieu-Dit" title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> where the <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet</glossary> is planted. Then Rouchefert, and finally Justices and 13 Vents, the latter two planted in the neighboring village of Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné.</p>
<p><strong>Who were your first customers?</strong></p>
<p>Parisians! I participated in some of the very first <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteilles</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and that’s where I created my network of Paris <glossary term="Caviste" title="253">cavistes</glossary> and restaurants. There was already a lot of bistros serving these types of wines at the time.</p>
<p>My first importer was Japan. No surprise there!</p>
<p><strong>What inspired your labels?</strong></p>
<p>The snake is the Ouroboros, a famous symbol, one of the first symbols of civilization. It’s similar to the ying and the yang, the cycle of the seasons repeating themselves.</p>
<p><strong>When did you decide to stop making appellation wine?</strong></p>
<p>In 2006. I made <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> wines through 2005, but found it increasingly difficult having to justify my work to the the panels. Here I am attempting to express the most transparent expression of a grape from this specific place, but was getting challenged for too much alcohol, too much color, that I refused to <glossary term="Chaptalisation" title="270">chaptalize</glossary>… It felt so out of touch.</p>
<p>2006 was also the first year I’d gone 100% with no <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and based on past experience I knew there was absolutely no point presenting my wines. Honestly, I am still vexed that the <glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary> cares so little about people like me who prioritize farming and expressing <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> to the best of their ability.</p>
<p><strong>Having been part of those early Dive Bouteilles, how do you feel about the state of our little world of wine in 2024?</strong></p>
<p>Overall I think we’ve seen some truly great progress in the last 20 or so years. I do however feel that the bubble has burst. What represented something new (of course nothing is ever truly new), an alternative path to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking 20 years ago ended up not being just a little ripple, but a tidal wave in moving things forward.</p>
<p>Think about all the <glossary term="Cave Cooperative" title="252">cooperators</glossary> who broke away and started producing their own wines. The children of <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> who took a complete 180 from past generations. The young people coming from totally unrelated fields to start wineries. It’s incredible! But this boom cycle had to end at some point. The sheer amount of events taking place around the <glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteille</glossary> this year proves to me that being visible and commercially viable is becoming increasingly difficult.</p>
<p><strong>It’s true. Five years ago, I felt there was this almost infinite, utopia-like energy going around. That consumers were so welcoming and excited for this type of philosophy, and that there was infinite room for things to keep evolving positively. It was beautiful and inspiring.</strong></p>
<p>I agree. But as we see now, it was relatively naif and there were some major missteps along the way. Many completely stopped caring about the quality of the wines themselves. In my early days, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from those; it was a given that there were certain things you just couldn’t bottle and sell. And that helped me get better.</p>
<p>In the past few years, you could really taste the lack of experience in some of these newer wineries. And of course that created tensions, as no one was really checking these producers. A lot of these wines weren’t sold on much merit other than being <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Natural WIne" title="708">natural</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>But again, I think we come out of this richer. Because we explored and pushed those boundaries. So yes, the bubble has burst. But we’ve gained experience. Overall, more good wine is being made, and people are always going to want to drink good wine. It may just be impossible to taste or drink and sell them all!</p>
producer profile
<p>La Petite Empreinte, or “the little footprint” is an <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> that truly lives up to its name. Founded by Mélissa Bazin with the help of her husband Romain De Moor in 2020, together the couple work a whopping two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines from A to Z, producing very limited quantities of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sauvignon Blanc" title="927">Sauvignon Blanc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>After meeting and falling in love during respective apprenticeships in the <glossary term="Jura" title="560">Jura</glossary> (Julien Labet for Mélissa and Jean-François Ganevat for Romain), the couple agreed to move back to <glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary> so Romain could join his parents Alice and Olivier at their eponymous <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chablis" title="262">Chablis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Always set on doing her own thing, Mélissa set forth to find some <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> to work on her own. Through a program designed to help young producers find land to start their own <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estates</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> she was able start renting <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> in 2020, eventually purchasing the vines in 2022.</p>
<p>The first and largest sector consists of two <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> totaling one <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> all planted in 1990. Located in <glossary term="Saint-Bris" title="979">Saint-Bris</glossary> on an idyllic <glossary term="Coteau" title="345">coteau</glossary> of <glossary term="Kimmeridgian" title="565">Kimmeridgian</glossary> <glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> overlooking the Yonne river, <glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> is the main variety planted here, along with 10 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Two wines are produced from this land: a <glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot</glossary> called “Mas a Tierra” and a <glossary term="Magnum" title="617">magnum</glossary> only <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> For the latter, a single <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary> is produced each <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p>The second <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> consists of 40 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> from which they produce the <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> “Tapis Rouge”. The vines here are <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> full South and were planted in 1978 on a steep <glossary term="Coteau" title="345">coteau</glossary> of <glossary term="Portlandian" title="1398">Portlandian</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In addition, a yet-to-be released <glossary term="Saint-Bris" title="979">Saint-Bris</glossary> is produced from two small <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the first 30 years old and <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> West, the other planted in 1959 on white <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> North and very low producing due to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Court Noué" title="1250">court noué</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Bazin and De Moor, in addition to raising two young daughters and Romain working full time with his parents, do 100% of the work and currently have no employees. Mélissa is responsable for the manual work in the vines <span class="zalup"><span>(<glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary>…) with Romain doing the tractor work. The vines are <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified organic</glossary> or in <glossary term="Conversion" title="332">conversion</glossary> towards <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certification</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">Cover crops</glossary> have been incorporated since 2021 and, like Alice and Olivier in Chablis, they have been planting fruit trees in the vines to encourage <glossary term="Biodiversity" title="1162">biodiversity</glossary> and break up the <glossary term="Monoculture" title="671">monoculture</glossary> of <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary>/create stronger rhizome networks in the soil.</p>
