Cabernet Sauvignon

Jean-Christophe spent a good decade working as a sommelier at some finer establishments in France. Being from Bretagne originally, his heart was leaning more towards the true and original in life, rather than the polished trappings of higher society - and during his time in restaurants, he fell in love with natural wines and the people behind these beauties. He knew he had to make natural, unmasked wine, true to its terroir.

After having studied wine and gained experience in California, Australia, and with Frank Cornelissen at Mount Etna in Silcily, Sam has returned to his homeland in Western Australia to make some super tasty natural wines. His first vintages (2015-2017) were made from grapes that he bought from his good friends at Si Vintners (whom we also love!), and Sam has just begun leasing his own farm in Margaret River. Sam likes cleanliness and perfect grape material, and his wines are a true expression of just that. No oak, no filtration, no sulphur at any point in the winemaking. Just pure fruit.

Mia and Pep Torres have been producing wine in Costers Del Segre in Catalonia since 1993.
Here they have 5 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Trepat and Chardonnay, organically and biodynamically grown since 1999. 
The vineyards are located approximately 400m above sea level and the soils here consist of limestone and clay. 

Podere San Guiseppe, an estate in the South-Eastern corner of Montalcino was a sad place until the family of Stella Di Campalto purchased it in 1992. At once, Stella started to ressucitate the 5 ha of vines, which had been abandoned since the war. She turned her focus to organic farming in 1996, which inevitably evolved to biodynamics in the early 2000's.

Guy Bossard (AKA The Pope of Muscadet) was one of the earlier adopters of biodynamic agriculture in the Loire. As none of his kids wanted to take over his 23ha when Guy retired, he took the help of Fred Niger who has since added several new cuvées to the domaine’s portfolio, including cuvées made from Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Folle Blanche and Chardonnay, in addition to the existing Muscadet offerings, many of them aged in amphora. Fred actually claims to have the biggest collection of amphorae in da worrrld...!

Laureano Serres makes wines as natural as they come. After a career in IT, he moved back to his native Catalunya to work at the local wine cooperative, until his dreams of producing natural wines became too radical for the cooperative and they showed him the door. Happily for us, this prompted Laureano to start his own winery, making wines his way. He started out in his own cellar in El Pinell de Brai in Tarragona, and now makes a large range of wines with nothing added at all from his 6ha of low yielding vines.

Jacques Broustet of Chateau Lamery does things a bit differently in Saint Pierre d'Aurillac, 20 miles south-east of Bordeaux. Not only is he one of the only vignerons in the region practising Biodynamics in his vineyard (certified 2006), he also refuses to filter, fine or add SO2 to his wines - which is a rare thing in a region where everything is controlled in a military fashion. With just 3 ha, production is tiny. L'Autrement is a blend of 25% of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. Grapes are hand-harvested and spend 9 months in small casks.

High up on the steep slopes of Vallée de l'Ibie in Southern Ardèche, not far from a rediscovered stone-age cave, you will find the vineyards of Jérôme Jouret. His 12ha of land is certified Organic by Ecocert, although the 30-45 year old vines have never known chemicals anyway. Today, Jérôme's practices are more biodynamic in nature. Jérôme grows Alicante, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Ugni Blanc, Viognier and Clairette on limestone and clay soils.

In the hills of Avignon, around the village of St Remy de Provence that was once famously frequented by Van Gogh, lives another kind of protégé. Henri Milan has more or less been a vigneron since birth, planting his first vine at the age of 8 and taking over from his father in 1986. His work in the vineyard shows his complete respect for nature and terroir: practicing biodynamics on the land and being the first in his family to decide to vinify the parcels separately, revealing their outstanding individual potential.

Château de Roquefort has passed hands many times since it was built, now under ownership by Raimond de Villeneuve. The history of the château has a rich agricultural past, and was also involved with the old silk worm production. Today, winemaking is the primary focus. The 25 ha of vineyard are located on the edge of Bandol in a sort of amphitheater on clay and limestone. This affords the vines their own microclimate, and grapes are slow to ripen at the altitude of 1000ft. Raimond plants the usual Provencial suspects along with brave recent plantings of Cabernet Franc for kicks.