Producers

Thomas Junique & Cyprien De Lageneste Rhône, France Vindiou is a négoce project of the two friends Thomas Junique and Cyprian De Lageneste. They met in Saint-Émilion during what was for both their first harvest. Both continued their education and development in the vineyards and cellars of Bordeaux. After finishing their degrees in viticulture and oenology both decided to take a walk, as they would call it. This walk led them through three continents, crossing two oceans and vinifying in eight different countries. What stuck with them the most were the specificieties of the various terroirs as well as the different methods used in these countries. Finally, the two friends decided, while vinifying in Switzerland, to start their own project. It was in the old barn of Thomas’ grandparents, overlooking the northern Rhône valley, that they were allowed to set up. Thomas and Cyprien source their grapes in the vicinity, from growers that tend to small parcels with care and without chemicals. The grapes are then harvested manually and selected in the vineyards. Thomas and Cyprien distinguish between wines from grapes issued from the northern Rhône and the Ardèche, which have an orange label and are classified vin de France, and wines from specific plots in the Rhône. They have a red label and fall under specific appellations such as Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. In the cellar, the two friends work with the utmost precision without, however, intervening in the vinification process unless necessary. The grapes are lightly trampled before the fermentation and maceration. The fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts only. The length of the maceration is dictated by the fermentation, vintage and taste of Thomas and Cyprien. Next they gently and slowly press the grapes, during up to 20 hours. This lets the wines keep their freshness and aromatics. Then the wines are aged in old Burgundy vats or stainless steel tanks. Bottling is done manually and only small doses of sulphites are added, if the vintage requires it. The wines of Vindiou are approachable, utterly drinkable and aromatic all the while retaining the characteristics of some of the Rhône valley’s famous appellations.

Valentin Letoquart Lubéron, Rhône, France Valentin Letoquart is a passionated young winemaker. Established in Oppède in Lubéron, southeastern Rhône. In 2013, after having worked in multiple organic vineyards, he decided to make his own wines and created Val de Combrès. The wines deviate from the typical wines of the region, especially due to Valentin’s atypical work in the vines. He tends to nearly eight hectares of vines, situated in remote and secluded, hard to work plots in the rising hills that form the border with the Provence. Surrounded by forests and far from the flats, these are the perfect places for Valentin to carry out his meticulous biodynamic work. Ploughing with a horse, he prefers plant-based infusions to chemical treatments and sulphites. Come winter, a flock of animals even descends from the Alps to graze in his vineyards, mowing them and providing him with high-quality compost. In the cellar, Valentin lets nature do it’s work. Indigenous yeasts are used for the fermentation, whole bunches are used for carbonic maceration or the grapes are de-stemmed and macerated gently. All in order to achieve gentle extraction. No sulphites are added and Valentin often bottles in the spring following the harvest. The wines are light, lively, exuberant and fruit-forward. Valentin really transmits a sense of fun with his wines, especially through his juicy reds. Val de Combrès are definitely wines for a good time!

Pauline Lair Angers, Loire, France The Loire is France’s longest river, flowing for 1006 kilometers from its source in the Ardèche, to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. Along its way, the Loire flows through different terroirs and regions with diverse wine traditions. The soils differ greatly along the way, from volcanic soils through argilo-calcareous, clayey, chalky and flint types to the metamorphic and volcanic soils of the Black Anjou and Pays Nantais. It is exactly this complexity and diversity that inspires Pauline Lair in winemaking. Her project, 1006 vins, clearly references the entire Loire. This project consists of an urban winery in Angers. Lair does not have her own vineyards. Instead, she cooperates with friendly winemakers from all along the Loire who supply her with grapes. These cooperations and friendships are based on a shared respect of the earth, expressed in the durable and organic farming of the grapes. Pauline even travels up and down the Loire herself in order to track the health and development of the vines she selected for 1006 vins. In order to uphold the careful work of her vignerons and to respect their terroirs, Lair ferments her wines spontaneously and ripens them in fiberglass barrels. Although the wines are labeled on grape variety instead of appellation, their relation to their original terroir is far from lost. In the words of Pauline Lair: “I am in love with the Loire and this drives me to make honest wines that reflect their terroirs. I vinify the grapes of my partners naturally. That is, using indigenous yeasts, with minimal or no interventions, without dogma, in order to make good wines that are alive!” Next to 1006 vins, Pauline Lair started a new project: À Quatre Mains. For this project she makes wines together with her partnering vignerons, in their cellars but following her vision. The project is centered around experimenting with blends and new grape varieties. The wines are only contrived at the last moment of the harvest. Thus, each blend is adapted to that year’s harvest. All her wines are super straight forward, clean and very easy to pour by the glass. Definitely worth discovering!