<p>In the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the couple work off instinct and communally make all <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinification</glossary> decisions together. <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">Maceration</glossary> lengths, <glossary term="Pigeage/Punchdown" title="795">pigeages</glossary>/<glossary term="Remontage/Pumping Over" title="850">remontages</glossary> (or lack thereof) have varied each <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but the wines all <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">ferment</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">age</glossary> in <glossary term="Old Oak" title="739">old barrels</glossary> with no <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary> is added at any point. Everything is currently <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary> in the De Moor <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but Mélissa and Romain are in the process constructing their own, in all likelihood for the 2025 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
producer profile
<p>Getting his start in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Marc Kemlin found his love for <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> while working at a family friend's<font color="#7b143e"><b> <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne-Montrachet</glossary></b></font>. While passionate and dedicated to the work in the vines, Kemlin found himself increasingly heartbroken seeing each year's work <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Yeast" title="1128">yeasted</glossary> and sent to <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociants</glossary> the next day. He'd hit a wall, and when his wife Fanny admitted that she found it hard to integrate herself socially and professionally in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it was time to for a change. Ready to start a family, the two agreed to move to the city of Aix-en-Provence where Fanny had grown up. Continuing to work in wine, Marc went from <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">micro-parcels</glossary><span class="zalup"><span><font color="#7b143e"><b> <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary></b></font></span></span> in <glossary term="Burgundian" title="210">Burgundian</glossary> <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> to production-centric chateaux centered on massive quantities of commercial <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The culture shock of <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary> was real.</p>
<p>While continuing to <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifiy</glossary> huge <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">vats</glossary> of mediocre <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Marc felt increasingly pulled towards starting his own, small-scale <glossary term="Artisinal" title="122">artisanal</glossary> project. Serendipitously, Fanny's family happened to own a sprawling <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> called Domaine des Ribières just 30 minutes north of Aix-en-Provence. The property is breathtakingly beautiful but also a unique <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> tucked away in the Ribières valley with no neighbors, the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> sits at 350 meters <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> quite high for the region. The soils consist of <glossary term="Silt" title="956">silty</glossary> <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with one sector <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> south and the other north. A little river at the edge of the property brings freshness and contributes to a <glossary term="Microclimate" title="656">micro-climate</glossary> that protects from <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In other words, good stuff!</p>
<p>Vines had been planted at Ribières 70 years prior, but the land had long been used to grow cereals. Knowing that that replanting would take a lot of time, money and effort, Kemlin decided to in the interim start a collaborative project with his friend Pierre Rochard of the fantastic bistro Les Vieilles Canailles in Aix-en-Provence. Dubbed Colvert over many nights of eating and drinking, the plan was to find a space outside of the city that would double as a restaurant and winery. Things were well under way, including a delicious, <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">unsulfured</glossary> <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> of <glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary> dubbed "R/C" that blew our minds the first time we tried it. But the pandemic upended everything, forcing Rochard to pivot to catering and making the partnership untenable. Undeterred, Kemlin bought out his partner and continued the Colvert project as a solo endeavor. </p>
<p>Starting with a plantation of <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache Noir</glossary> in 2019, Marc has progressively planted roughly half a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> every year, now totalling four <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> at the time of this writing. Along with the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Cinsault" title="1188">Cinsault</glossary> and <glossary term="Roussanne" title="878">Roussanne</glossary> now grow in Domaine des Ribières' soils. Marc estimates he could plant up to 10 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> but is hesitant, as he feels adamant about meticulously working his land from A to Z.</p>
<p><i>"For me, touching every vine is like reading the land. You can have someone give you a summary of a book and know what happened, but you have to read it yourself to create your own images and ideas from it. I love planting each vine, </i><glossary term="Pruning" title="834"><em>pruning</em></glossary><i> each vine, doing the </i><glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507"><em>green harvest</em></glossary><i>, taking care of them… Only that way can I learn and understand how my actions will affect my work. To me it’s a powerful exchange."</i></p>
<p>Uninspired by the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>-</span></span></span>centric Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Kemlin has decided to pass his entire production to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vin de France" title="1092">Vin de France</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Passionate about white wine from his time in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Marc's focus is principally on white wine production, including atypical <glossary term="Blanc de Noirs" title="166">blanc de noirs</glossary> from <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cinsault" title="1188">Cinsault</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> As whites only represent 4% of <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provencal</glossary> wine production, Kemlin freely admits it's also a way to be creative and to distinguish himself in a competitive, saturated market:</p>
<p><em>"90% of the time, when I taste a white wine from </em><glossary term="Provence" title="831"><em>Provence</em></glossary><em>, it’s </em><glossary term="Yeast" title="1128"><em>yeasted</em></glossary><em> and smells like peach and kiwi. You smell it and you don’t even want to taste it. I love white wine and decided it would be my goal to make excellent white wine from </em><glossary term="Provence" title="831"><em>Provence</em></glossary><em>. It’s also interesting because it really goes against anything being made in the region. My land finds itself within the Coteaux d’Aix-en Provence </em><glossary term="AOC" title="108"><em>AOC</em></glossary><em>, but from the beginning I decided I’d make everything in </em><glossary term="Vin de France" title="1092"><em>Vin de France</em></glossary><em>. This gives me a freedom to be creative, but also to learn."</em></p>
<p>2022 was the first vintage produced from Marc's young plantations, resulting in two <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> wines: a 100% <glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary> and the aformentioned <glossary term="Blanc de Noirs" title="166">blanc de noirs</glossary> from <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache, </glossary>with a 100% <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> of purchased <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> grapes from the <glossary term="Luberon" title="1489">Luberon</glossary> rounding out the lineup. At this point, he in debating whether to if he'll permit himself to buy grapes in future <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p>Despite the vines being very young, Marc's vision, passion and attention to detail shines through in the bottle. These are one of kind wines made against the grain in a region bogged down by standardization. And they are only going to get better as the vines sink their roots deeper into the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Mother Rock" title="690">mother rock</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p>For even more information about Marc and the Colvert project, please read his interview. </p>
interview
<p><strong>Where are you originally from and how did you end up in wine?</strong></p>
<p>I grew up between Saint-Etienne and Roanne, about an hour west of Lyon. My parents were farmers, who mostly grew corn and cereals but also took care of roughly 100 <glossary term="Charolais" title="274">Charolais</glossary> cows. So I grew up in agriculture and cattle raising. But didn’t love working with livestock. And while interested in working with the land, I found no passion working with cereals. I worked with my parents in my youth but never had any intention of taking over the farm. </p>
