Last Chance

Au Bon Secours Rouge 2020,

Babass
Sébastien Dervieux, Babass to his friends, is a warm-hearted character who practices the art of additive-free winemaking in the sweetness of Anjou. His vineyard is in Rochefort-sur-Loire, his cellar in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, and his headquarters in Beaulieu-sur-Layon. Through him, the work of the Hacquet family, pioneers of natural wine after the Second World War, is perpetuated, some of whose plots he has taken over. This legacy is expressed, among other things, in the Joseph-Anne-Françoise cuvée, whose appellation brings together the siblings' first names. The terroir is located on the last foothills of the Armorican Massif before the Paris Basin. It is a region of small hillsides; The Loire, very close, exerts a strong influence, as does the ocean, which is about a hundred kilometers away. The vines are neither too hot nor too cold. The particularity of this region is the schist, either degraded (giving clay) or not degraded in places. This terroir produces mineral wines, the climate of the wines rather "on the fruit" and moderately full-bodied. The plots are in a single block, planted with traditional Angevin grape varieties: 1.4 ha of Grolleau, 0.9 ha of Cabernet Franc, 1.2 ha of Chenin and 0.7 ha of Gamay. All the vines are cultivated in certified organic. The harvest is manual. In the winery, fermentation is natural and the wines are without sulfur or other additives ("apart from sometimes a few drops of sweat"). The red wines, including some single-varietal vintages, are macerated in whole bunches. The whites are pressed slowly in a vertical press. All the wines are aged in fiber vats and are neither filtered nor fined, simply racked if necessary and without abuse.
"My wine is the wine of a little guy in his little corner with his little grape varieties," says Sébastien modestly, who also declares that he makes grape wines, forged by the climate of the vintage, the terroir, the grape variety and his decisions (good or bad). His approach is not to distort this balance with magic powders that lead to standardization. His Cabernet Franc reds are round, peppery and fleshy; his Grolleau reds, pure fruit, are fresh and easy to drink.
This recent cuvée from Babass, without additives or filtration, is based on Gamays planted on schist terroirs in 1959 and 1960. After manual harvesting, the grapes macerate in whole bunches for about ten to fifteen days depending on the vintage. The devatting is manual, followed by slow pressing in a vertical press. The free-run and pressed juices are blended immediately, after which the wine is aged for five to eight months on fine lees. The wine is wonderfully gurgling, fluid and drinkable, fruity and crisp, with fresh acidity and a lovely aromatic palette of red fruits, earth and spices. A very fine Gamay.

Groll N'Roll Rouge 2020,

Babass
"My wine is the wine of a little guy in his little corner with his little grape varieties." Behind this good-natured modesty hides Sébastien Dervieux, Babass to his friends, a warm-hearted character who practices the art of additive-free winemaking in the sweetness of Anjou. His vineyard is in Rochefort-sur-Loire, his cellar in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, and his headquarters in Beaulieu-sur-Layon. Through him, the work of the Hacquet family, pioneers of natural wine after the Second World War, is perpetuated, some of whose plots he has taken over. This memory is expressed, among other things, in the Joseph-Anne-Françoise cuvée, whose appellation brings together the first names of the siblings. The terroir is located on the last foothills of the Armorican Massif before the Paris Basin. It is a region of small hillsides; the Loire, very close, exerts a strong influence, as does the ocean, which is about a hundred kilometers away. The vines are neither too hot nor too cold. The particularity of this region is the schist, either degraded (giving clay) or not degraded in places. This terroir produces mineral wines, the climate of the wines rather "on the fruit" and moderately full-bodied. The plots are in a single block, planted with traditional Angevin grape varieties: 1.4 ha of Grolleau, 0.9 ha of Cabernet Franc, 1.2 ha of Chenin and 0.7 ha of Gamay. All the vines are cultivated in certified organic. The harvest is manual. In the winery, fermentation is natural and the wines are without sulfur or other additives ("apart from sometimes a few drops of sweat"). The red wines, including some single-varietal wines, are macerated in whole bunches. The whites are pressed slowly in a vertical press. All the wines are aged in fiber vats and are neither filtered nor fined, simply racked if necessary and without abuse.
Sébastien says he makes grape wines, forged by the climate of the vintage, the terroir, the grape variety and his decisions (good or bad). His approach is not to distort this balance with magic powders that lead to standardization. His Cabernet Franc reds are round, peppery and fleshy; his Grolleau reds, pure fruit, are fresh and easy to drink.
A 100% Grolleau single-varietal red, without additives or filtration, from vines planted towards the end of the 1950s on schist terroir and vinified in whole bunches for ten days to two weeks depending on the vintage. After manual racking, pressing is done slowly in a vertical press. The free-run and pressed juices are blended immediately, and aging is short: five or six months on fine lees. Ideally served at 15°C, this is a wine that is not cold to the eyes or elsewhere, with a light color and a great freshness on the palate that gives the sensation of biting into a juicy and slightly peppery grape. A big favorite.

