Producers

Manuel, Jose, Joachim and Kiko Banyuls, Roussillon, France Tutti Frutti Ananas is a collaboration between Manuel of Vinyer de la Ruca, Zé Tafé of La Cave des Nomades, Joachim of Domaine Carterole and ‘Chicco’ who assists them in the cave. Unfortunately Zé left now, but the wines we have are still made in collaboration with him. Having all worked together in the cooperative Les 9 Caves these winemakers set out on a mission to make wines they love to drink themselves. This collaboration takes place right on the shores of the Mediterranean in Banyuls-sur-mer. They farm their vineyards organically with soils consisting of sand, slate and quartz near the sea as well as in the mountains in the area. As mentioned above, they work with the cooperative cellar in the centre of town Les 9 Caves. The wines are fermented and ripened in big concrete vats. Bottled young, these wines remain full of energy and life. Very limited every year and almost nowhere to get. These are some must grabs!

Luc Devot Montner, Roussillon, France Luc Devot has had many lives before discovering winemaking. Having been a chef for 7 years as well as a fisherman, a musician, a teacher and working in animation. He participated in his first harvest with Jean-Louis Tribouley, the man who introduced him to natural wine, and discovered his passion for it there. Devot trained under Loïc Roure from Domaine du Possible and he became a volunteer at the La Remise wine fair. Having worked in different vineyards for a while, Devot spent 3 years working with Philippe Wies from Domaine de la Petite Baigneuse. It was here that Devot realised he was made to be a winemaker. He produced his first wines in 2017 and now works 4 hectares of vines in Montner. His vines are situated in the rolling hills by the Pyrenees, where the soils consist of clay and limestone. Unfortunately there is one big problem in this area, the drought. It is one of the areas in Southern France that almost never sees rain. As you can see in his soil, that consists mostly of rocks and dry land. Nevertheless, he makes crazy juicy wines! Helped by his carbonique maceration techniques and the use of old barrels. Devot primarily works with Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Lledoner Pelut and Grenache Gris. All his wines are unfiltered with as little additives as possible. The wines are light, easy to drink and full of flavour!

Jean-Louis Pinto Languedoc, France Jean-Louis Pinto started Es D’Aqui as a project in 2010. He worked as a micro-négoce, buying his grapes from other vignerons and vinifying them from the garage underneath his house. A real garage winery based in Moulin Neuf in the Languedoc region of France. Since a few years now, he has acquired his own vineyards, planted new plots on a hill that you can see from his house and continues to buy grapes as a négociant. His winemaking and grape selection was strongly influenced by his friends Anthony Tortul from La Sorga and Remi Poujol, leading Pinto to only work with fruits from organic or biodynamic vineyards and only select the best of the best. The grapes are vinified separately as to ensure the terroir is best represented in each cuvée, but he also loves to blend varieties, such as his amazing M&M, which is a blend of white Muscat and Mourvèdre, one of our favorites. Pinto intervenes as little as possible in this process and does not allow any additives into his wines. There are no set of rules that Jean-Louis follows yearly. Because of this the wines of Es D’Aqui vary and surprise each year. Everything is tied together by the refined palate of Jean-Louis and his preference for fresh and fruit focused wines.

NADA - O&R Raphaël Baissas de Chastenet and Oscar Mancillas Calce, Languedoc-Roussillon, France Raphaël, NADA, sees wine making as a form of art and that is definitely the right way to describe his wines. Some of the best wines from the region, the small village of Calce nearby Perpignan. His old vines are from his grandfather, plants of Grenache, Macabeu, Lledoner Pelut. Next to his own line NADA, O&R was born a few years ago. A collaboration between Raphaël and Oscar Mancillas, two friends who during their fitst meeting decided that they had something important to say about the grapes of Calce. They started out making about 1,000L of wine which has now grown to 10,000L. Their wines reflect the evolution of the friendship between Raphaël and Oscar, an unlikely bond between a Frenchman from Calce and a winemaker from Ensenada, Mexico. They use their own grapes: Grenache noir, Grenache blanc, Carignan noir, Macabeu and Syrah in the wines, but also those of their neighbors in the surrounding vineyards: Roussanne, Muscat d'Alexandrie and Mourvèdre. The area of Calce is located exactly at the intersection of two different terroirs: old limestone with clay and river stones from the Corbières and younger slate from the Pyrenees. All the wines are full of energy and surprising with every sip. The NADA line consisting of our favorite, the amazing CR or Cristal as we still call it, but that is currently prohibited by the Champagne producer.. Wines that are unknown, limited but super, super good. Really something to try!