<p>My connection to wine starts with with friends of my parents, <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> who owned an <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne-Montrachet</glossary> called Domaine Duc de Magenta. It was two hours from the house, and every year we’d go do <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> So I was exposed to the vines at a very early age. I very quickly found a passion for this type of work: the fact that you are simultaneously a farmer, a chemist and a business person all at once... When I was younger, there was also this almost noble thing about wine: beautiful bottles on a properly set table, <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommeliers</glossary> talking about it, etc… It all felt very poetic. So little by little I shifted into the universe of wine.</p>
<p><strong>Take us through those beginnings.</strong></p>
<p>My higher education was in sales, marketing and business in Lyon. This was the classic “make your farmer parents happy” move they so often want for their children. After that, I spent a year in Australia where I worked as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I barely had any money, so I began taking fruit picking jobs on top of the restaurant work, eventually landing me in the Adelaide hills picking grapes. It was a rekindling of sorts with the vines, and when I got back to France I decided to forego working in restaurants to head back to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>I then studied <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Beaune" title="154">Beaune</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> While studying, I lived with my family friends in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Unpaid, I started working there in tandem: <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> the vines, <glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary>… When <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> came around, I had plenty of free time so I helped out there as well. That turned into five years.</p>
<p>It was interesting because I found myself treating the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> like it was my own, but of course it wasn’t. I was so emotionally invested; one thing that started to hurt me was the fact that we worked really well in the vines year-round only to <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> and <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">press</glossary> grapes so that big <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociants</glossary> could come and pick up the juices the next day. I kept pushing for us to keep grapes to make our own <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chassagne-Montrachet" title="275">Chassagne-Montrachet</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Puligny-Montrachet" title="840">Puligny-Montrachet</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Auxey-Duresses" title="130">Auxey-Duresses</glossary><span>, </span></span></span><glossary term="Meursault" title="1370">Meursault</glossary>… all these beautiful <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellations</glossary><span>!</span></span></span></p>
<p>I was in love with wine, but I’d also fallen in love with a woman while studying in Lyon. She was from <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and in those early years she agreed to live with me in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Very quickly, she told me that living in the <glossary term="Côte de Beaune" title="368">Côte de Beaune</glossary> or <glossary term="Côte d'Or" title="367">Côte d’Or</glossary> is a hard place to integrate yourself when you aren’t professionally connected to it. So we decided to move to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> living in the city of Aix-en-Provence.</p>
<p>In <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> I discovered a new world of <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking. I went from small <glossary term="Burgundian" title="210">Burgundian</glossary> <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> to huge 250<glossary term="hl/ha" title="528">hl</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">vats</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifying</glossary> 5000 <glossary term="Hectoliter" title="524">hectoliters</glossary> at a time. Sadly, I was not thrilled by this world. It felt hierarchical, production driven and highly delineated: the vines and the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> (if you can even call it that) were viewed as entirely different things. So was the commercial aspect of selling the wines.</p>
<p> I had to make a living, so I continued to work at a big chateau. Throughout, I felt increasingly pulled towards starting my own, small and <glossary term="Artisan" title="121">artisanal</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>Tell us about that.</strong></p>
<p>My wife Fanny has family land in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It’s a beautiful place, and before moving here this is where we'd spend our weekends. Vines had been planted on the property 70 years prior, but in the interim the land had been used for various cereals. Because it had been so long, bringing it back to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> was an arduous juridic process. When we got it back, I produced hay to restore the soils but also to make a little bit of pocket change selling it off. All the while, I kept my salaried position at a larger winery where I was <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinifying</glossary> massive amounts of mediocre <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>In 2019, I started planting half a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> every year. Today, in 2024, we are at four <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines. My first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> from my own vines was 2022, and today -though I'm not making any money yet!- it’s my full-time activity. We started with 3000 bottles as a négoce, then 6000 in 2022, 8000 in 2023 and in 2024 we’ll be at 15 000 bottles.</p>
<p><strong>When I first met you you had started the Colvert project with négociant cuvées. Will you continue to purchase grapes to supplement the estate’s production?</strong></p>
<p>I started the Colvert project before planting a single vine. It was with a restaurateur friend, Pierre Rochard of Les Vieilles Canailles in Aix-en-Provence. He’s a super talented guy and loves wine. Our original idea was to find a space about 10km outside of Aix where we could have both a restaurant and a winery in the same place. But the pandemic upended our plans; he was forced to pivot to take-out buisness and that took up all of his time. We also couldn’t find an existing space or land to build the space outside of the city, so in the end we amicably ended our partnership. He stayed focused on his restaurant, I bought out his shares and refocused my business as a single proprietor.</p>
<p>To answer the <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négoce</glossary> question, yes my first Colvert wines were with purchased fruit; the idea was to “practice” making wines in my new <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> until the young vines came into production. But considering that my small cellar, which can hold a maximum of 200hl is totally full in 2023, I couldn’t buy fruit even if I want to.</p>
<p><strong>But would you continue to buy fruit?</strong></p>
<p>I’m debating if I want to shift to being purely a <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> or to keep my <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> status. There is a negative perception of <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négoce</glossary> and I get it. But it can be fun to to buy grapes from friends. For example, I LOVE <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> but didn’t plant any myself. I know someone with nice <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> in the <glossary term="Luberon" title="1489">Luberon</glossary> and had originally planned to form a long-term relationship with them. But they just had <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> this year, so who knows?</p>
<p>When you grow your own grapes, even in tough years you know what you’re getting yourself into. Buying grapes imposes a whole new dimension of different parameters.</p>
<p><strong>What does Colvert mean?</strong></p>
<p>Where we live is called Domaine des Ribières. It would have been a lot simpler to name the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> that! But when we were starting the project with my ex-partner, with this idea of of a winery attached to a restaurant, it was a whole other concept.</p>
<p>The name came many nights of eating and drinking. A “col” is what we call a bottle in France, and we liked the idea of adding green wax on each bottle. That’s the simplest aspect of the name.</p>
<p>A colvert is also that beautiful green-headed duck (<strong>ed note:</strong> a mallard in English). At one point we had the idea of doing something cartoony to represent the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> something more viral than what the <glossary term="Wine Label" title="573">labels</glossary> ended up being.</p>
<p>The name of the Saint-Etienne football team, who I am a die-hard fan of, is also colloquially known as Les Verts as they wear green jerseys.</p>
