Producers

Ton Rimbau Penedès, Spain

Joachim Roque Banyuls, Roussillon, France Winemaker Joachim Roque was raised in the hills surrounding Collioure in the Roussillon, in one of the last coastal villages of France before entering Spain. The landscape is desert-like, arid, steep and dusty with a view of the mediteranean in the distance. It is known as a place where vines are hardest to cultivate and yield only very few grapes. Roque has been a member of Les 9 Caves since 2014. Les 9 Caves is a cooperative of independent winemakers in Banyuls that exchange ideas and equipment. Together with three other winemakers from this cooperative he also makes wines under the name of Tutti Frutti Ananas, which we also import. It is possible to visit Les 9 Caves, that also has a beautiful restaurant, ran by people from Amsterdam, making it even more worth the trip. Roque works his 8,5 hectares of land organically and as much as possible by hand. He puts a lot of emphasis on respecting the existing vegetation and its ecosystem in the already difficult climate of this region. Considering the intense heatwaves and dry spells that regularly occur, Roque manages to create beautifully fresh and living wines. Their balance and character make his wines a thrilling expression of the Côtes Catalanes. Since last year Joachim has moved away from Les 9 caves and built his own domaine, in between his vineyards. Together with his wife they created some new cuvées, put new labels on the wines and started afresh. Some wines to look out for if you love Southern French heavier red, that are stable for by the glass, but our favorite is his rose, Esperanza, which is amazing for the summer now.

José Carvalho Moreiro Banyuls, France

Romain Chapuis Pommard, Burgundy, France In Côte de Beaune, the heart of Pommard, brothers Romain and Jean-Guillaume Chapuis started their winery in 2009. In the years prior, Romain has been following his passion for wine in Lebanon and Australia where he learned from multiple winemakers in different cellars. Following this he has spent 3 years working together with Philippe Pacalet, cousin of Marcel Lapierre. Romain and Jean-Guillaume combined their skills and passion for gastronomy, wine and terroir into making wine, something they had been dreaming of for years. Their method consists of buying grapes from various farmers in the area as well as tending to their own vineyards. However, they select the grapes meticulously: composition and condition of the soils, exposure, age of the vines and variety are all considered with the utmost care. The wines are made with minimal intervention, always fermenting with indigenous yeasts, never filtered en only adding sulphites in a couple of wines when absolutely necessary. They differentiate between their zero zero natural wines such as the Rosé, Pet Nat and the Haute Côtes de Beaune and wonderful, more classical wines such as the Chorey Les Beaune, Savigny and even a Corton Charlemagne (available on request). It is definitely worth trying these wines, especially for the non-funky natural wine enthusiast!

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!

Valentina Passalacqua Puglia, Italy Valentina Passalacqua owns a large biodynamic farm with agricultural land and vineyards and has been the largest biodynamic producer of Puglia since the year 2000. Although being large, the enterprise seeks to look after their terroir, products and labour with passion. Valentina produces wine under her own name and label as well as under the Progetto Calcarius label, a project she started together with Danilo Marcucci a few years ago. Passalacqua felt the need to isolate a few of her parcels that are characterised by soils of the Kimmeridgien type, rich in lime. Thus a new line was born. Wines, originating from mineral terroirs, without compromise and only made of the native varieties Nero di Troia, Bombino, Greco, Falanghina and Negroamaro. No intervention whatsoever occurs in the cellar. Many of her wines are delivered in very drinkable 1 liter bottles, perfect for summery weather and to be shared between friends. This is natural wine that drinks as “juice for adults”. The numbers 20 and 40.08 are placed on the label. This is a representation of the chemical element Calcium (Ca). 20 represents the atomic number of calcium while 40,08 represents its atomic weight. NEW in from the Calcarius line are the orange and white key kegs, they come in 20 liter and are a great way to pour stable, juicy wines by the glass!