Patrice Béguet Mesnay, Jura, France Patrice is originally from Jura and after living in Paris, he returned to Arbois and acquired 4 hectares of vineyards, planted with the local Jura varieties varieties Savagnin, Chardonnay, Ploussard and Trousseau, to chase his dream of making natural wine. Patrice lets his love for Jazz music and the scenic landscap of the Jura inspire him in his winemaking. On top of that he strongly believes in minimal intervention. Hence, his vineyards are certifiec organic (AB) and biodynamic (Demeter). Patrice is convinced that great wines come from healthy vines. According to him, healthy vines yield grapes that are more resistant, give more complex flavours and ferment better. In order to keep his vineyard healthy he follows organic and biodynamic practices and encourages biodiversity. Flowers, plants and all kinds of cereal are sown between the rows of vines. Absolutely no pesticides or chemicals enter the vineyards and all the grapes are harvested manually. Next to his own domaine, Patrice also runs a négoce, for which he only selects grapes from organic farmers from inside as well as outside the Jura. Patrice’s believes give him direction in his cellar too. He does not use any chemicals whatsoever and most of his wines do not contain any added sulphites, only adding minimal amounts when absolutely necessary. He is known as an experimental winemaker due to his custom blends and long fermentations. This results in expressive, electric, fruity and complex wines. Very much worth a try!

Vanessa Letort Alsace & Loire, France Vanessa Letort dived into the world of wine in 2014. Since then, a series of remarkable encounters have led her to eventually create Du Vin aux Liens. One of them was starting up Les vins Pirouettes together with Christian binner and his partners, which she was a part of until the end of 2019. Du Vin aux Liens is a négoce, focused on the Alsace and the Loire. Vanessa works with passionate and engaged farmers from those regions who all farm organically or following biodynamic principles, allowing no chemicals in the vineyards. She participates in the process of vinification, where she has her say. She really sees the vignerons as her partners: “I am very aware of the work it takes to care for a vine, the daily commitment of each one of these vignerons, the risks that are taken by making wine without a filter. Through Du Vin aux Liens I can value their work, make people familiar with their wines, make conversations about them and shine a light on them, which is something I care deeply about.” Through Du Vin aux Liens Vanessa can also release cuvées of her own. She used to operate from the cellar of Claude Straub, in his Domaine in Bleinschwiller, Alsace. Now she works from the cellar of Farid Yahimi of Sons of Wine in Beblenheim, also in the Alsace. Together with Farid, Vanessa makes cidres from the apples from the orchards of her family in Brittany and they started their new project: Domaine de la Légèreté in Lorraine. All the wines from Du Vin aux Liens are fermented spontaneously, using only indigenouw yeasts. No, or as little additives as possible are used in the proces of making the wine. The wines are some of the best price quality that we’ve ever found, being super natural, stable and aged before released and always so full of energy and fruit. We love them. This is also why we’ve helped her and Farid with the harvest a couple of times. Not to forget we also made our wine together, Acapulco which is now back in stock!

Maxime Lanny & Isabelle Delahaye Arbois, Jura, France Maxime Lannay began in the world of wine at Domaine Villet, where he learned a lot about biodynamic agriculture. Subsequently, he spent two years working in the cellar of Alice Bouvot, from Domaine de l’Octavin. There he was able to refine his knowledge on viticulture. Isabelle Delahaye, Maxime’s wife, joined in 2019. They had met through Alice Bouvot. Isabelle used to be a sommelier and worked in some of France’s finest establishments before she decided to move to Arbois. Together they created Domaine des Barbatruks. Maxime and Isabelle aim to make authentic and natural wines, with respect for the natural environment, that honestly represent the terroir and the surroundings. The Domaine is rather small, only consisting of about 0.7 hectares of vines, spread out over Arbois, Montigny-les-Arsures, Pupillin and Montmarin. The vines are planted in soils of interspersed blue and chalky marl, typical for the Jura. This gives the Jura wines a typical and incomparable acidity and tension. In the vineyards they grow Savagnin, Ploussard, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Seibel, a hybrid also known as Rosette. Viticulture in the Jura is far from easy as challenging climate conditions and small land surfaces make it uncertain. Therefore, Isabelle and Maxime started a négoce range, purchasing grapes from befriended vignerons of the Rhône Valley, the Languedoc and Alsace. All the purchased fruit is farmed following biodynamic principles, respecting natural cycles and preserving biodiversity. This is also the case for the viticulture of the Domaine itself, where the grapes are then harvested by hand and sorted in the vineyards. In the cellar Maxime and Isabelle made a conscious decision to only work by hand. They own a traditional vertical press with which they gently press the grapes for lightly extracted juice. Fermentation is spontaneous and with indigenous yeasts and the bottling is done with the help of gravity without fining, filtering or adding sulphites. Isabelle and Maxime produce expressive and energetic wines that are easy to drink. The wines have character, wildness, passion and go off the beaten track. No Burgundy Jura but a unique expression of Jura.