<p>Finally, and this is the craziest anecdote because I found out about it after having chosen the name, but my mother-in-law informed me that "colvert" was her late husband’s nickname. So it also serves as a little homage to him. I’d like to think he’d be happy seeing this land being worked full time again.</p>
<p>Especially with that last part about my father-in-law, the name really felt like destiny. It may not resonate at all to non French speakers, but I like it!</p>
<p><strong>When I visited, I was taken aback by the beauty of the Domaine des Ribières property. Could you describe it in your own words?</strong></p>
<p>First we have to talk about where we are situated, the Ribières valley. We are right next to the village of Rognes, in direction of the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Luberon" title="1489">Luberon</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We are at about 350 meters <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> which is quite high for the area. There are heights that reach to 450 meters, from which you have stunning views of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. From there, you plunge back down into the Ribières valley. When you come to Domaine des Ribières for the first time, I think it’s hard not to feel its beauty. The sky feels particularly blue, the earth is tinted red from <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Iron" title="547">iron</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> there are no neighbors…</p>
<p>As far as the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we are on <glossary term="Silt" title="956">silty</glossary> <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> One sector faces south, the other north. There is a little river at the edge of the property that brings us some freshness. And while many of our friends are vulnerable to <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> if temperatures get to below 1.5, here we are always spared due to our specific <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Microclimate" title="656">micro-climate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> These factors really make me feel like we were actually onto something when we decided to start the project here.</p>
<p>Maybe this is irrational, or perhaps it’s hard to explain, but when I’m here I feel connected to the land. I can feel that these vines are going to give me good grapes. And of course this isn’t without trials and tribulations. For example, our first plantation was a bit of a disaster. I took a <glossary term="Burgundian" title="210">Burgundian</glossary> approach by foregoing <glossary term="Irrigation" title="549">irrigation</glossary> and it was a real fiasco. That was a big lesson.</p>
<p>I’ve also started working with a <glossary term="Pépiniériste" title="773">pépineriste</glossary> I like; it’s hard to know what works or doesn’t since there haven’t been vines here in almost two generations. So far I’m very happy: I’m not sure if it’s him, if it’s me or if it’s the climate, but I’m learning. Now that we have a bit of experience, we’re going to be able to concentrate even more on the vegetal well-being of the vines. I don’t want these them to live 10 or 20 years. I want them still here when I’m gone.</p>
<p><strong>Let’s talk about the grapes you’ve planted so far and what you plan on planting in coming years.</strong></p>
<p>I started this project with the knowledge that making wine is expensive and you need to distinguish yourself to make a mark. 90% of the time, when I taste a white wine from <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it’s <glossary term="Inoculation" title="542">yeasted</glossary> and smells like peach and kiwi. You smell it and you don’t even want to taste it. I love white wine and decided it would be my goal to make excellent white wine from <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>And yet my very first plantation was <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache Noir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> My reasoning was that I’d make some <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> sell it quickly to fund the growth of the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I never ended up making a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but rather a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Blanc de Blancs" title="165">blanc de noir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> People like them and I like them! It’s made like any white: <glossary term="Direct Press" title="392">direct-press</glossary> and long <glossary term="Elevage" title="418">elevage</glossary> on the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Lees" title="590">lees</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> So of course I’m not making quick sales from this wine because it requires time to <glossary term="Aging" title="74">age</glossary> in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary> and in bottle.</p>
<p>It’s also interesting because it really goes against anything being made in the region. My land finds itself within the Coteaux d’Aix-en Provence <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but from the beginning I decided I’d make everything in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vin de France" title="1092">Vin de France</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> This gives me a freedom to be creative, but also to learn.</p>
<p>But let me actually answer your question! So I started with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then planted some <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then some <glossary term="Cinsault" title="1188">Cinsault</glossary> (with a <glossary term="Blanc de Noirs" title="166">blanc de noirs</glossary> and a light red being produced from this grape in the 2023 <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary>), then some more <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Rolle</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In this first phase, I wanted to plant only grapes that are allowed in the <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> as a sort of safeguard. Since then I’ve planted a little less than a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Roussanne" title="878">Roussanne</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> which is not allowed in the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>The rest is still unwritten.We won’t plant in in 2024, but I’ll plant another half <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> in 2025. I’m not sure what it will be yet, as that will depend on the vegetal material available to me when it’s time to plant. But I’m also in the process of getting the permits to build a larger <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Another major investment!</p>
<p><strong>When I visited in summer of 2023, you pointed out that while you planned to keep planting, you wanted to keep it to a size where you could still touch every vine yourself. How many hectares do you envision planting total?</strong></p>
<p>For me, touching every vine is like reading the land. You can have someone give you a summary of a book and know what happened, but you have to read it yourself to create your own images and ideas from it. I love planting each vine, <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> each vine, doing the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> taking care of them… Only that way can I learn and understand how my actions will affect my work. To me it’s a powerful exchange.</p>
<p>If I limit to myself to being alone, or at least with my wife (who has a full time job), having more than five <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> is complicated. But to justify building a larger <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it might mean needing to double that surface. For now I’m not sure what that looks like: maybe I can have another young <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> join me on these <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary>… But there is plenty of time to see what happens.</p>
<p><strong>What about your approach in the cellar?</strong></p>
<p>When I was in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the <glossary term="Must" title="700">musts</glossary> were followed by a local <glossary term="Enology" title="422">enologist</glossary> before being picked up by <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociants</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The wines were completely <glossary term="Conventional Farming" title="331">conventional</glossary> and of little interest to me. I remember them being masked by <glossary term="Wood" title="1126">wood</glossary> and marked by <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> When I got to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Provence" title="831">Provence</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it was all about "classic" <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>But I’ve always had a network of retailer, restaurateur and <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> friends with whom we’d taste more authentic wines. When it was time to make my own wine, not once did it cross my mind to use <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Commercial Yeast" title="321">commercial yeast</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I also have an intolerance to <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> that makes me sneeze, but for me it’s more an ethical choice, a way to move away from the chemical over-reliance of bigger agriculture. My grandfather passed away from constant exposure to <glossary term="Phytosanitary" title="789">phytosanitary</glossary> products. I understand it felt like progress at the time, but today it’s very outdated.</p>
