Fred Cossard - recognised as one of the best natural winemakers in France, just try the Combe Bazin.

Fred Cossard, the winemaker at Domaine Chassorney has been making natural wines all his working life. Most of the wine he makes is exported to the Japanese market where natural wines are hugely popular. The yields for each wine he makes are very small and so the wines tend to sell even before they have been bottled. The vineyards are scattered around the very pretty village of Saint Romain, located just beyond Auxey-Duresses, where the terrain starts to get more rugged and hilly. Fred Cossard also owns a small parcel of land at Nuits-Saint-Georges from which he makes the Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru “Clos des Argillières”, a fantastic Pinot Noir.

The grass between the rows of vines shows a healthy vines managed without the use of chemical pesticides.

Fred has set up his new winery just outside Saint Romain, in a beautiful woodland setting. The way he makes his wines is a very natural process from the grapes he grows to the vinification, no added chemicals, apart from a small amount of sulphite to keep the wine stable but still enabling the wine to develop naturally.

Fred has always made wine this way and his experience and knowledge of natural wines is unique. Meeting Fred was a great experience, and taught me a lot about the techniques he uses in order to avoid using additives. I hope to introduce more of these wines in the future, once he has more to sell!