Organic

Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa were originally architects from Piemonte who resettled in Barcelona for work before eventually moving out of the city in search of a slower life. They found a beautiful home in Massís de Bonastre in the Baix Penedès, but there was just one problem: they couldn't find the kind of wine they wanted to drink. So they decided to start making it. They started looking around for vineyards in the local area, most of which were abandoned due to their old, low yielding vines planted with forgotten varieties.

The family domaine of Mas d'Intras has been farming grapes for four centuries, but it wasn't until the 1980's that Robert's family stopped selling their grapes to the local coop, which the family had helped establish. With that decision, Domaine Mas d'Intras was born. In the late nineties they recognised that their soil was suffering and they began to turn their attention to organic farming, acheiving Ecocert organic status in 2009.

Almost as famous for his wines as he is for his moustache, Jo Landron’s work has helped move the reputation of Muscadet up to new levels in recent years. His vineyard sits on a soil makeup of clay, iron silicate, magnesium, quartz and sandstone. Certified organic since 2002, his approach to biodiversity in the vineyard sees the soils thriving with lambs lettuce and many other treats for the insect underworld that buzzes with life below happy vines. Jo tends to choose harvesting his grapes late to ensure maximum juiciness to complement the mineral profile of the wines.

In 1993, Philippe de Roy du Bliquy, an advertising mogul from Paris, was on the hunt for some vineyards and stumbled upon the then run-down Domaine de Villeneuve in the northern corner of Chateauneuf-du-Pape close to Chateau de Beaucastel. Together with a good friend, Stanislas Wallut and their families, they began restoring the 8.5ha, using biodynamic practices to heal the vines which are now certified Biodynamic by Ecocert. Only a small amount of vines had to be replanted, which means that nearly all of the vines are now between 30-100 years old.

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.

Cascina degli Ulivi or 'House of Olives' and it's owner Stefano Bellotti have built themselves quite a reputation in the world of Vin Naturel. Stefano began his path as a vigneron with only 1ha of organic parcels in 1977. The farm also had plantations of other agricutlural products such as cereals and vegetables, but he realised that these weren't thriving in the terroir and this shifted his focus to the vines. By 1984 Stefano was ahead of fashion, applying herb manure composts to the vines along with other biodynamic practices.

Alexandre Bain is a wonderful but rare specimen. He wasn't born into wine, his father wasn't a winemaker, and he wasn't born in Pouilly-Fumé. However, his grandfather owned a few plots in the area, which he had bought as a rental investment. In 2007 Alexandre developed a curiosity for winemaking and persuaded his grandfather to let him work on the vines. Gradually, he started buying more and more parcels from growers who were scaling down, and today owns 9 ha.

Studied Econimics in Napoli in 2004, went home to his grandfather's vineyards who used to sell in bulk to négociants. Only Falanghina and Aglianico.

Domaine des Tres Cantou has been in business in Gaillac for 6 generations. In the 1970's Robert Plagéoles took the bold step of uprooting the bland international varieties and replanting with their long lost peers, such as variations of Mauzac amongst Muscadelle and Côt in their 28ha of vineyards in the foothills of the Massif Central Mountains. Soils here are limestone, clay, and marl. Wild yeasts are used to encourage fermentation and no corrective chemicals are being used in the winery, The couple are certified organic.

Catherine and Pierre Breton's reputation preceeds them wherever they go. They are true bonvivants, working with passion and integrity and inspiring those around them. Whilst Pierre and Catherine share the workload in the vineyard, in the winery Catherine makes her own cuvées under the label 'La Dilettante', or 'The Dabbler', which include the Chenin parcels and a little Cabernet Franc. Pierre vinifies the rest. They own 11 ha, spread across Bourgueil, Chinon and Vouvray which they converted to biodynamic relatively early on in 1994 (Demeter).