<p>The problem we have here in Aix-en-Provence is that farmers realized grapes pay better than cereals. And they work vines like they worked cereal, pumping them for maximum production through any means necessary. And now the <glossary term="Cave Cooperative" title="252">cooperatives</glossary> have too much wine!</p>
<p>My goal is not to make a lot of wine. I want to express my soils and their potential. In the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it’s the same logic. That starts with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Native Yeast" title="538">native yeasts</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> first and foremost. That’s what’s going to mark the wines of where they are from. Other than that, I’m very meticulous with temperature and hygiene. I prefer to not add <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary> and have succeeded in this, but if for whatever reason a wine had not fully finished <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermenting</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> I have no issue protecting it with a small dose at <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> as was the case for the Gn/C 2022. A big part of this is because I’m just starting and these are my first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary>; too much is on the line. Maybe that will change with time and experience.</p>
producer profile
<p>Sónia Raposo was working in the HR sector for a large pharmaceutical company and experiencing the inevitable corporate career angst. Concurrently, she was finding an interest in wine - visiting producers, attending consumer tastings and some <glossary term="WSET" title="1127">WSET</glossary> classes - to the point where she began teaching some of the courses. By 2012 she was also interning at wineries in <glossary term="Alentejo" title="1259">Alentejo</glossary> and elsewhere in Portugal. In 2013 she met Pedro Marques in attendance with his family <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Vale da Capucha. From there, her interest in more honest, real wines took off. Ultimately, apart from the small things like a marriage and a family, the goal became to start a winemaking project together.</p>
<p>In the beginning, they purchased a small amount of grapes from farmers they knew worked their vineyards well to see the potential of the vines before entering a rental agreement. The project eventually evolved into their own wines under the Las Vedras (“the old ones”) label. Initally they started making the wine at Pedro’s family’s winery, but recently have moved their operation to a new <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> in the village of Pero Negro. At first, the couple felt a bit isolated working in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> as it has a reputation for high production, poor quality <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Case in point: besides themselves and Vale da Capucha, there isn't a single <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> producer in the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> With the work they are doing, however, other like-minded producers are beginning to take note and interest in the area. </p>
<p><glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>, roughly an hour north of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Lisbon" title="1262">Lisbon</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> lies close at the foot of the Serra de Montejunto, the highest ridge of mountains in the Estremedura region of <glossary term="Lisbon" title="1262">Lisbon</glossary>; these act as a barrier to some of the prevailing winds, which, depending on the annual conditions, can either benefit or harm the vineyard. From this area, Sónia and Pedro work multiple vineyard sites. With these windy conditions, the <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> system is traditionally a type of short<span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span><glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruned</glossary> </span></span><glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">goblet</glossary> called Asas de Mosca (“fly wings”) for the shape of the tying.</p>
<p>Walking distance from the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the couple's largest <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> lies within the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> in the village of Pero Negro. At 1.5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">ha</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it is comprised of smaller <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> within the larger <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> indicative of what the region was before commercial production invaded. A white and a red wine named after the village, Pero Negro, are produced from this land.</p>
<p>One of the smaller plots, a <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> that was not previously farmed very well, is planted with the whites of <glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Palomino" title="1487">Palomino</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> known locally as Seminario and Malvasia Rei, and the reds of <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The paperwork on the <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> says it was planted in 1993, but the owner thinks it is actually 50-60 years old. They began the <glossary term="Conversion" title="332">conversion</glossary> to <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> in 2019.</p>
<p>From another proximate farmer, Sónia and Pedro purchase grapes that produce a wine called "Corriente". The soils here are <glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> and <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> of oceanic origin and have a high <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="PH" title="783">PH</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The couple has begun sowing <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> here to increase organic matter, open up the soil and drive down the <glossary term="PH" title="783">PH</glossary> level. </p>
<p>The next <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> in the village of Portela do Bispo -or Bishop’s Portal- lies in between the two <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary>’s of <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Arruda" title="1488">Arruda</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It is a two<font color="#7b143e"><b> <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary></b></font> <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> of 80 year-old vines planted mainly with <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> and a bit of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Syrah" title="1001">Syrah</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Touriga Nacional" title="1229">Touriga Nacional </glossary></span></span>and some unknown white grapes. The <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> faces north towards the Montejunto Serras and can be exposed to some high winds. It is more of the oceanic <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary><span>-</span></span></span><glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> soil planted in verry narrow rows, since it pre-dates <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Mechanization" title="645">mechanization</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> 2020 was the first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> from this <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> yielding one 500L <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Like in Pero Negro, Sónia and Pedro have begun planting <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> here as well.</p>
<p>The third <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Dois Portos, or Two Ports, is in the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Sónia and Pedro began working this <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> in 2022, making a small amount of wine that year. It is again a two<font color="#7b143e"><b> <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary></b></font> <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> planted mostly to <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> and surrounded by stone fruit trees.</p>
<p>Sónia and Pedro are generally striving not to add any <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary> to the process, but are not dogmatic given the current varying conditions at <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> namely rain. Right now, they have not had to add any to any of the wines, even before <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Four wines are currently produced:</p>