Vanessa Letort, Farid Yahimi & Naoufel Zaïm Lorraine, France Domaine de la Légèreté is the recent project of Vanessa Letort, known from Du Vin aux Liens, Farid Yahimi, from Sons of Wine, and Naoufel Zaïm. Since 2022 they own and farm 6 hectare of vineyards in Lucey and Bulligny, in the Lorraine. The soil composition here, in the Côtes de Toul, is clay and limestone in which the three planted Gamay, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois and Chardonnay. At this moment, the Domaine does not have its own cellar, but it’s currently being built. All the vinification takes place in the Sons of Wine cellar in the Alsace, so they have to plan and manage the travelling during harvest very well. The farming and wine making is based on ethics. They say what they do and do what they say. All their wines express a true Légèreté, a freshness that makes your mouth water. They are only released when ready, so that means ready for you to pour by the glass!

Chris Santini Auxey-Duresses, Burgundy, France Chris Santini is of French and American descent. Since he was a kid he spent most of the summers in France and when he was 20 years old he worked on his first harvest. This inspired him to study Oenology at the University of Beaune. Next to his studies he worked on big and small domaines all over Burgundy untill he found a job at the Beaune office of Kermit Lynch, a famous American importer. For who he still runs the office in France next to his personal project, the cuverie in Auxey-Duresses. Chris launched his first cuvée from the cellar of his friend Christophe Pacalet in 2013. After years of working for Lynch he had formed the desire to make his own wines. He owns a hundred year old winery for which he bought all the equipment on le bon coin, the French online second hand marketplace. Chris focusses on producing “vins de soif”, thirst-quenching wines like the ones his ancestors made in Corsica. He selects organic grapes from lesser known, yet unique terroirs among regions from Burgundy and the Beaujolais. All from honest vignerons working with respect for nature and the environment. The vinification is done naturally, with local yeasts. The wines are bottled without being fined and filtered and without any additives, except for small amounts of sulfites at the very end. Chris chooses to use whole cluster fermentation, in order to keep the wines light, aromatic and fruit-forward. He also prefers to use infusion techniques instead of extraction techniques that require pumping the wine. Afterwards, he ages the wine in fiberglass tanks. In 2016, Chris openend up his cellar to a couple of young winemakers, for them to make their own wines. All had to source their own grapes while equipment and ideas were shared among the group. This initiative became known as” The Auxey Collective”. Among this collective was the now well known Jonathan Purcell, making his first cuvées under the name Vin Noé there.

Caroline Gimenez Anjou, Loire, France Caroline Gimenez is Jérôme Saurigny’s partner. They met in Paris, where Caroline worked as a filmmaker and an artist. It was there that Jérôme introduced her to his wines and to his winemaking philosophy. They got close during protests they both attended, such as the Gilets Jaune and an occupation against the deforestation of a piece of land in the Western Anjou. Eventually, Caroline moved to the Anjou. Caroline Gimenez’ wine adventure began by helping Jérôme. Later, in 2020, she decided to go her own, remarkable way. Making use of the French right to glannage, meaning that citizens can claim unharvested or abandoned fruits from otherwise private land, Caroline was able to acquire grapes from various highly praised local parcels, gradually befriending their owners to continue this practice. Together with her own 0.3 hectares of Cabernet Franc and Chenin blanc, wild and hybrid grapes and occasionally some négoce she has been making her own cuvées since 2020. One is quick to expect great similarity between the wines of Caroline and Jérôme. They share cellar, equipment and philosophy and Caroline designs both her own and Saurigny’s labels. Furthermore, they have a common intuitive approach to winemaking, as well as an undiminished curiousness, open-mindedness and a desire to experiment. We believe this allows for the wines of both winemakers to have a real, separate identity. The wines of Gimenez being a true representation of her warm and positive personality. Marked by a gentle extraction, radiant colours and captivating aromatics, these wines are seriously worth trying!