Domaine La Roche Buissiere has been working in organic viticulture for 25 years. Pierre Joly started to work this way at the end of the seventies, mainly selling the grapes to the local cooperative in the village of Puymeras. It wasn’t until Pierre’s son, Antoine, returned from studying at Beaune that the Domaine started to produce it’s own label wine, the first vinification was in 2000. This could be the reason the modern looking labels! Pierre is now working with Antoine to bring all this experience together with Antoine’s knowledge to produce extremely natural wines that are such a joy to drink.

The vineyard is located in the area of Vaison-the-Roman, between Provence and the foot of the Alps. The soil benefits from where the argilo-limestones combine harmoniously with the freshness of the south facing slopes. The vineyard of 20 ha is planted with grenache, syrah, mourvedre, cinsault.

The natural fertility of the soil is supported by an organic contribution of humus and compost to preserve the potential of the grapes. The winemaking follows a natural process of using only naturally occurring yeasts, the temperature of the fermenting wine is controlled very carefully to maintain maximum extraction and concentration of flavours.

The wines are then bottled with very low levels of sulphites, but without the use of filtering or fining either by machine or animal product.

When I meet other natural winemakers and they ask who else I work with when I tell them they all know Pierre and Antoine and all give very high praise to their wines and the way that they make the wines.

Chateau Le Puy lies on the same rock plateau as St Emillion and Pomerol, overlooking the Dordogne Valley. Known in ancient times as the Plateau of Wonders because of the excellence of the wines. The Amoreau family have been making wine here since 1610 and using the same wine making techniques that are such a massive part of the tradition of this Chateau.

Winter scene at Chateau Le Puy

Chateau Le Puy is one of the most respected and admired names in natural wine. I visited Francoise and Jean Pierre in September 2006 and was lucky enough to spend all afternoon walking around the vineyard and winery and sampling the wines dating back to the 70’s. The wines of Chateau Le Puy are so great because of the expertise and tradition applied in all stages of the process.

Grape Burst

From the long standing organic and bio-dynamic vineyards that produce the most natural grapes that are then passed into the hands of the oenological expertise of the Amoreau family, that has such a long history of making fine wines, the results are very special wines to be savored. When we talk about respecting the tradition of winemaking and the history and expertise handed down through the generations these are terms that belong to Chateau Le Puy.

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!

Catheriene & Dominique outside the old Presbytery in St Aubin

Catherine & Dominique Derain are the epitome of what natural wine making is all about. From the first year of production back in 1998 they have set out their beliefs in organic and biodynamic viticulture and the natural winemaking practice.

As you can imagine at this time these beliefs went against the norm for winemakers but they stuck to their beliefs and it looks like now their hardwork and efforts are being recognized at the highest levels. I met Catherine & Dominique in September 2006, it was a very clear autumn morning and all the vineyards around Saint Aubin had turned into a spectrum of colour from yellow through to pink and dark reds. The small parcels of land are managed with the long term health of the soils and vines in mind.

Great colours in the vineyard - a beautiful place to spend some time.

The winery is located in a very old Presbytery and has perfect cellar conditions. Dominique explained how he used to work as a cooper (barrel maker) but always wanted to make his own wine in a natural way. After studying viticulture at Beaune, where he met Catherine, they both decided to buy some vineyards and realise their dreams.

The cellars were very impresive, well managed and with a sense of calmness and tranquility.

The thing that really impressed me about Dominique and Catherine is that they are not scared to take risks, and experiment with wine. Even if it means they don’t always maximise the production each year, what’s more important is that they are always looking for perfection with the land that they have the with the wines that they make. A successful vintage is about all the elements of their work coming together such a harmonised way that is expressed in the taste. This is what makes all the effort worth it.

Each small parcel of land is treated with great care, no chemicals here.

Meeting Emmanuel Lassaigne at the vineyard in Montgueux was one the highlights of my trips to France in 2006. I was really impressed by the vineyards and winery, it really is a special place. On a hill overlooking the City of Troyes, Montgueux is a small village completely different to villages around the Cote de Blanc to the north. You get the feeling that you have reached a place untouched by the commercial and extravagant set ups that you see around Epernay. You can’t help but feel highly impressed when you find a winemaking family like this. The respect to the vineyard and the traditional way of making the Champagnes show in the results.

Vines facing the ancient city of Troyes - the former capitol of the Champagne region

Emmanuel is so passionate about the Champagne he makes, you can’t fail to be impressed by the amount of time and the attention to detail that go into the process. The prise de mousse phase, this adds the fine bubbles to the still wine, can take anywhere between 1 - 3 months, some producers will reduce this time to 1 month, the result being a more gassy wine with less concentrated bubbles. Emmanuel takes more than 3 months to ensure a much smoother and concentrated mousse. On top of this he also uses a two phase process for producing the mousse, in between phases the wine is returned to the barrel. This adds time and cost to the process but makes for a much higher quality product. Emmanuel also uses very low doses of sulphites in the Champagnes, 20 mg/l in the final bottling is very low when you consider that the limit for white wines is 210mg/l, as per EU law.

No modern factory equipment here, just the original press