<p><strong>Vino Branco Limo: </strong>from a <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> planted and worked by the late Antonio Carvalho of Casal Figueira and some friends in Bombarral a bit north of Pero Negro. 40% French <glossary term="Varietal" title="1071">varietals</glossary> that Antonio planted - <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Roussanne" title="878">Roussanne</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Marsanne" title="634">Marsanne</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sémillon" title="1003">Semillon </glossary></span></span>and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Petit Manseng" title="779">Petit Manseng</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The rest is <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Arinto" title="1233">Arinto</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vital" title="1429">Vital</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Short <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">skin soak</glossary> then <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary> into <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Stainless Steel" title="986">stainless vats</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>Pero Negro Branco:</strong> The fruit comes from a small lower <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> at the bottom of the hill. <glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary> and <glossary term="Palomino" title="1487">Palomino</glossary> (known locally as Malvasia Rei). One day <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary> and <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermented</glossary> in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">tonneau</glossary> of 500L, then two years <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary> in the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>Vinho Tinto Corriente: </strong>a traditional blend of <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> and <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> from the aforementioned neighbor’s vineyard. The grapes are all <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with half going into the <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">vat</glossary> in <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-bunches</glossary> and the rest <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Foot-Treading" title="458">foot trod</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> followed by a short five to seven day <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p><strong>Pero Negro Tinto:</strong> <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> (<glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary>) and <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> (<glossary term="De-stemming" title="378">destemmed</glossary> as they feel this variety’s stems are not pleasing). <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">Fermented</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aged</glossary> in 500L <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In previous <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary> lasted two years. Moving forward, this will change, as they think this wine should spend less time in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Wood" title="1126">wood</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> They inted the newer <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary> to be fresher, but <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> will always need more time in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
producer profile
<p>Francesco “Kikko” Pesci grew up in Rome. While working at various restaurants, in particular the infamous wine bar Litro, he was introduced to wines that blew his mind, most notably those of Panevino in <glossary term="Sardinia" title="917">Sardinia</glossary> and Ajola in <glossary term="Umbria" title="1058">Umbria</glossary>/<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Lazio" title="585">Lazio</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Ajola’s relative proximity to Rome led to a burgeoning friendship with its founder Jacopo Battista, in turn inspiring Kikko to make wine himself. Up for a new challenge, he found himself an apprenticeship in <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary> helping Manu di Vecchi Staraz at Vinyer de la Ruca. The plan was to help out for a year, but that year became two, then five… By 2022, Kikko had the opportunity to buy two <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> and start his own project, Les Ânes Ailés. That same year he produced his first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> as the newest member of Les 9 Caves.</p>
<p>Both of Kikko’s <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> are in the mountain north of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls-sur-Mer</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> historically a lesser planted area. Both parcels roughly equal a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare;</glossary></span></span> Kikko had been familiar with the first <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> since arriving in the area, as it used to belong to Manuel of Vinyer de la Ruca. It’s a formidable place that can only be reached by a single, winding and treacherous road. At 300 meters, its <glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary> is very high for the area. It’s also unique in being <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> full North and majoritarily planted in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache Gris" title="1158">Grenache Gris</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> This, combined with strong year-round winds and very low<span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Yield" title="1129">yields</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> produce two <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> of a singular <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> called “Kik-Off”. Kikko plans to replant white grapes here, as he believes the <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> is excellently suited to produce a dry white wine.</p>
<p>The second vineyard, acquired from a retiring farmer, is also <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terrace" title="1022">terraced</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It too has unique characteristics, namely the presence of <glossary term="Sand" title="909">sand</glossary> soils because it is next to a <glossary term="Tributary" title="1046">tributary</glossary> to a river, something very rare in the region. Compared to the gnarled old vines normally seen in <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary>’ <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terrace" title="1022">terraces</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> those closest to the water are almost comically huge. The <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> is also shadowed by the adjacent mountain, maintaining freshness. From this land, a wine called "Ticche" is made with the traditional <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary> composition: the three colors of <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span>(<glossary term="Grenache Blanc" title="509">Blanc</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache Gris" title="1158">Gris</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Noir</glossary>) and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Carignan" title="237">Carignan</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Rounding out the lineup are two wines made from purchased <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> grapes. “Arlequin” is 80% <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grenache Blanc" title="509">Grenache Blanc</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> 20% <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Vermentino</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> sourced from two <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> in Laroque des Albères, a 30 minute drive north of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> “Pierrot” is 100% <glossary term="Grenache" title="508">Grenache Noir</glossary> from nearby <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Calce" title="223">Calce</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> picked a bit early and made with minimal <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary> to produce an accesible wine meant to drink young.</p>
<p>Oh, and for those that are wondering: Les Ânes Ailés translates to "the winged donkeys". It's an old Italian expression, <em>gli asini volanti</em>, which implies that if you believe donkeys can fly, you are a naive fool. In a moment of personal utopianism, Kikko came up with this name based on how impossible it felt that he'd actually succeeded in starting his own project in the most unprobable of places. In this case, the donkeys actually had wings. </p>
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Article
by Kevin McKenna
Those of you who know me know that I don't like griping in public too much, let alone putting it down in writing and publishing it on our company blog. So the mere fact that I'm writing this is evidence that something (or some things) must really be bugging me... Let's call them a series of incidents, coincidences, etc. that have made me think a lot about what I (and by that I also mean 'we' at Louis/Dressner) do as a wine importer, what it used to mean, what it means now, what it continues to mean to me (us) and how these values seem to be irreversibly changing in the current context of specialized wine importation.
When I started working solely in the commerce of wine and finding bliss in a tireless interest for good wine and learning more and more, the wine "industry" was called the wine trade. It was full of people who were doing it as a job, but it was really as a vocation. Most were barely making a living. They were well-educated, had good manners and, for the majority, were eloquent or at least well spoken. They were individuals. There were only a few quality independent importers and the press had little influence on wineries or their winemaking. People trusted their local wine merchant, (of which there were relatively few quality stores).
So before I go on, let me say that I am not an old-skooler ruminating on the past and bemoaning the present, (about which, in fact, there is a whole lot to like!) But it seems to me there was an approach back then among the folks doing innovative importation to do one's work based on real research, with a personal point of view, finding a deeper understanding of the work involved in making a bottle of wine; this meant having an approach, or at least a basic thought, of what your imported wines represented vis-a-vis everything else out there. And most importantly, in the context of this writing, there was with little exception, a respect for other people's work, which meant putting in real efforts to not step on each other's toes. The wine trade played by Marquess of Queensbury rules, if you will. Because, after all, the British practically invented the commerce of wine.
And sure, maybe I idealize the past or perhaps was a bit wide-eyed and naïve. Or perhaps I was not in a position to see the uglier side of things, which I am sure existed. But I still believe that for the most part, there was guiding principle to work with integrity, manners and mutual respect (unless the other guy/gal was really a bastard or, importantly in those days and still important, a serial substance abuser.) You paid your growers and if you did not, you would have a Scarlet W, for W-E-L-S-H-E-R tattooed on your forehead.
Apart from the miracle of The Cloud, there is a downside to the internet. The rise of internet "journalism" and social media marketing allows for any creep to say anything they want (hey, look at me here) without any accountability for their words, mistakes, innuendo or near libel. And furthermore, there is an almost built-in incentive to be as exploitative of the lack of rules as possible to rise above the sea of self-involved open diaries posing as constructive critical thinking.
So here is what has passed over our desks in recent weeks:
Firstly, someone who has recently established his own business based on the idea that he's eliminating the outrageous importer and distributor mark-ups by buying directly from winemakers' cellars and selling retail, by power of his mutant abilities, directly to the consumer -thus somehow getting them "Better for Less", a motto I think was popularly chiseled in Latin on a stone in 1st century AD- recently offered a wine from Olga Raffault, a producer we have been working with for 22 years. This same "selector" professes undying fondness for our company, for us as people, for our work, for our winemakers and their work, etc. on each and every occasion we see him. His newsletter to private wine customers made an offering on an Olga Raffault bottling "La Singulaire" (not to poke too much fun at the obvious, but the wine is actually called "La Singulière", which could easily have been double checked with a simple web search), touting it as the first time offered in the United States and continuing with pithily slick schnook-speak and name-dropping comparisons ("Better than Baudry, Rougeard!"). Not to mention the few outright bloated boasts only someone-trying-to-sell-you-something would employ. Frankly, the whole tone of the piece smacks of smarminess.
We received calls from customers and colleagues who were understandably confused. The news perpetuated itself and people immediately started jumping to further conclusions, like Raffault was now working with another importer. You can see how this then goes on and on in a never ending cycle.
Here are the points of that email we would like to categorically shoot down and further illuminate:
This "selector" all but states that the reason we have left the wine for European clients and carelessly deprived the US Market of this, THE most amazing cuvée of the cellar, is that we have deemed the price too high to pass through the 3-tier system. Uhmmm, what can I say? Relative to the cuvées we bring from other producers, this wine is not even CLOSE to being too expensive. I can't give him the benefit of thinking that folks could read between the lines of his statement and see that perhaps we did not see that the price:quality ratio represented in the wine's price. That would negate the entire point of his email.
The reason we don't bring this in is simple; this is a tiny cuvée that Eric de la Vigerie, who took over from his father-in-law Jean Raffault in the 00's, makes for a niche French clientele who are in fact searching for the more modern, extracted and oaked versions of Chinon found in some of the bigger, venerated commercial estates in the region. We were certainly always aware of this cuvée, and have tasted it every year with the same wan smiles. It's just not for us or for our clients. It's concentrated, marked by oak treatment and has little Chinon identity. Eric never cared much whether we liked it or not, bought it or not. He knows how well we do with the other wines in his cellar, all of which are much more important to sell.
The gall in this is the man who shall be further known as Selector L, the man who professes to know us for years, would think that in the 22 years of importing Raffault we would not buy their BEST EVER Chinon. And that in all the years of LDM's work, all our intelligent distributors, hardworking retailers and conscious restauranteurs who have helped back the reputation of the estate and have tasted with Eric many times wouldn't ask for it if they wanted it.
Furthermore, the wine is not a direct purchase from the domaine's cellar. We are assured by the Raffault that it was not sold directly to Selector L's company, meaning he must have bought it from one of their other distributors or retailers in Europe. I think that counts as a "tier"...
One also has to ask, would this wine be offered by Selector L if it did not have the imprimatur of the Raffault estate and their wonderful reputation based on releases of excellent old cellared wines? And what about our company spending over 20 years getting the word out with so much expense and heart? It would seems the sale of "La Singulière" is pretty much a no-brainer relative to some unheard-of producer in Chinon like, for example, the imaginary Bertrand Onager's imaginary top level cuvée "Les Portes du Bain" which no one would realistically ever compare to Clos Rougeard's Saumur wines or Bernard Baudry's Chinon Croix Boissée.
And alright, alright, he is just some schmo, albeit one who garnered a reputation in New York for an expressive, investigative palate which he could manage to elucidate well in written form, and which was followed with some avidity by the mysterious wine cognoscenti underground. He is just trying to make a business he can call his own and we really do not see him as a threat or feel his sale of a small quantity of this wine is going to hurt ours or Raffault's sales or reputations. On the other hand, I certainly do not feel it is going to bring a whole new set of customers either.
One just wishes that the sale of the wine, and the structure and wording of the written sale offering weren't both built on the foundation that Louis/Dressner and Raffault have made. I hope some day he can find the confidence to start laying his own bricks. I also wished he had had the general professional courtesy to call/email/text us to inform us of his intended sale of a wine from one of our most high-profile producers. He should also have given full disclosure that the wine was not acquired directly from that producer to his mailing list. And it would also be all right if this were the first time that pejorative comparisons and ever-so-slight mudslinging were used as a tool to hawk the latest selection, but it isn't. We kept our mouths shut and took the high road the first few times, but now I feel a need to address this.
Moving on, I felt impelled to say something when I received an email from Monte dall'Ora in the Veneto, who we have worked with for the last seven years. Prior to our partnership, they sold mostly a special cuvée to the importer who worked with them before us: the style was more extracted, higher alcohol and it spent some time in (partially new) wood. Needless to say, it was not among our favorite wines at the estate. Well-made but modern-ish. We much preferred the racier, fresher and elegant wines that seemed to be evident vintage after vintage. Eventually, the production of this cuvée was ended.
Around the same time as Monte Dall' Ora's email, we got another email announcing that a famed "newsletter retailer" had just bought old bottles of Monte dall'Ora in the previous importer's warehouse, all that was available there to sell as his latest offering. The retailer is based in Seattle and ships to at least the 16 reciprocal state that allow sales across their borders, if not more. Their subscriptions reach a good number of people and I believe their business is good, if not brisk.
But the thing that caught my eye was the name of a certain person listed with the title of Buying Director of Italian Wines for said retailer. Turns out, this Wine Director had disappeared for a number of years from the wine trade and had reportedly moved on to another field, was once a maverick Italian importer who worked with about 5 Italian estates we now represent (not Monte dall'Ora though) More importantly, from what I last heard from these same growers, this guy burned each of them and owes them A LOT of money. I've noticed in the past that to most people working with wine, this is a "so what" moment and they are happy to buy wines that "fell off a truck" at a bargain price, never once asking themselves if the winemaker was paid. I think that too often, when there is an unclear ethics situation, people avoid thinking about said ethics or go into a state of denial. For me it's a craw-sticker: I am friends with the growers that lost that money (a situation that happens much too often, especially for Italian wine) and I know what personal, financial and emotional upset they went through. Some had resolved to not sell to the US ever again. We were lucky to be able to convince them to let us bring in the wines on very short terms.
I think in business we have to have some sense of right and wrong and draw the line somewhere. I will have real trouble doing any business with this Seattle based retailer unless his Buying Director of Italian Wines is no longer there or makes some reparations to the growers he stiffed... I am not requiring the Scarlet W. but don't tempt me!
The next incident, two weeks ago, really put us in a difficult place. In February at the hipster Natural Wine fairs in and around Angers (Dive Bouteile, etc...), there were many little wilding packs of New Selectors (Selecteurs Nouveaux?) and their coterie of customers. One of these guys avoided eye contact with me because, at a wine fair this past November in Italy, I had threatened to take him outside after calling him out as a brazen liar and a hack. This California based "selector" was targeting producers we have, through our own work and reputation, successfully established in the US market. His schtick involved (involves?) telling the growers the wines could not be found in the Bay Area and Southern California through our distributor -which in a vast majority of cases is a blatant lie- and that they should work with him.
When I confronted him in person, the guy denied he even knew whom we worked with. Subsequently, I found out from Ernesto Cattel of Costadilà that he was going around telling our growers he was somehow affiliated with Louis/Dressner. Then I found the emails sent to our growers. Another prominent "natural wine"importer (who works nationally and is based in New York like us) told me that all his growers had systematically received contact from the guy with offers to work with him in the California import market as their distributor.
It's not that we do not like competition, as this guy retorted when I told him to back off. In fact (as you shall see later) we in fact DO like competition and a good deal of our competitors. More good wine, more good winemakers getting represented in the market = everybody wins. But we don't like laziness, unoriginality, disrespect and deceit. Build a unique, personal portfolio.
Okay, if you are still with me, here's where the camel's back snaps. Another one of these new Selectors of California (whose "portfolio" is almost all wines already discovered and brought directly into the US by Chambers Street Wines in NYC and national importer Zev Rovine) convinced one of our producers, despite our strong arguments against it, to sell to them in California. There are really several sides to this story: between us, the domaine and the New California Selector it's a total Rashomon. In any event, the domaine went ahead and shipped wine to the New California Selector. We had many back and forths with the producer (whom we consider a long time friend) explaining why it was not in her best interest to go forward with this decision, but she insisted and we acquiesced for the good of her business. Still, the whole thing left a bad taste, which we hope to clear with the producer face-to-face the next time we see her.
In the meantime, the wine for California is arriving and it turns out the New California Selector has not done any of the required paperwork that the US government and customs require for entry of alcoholic beverages, putting him at risk for delayed container entry and the hefty charges that go with that. First he asks an old friend of mine in San Francisco to beg the favor from me in giving them permission to use our paperwork (which takes hours of work on our end) for their goods, without the chutzpah to contact me himself. That was a no go. He then contacted me by email with apologies for being new and not understanding what was needed to be done; and a vague reference that perhaps he was breaking some "importer orthodoxy". Okay, now we are getting into a left-handed swipe at a gentleperson's code of conduct being somehow wrapped in an impregnable secret Masonic code to which only a chosen few have access.
To me this is the height of self-serving disrespect and a turn of the tables, a rationalization for laziness and lack of preparation or due diligence, a marked inability to follow any rules, (no matter how petty, we are in a regulated industry and you cannot make the rules go away by just ignoring them) and a marked disrespect for the work it actually does take to represent a group of first rate wine estates.
On a much happier note, last Sunday Louis/Dressner got together with Zev Rovine, Selection Massale, Fifi and PM Spirits to do a tasting together under the same roof. The energy was incredible, the crowd was great and the festivities went well into the night. Nothing was poached, no one insulted or undermined their competition: it was truly a moment of working together towards the same goals and ideals. There is room in this world for everybody to get along, play nicely and act with responsibility, decorum and respect. We're just not sure why it's so difficult for some people to understand that.
Do your work, Y-O-U-R W-O-R-K, don't use someone else's. It's fundamental.