Magnum Rosso Red 2011

Le Coste

This generous Italian red is made from a blend composed primarily of Grechetto (a local variety related to Sangiovese), with the secondary grape varieties being Cannaiolo, Colorino, Ciliegiolo, and Vaiano, indigenous varieties planted in the vineyards on the volcanic soils of the Le Coste estate. Fermentation lasts about a month in French oak and chestnut vats. Rosso is then aged in Slovenian oak barrels. At first glance, a beautiful ruby color, a crisp and juicy palate, with notes of red and black fruits.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Rosé Pinot 2017, Marie et Vincent Tricot
A cuvée of 60% direct-press Pinot and 40% carbonic maceration Pinot juice. A wine fermented and aged in 5-wine barrels for six months. Racking is carried out before bottling. A fresh and supple wine.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Maître Splinter Blanc 2019,

La Sorga
Anthony Tortul loves old vineyards: he devotes his life to finding and vinifying them. Just as there are landless shepherds, he can be defined as a landless winegrower, in other words, a wine merchant whose scope extends throughout Languedoc and, eastward, as far as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in search of the best terroirs. Born in Foix, with six years of experience as a viticultural technician and oenologist in various vineyards in the south of France, he founded La Sorga in 2008. His enthusiasm leads him on a path filled with love at first sight, and each of these loves is a vineyard. The result is a stunning mosaic of natural, lively and spirited wines, which reinvents itself each year with around thirty cuvées per vintage. Few winemakers can include such a variety of grape varieties on their menu: the whole of southern France is there with muscats, grenaches, picpoul, mauzac, carignan, cinsault, marsanne, alicante, braucol, duras, viognier, len-de-l’el, and tutti quanti.
It was in Marseillan (Hérault), on clay-limestone soils, not far from the Thau basin, that the grapes for this Maître Splinter were harvested: ninety percent picpoul (five-year-old vines), a typical grape variety of this coastal commune in Languedoc; ten percent grenache gris (twenty-year-old vines). The vinification is done using a "dip" method that Anthony Tortul likes for the whites: the Picpoul is processed by direct pressing and the whole-bunch Grenache macerates for fifteen days in vats in the Picpoul must. The nose is very marked by citrus, iodine and white fruits, a characteristic quite common in the wines of this sunny maritime terroir. The palate is long, lemony, saline, and straightforward. A superb wine to drink very chilled on any occasion.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

La Montagne Sacrée Blanc 2018,

La Sorga
Anthony Tortul loves old vineyards: he devotes his life to finding and vinifying them. Just as there are landless shepherds, he can be defined as a landless winegrower, in other words, a wine merchant whose scope extends throughout Languedoc and, eastward, as far as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in search of the best terroirs. Born in Foix, with six years of experience as a viticultural technician and oenologist in various vineyards in the south of France, he founded La Sorga in 2008. His enthusiasm leads him on a path filled with love at first sight, and each of these loves is a vineyard. The result is a stunning mosaic of natural, lively, and spirited wines, reinvented each year with around thirty cuvées per vintage. Few winemakers can include such a variety of grape varieties on their menu: the whole of southern France is included, with muscats, grenaches, picpoul, mauzac, carignan, cinsault, marsanne, alicante, braucol, duras, viognier, len-de-l’el, and all the rest.
La Montagne sacrée alludes, among other things, to the eponymous film with esoteric connotations directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1974. He was, of course, inspired by the dramatic and spiritual landscapes of the Cabrières mountains (Hérault), from which the grapes come. These basalt peaks and deep valleys express a very special magic. The wine is a white from schist terroir. The grape varieties are eighty percent Grenache Blanc (fifty-year-old vines) and twenty percent Muscat d'Alexandrie (twenty-year-old vines). Vinification is done by maceration ("dip") of whole bunches of Muscat in the Grenache must obtained by direct pressing. The wine is aged on lees in sandstone eggs for eleven months. The nose expresses bergamot, lemon preserved in brine, and candied melon. The complex mineral structure of Grenache appears on the palate, very marked by these exceptional terroirs of high-altitude schists. Very good air resistance.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Proud Heretic Rosé 2019, La Sorga
"Antony Tortul loves old vineyards: he devotes his life to finding them and vinifying them. Just as there are shepherds without land, he can be defined as a landless winegrower, in other words a wine merchant whose area of ​​operation extends throughout the Languedoc and, eastward, as far as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in search of the best terroirs. Born in Foix, with six years of experience as a viticultural technician and oenologist in various vineyards in the south of France, he created La Sorga in 2008. His enthusiasm leads him on a trajectory made up of favorites, and each of these favorites is a vineyard. The result is a dizzying mosaic of natural, lively and spirited wines, which reinvents itself each year with around thirty cuvées per vintage. Few winemakers can list such a variety of grape varieties on their menu: the whole of southern France is there with muscats, grenaches, picpoul, mauzac, carignan, cinsault, marsanne, alicante, braucol, duras, viognier, len-de-l’el, and all the rest.
A dense blend: nielluccio (sixty percent), listan (forty percent), muscat of Alexandria, muscat à petits grains, muscat of Hamburg, cardinal, chasselas. The nielluccio is directly pressed, the rest macerates, in whole bunches for some, in berries destemmed by hand for others, in the nielluccio must for forty-five days (the “dip” method). Aging is seven months, followed by eight months in bottles. The very fresh, very floral nose welcomes us: white-fleshed fruits, fresh almond. It announces a great complexity, confirmed by the straight mouth, long and fresh, mineral, and with this crazy finish on vine peach! White fruits, citrus fruits, hot stones: perfect for a barbecue where red meats, white meats, poultry and fish come together. Aging potential: ten years
Natural wine without added sulfites.

Goes with: Charcuterie, Grilled meats

Terre des Anonymes Blanc 2015, Domaine La Sorga
This 100% Colombard white wine comes from the basalt sandy soils of the Hérault Valley, in Adissan. The grapes are vinified in whole bunches for forty-five days, then macerated for eleven months in vats. Its mango notes give it a real affinity with Asian cuisine and seafood such as scallops, cuttlefish, or squid. Its aging potential is ten years.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

La Grande Journée Blanc 2021

Jean Yves Peron
La Grande Journée is an organic, biodynamic, and natural macerated (orange) white wine made in Savoie by Jean-Yves Péron. It is made from 100% Altesse grapes grown on terraces with mica-schist soils near Albertville.

Vinification
The grapes are harvested at the most ripeness possible. They then undergo two weeks of carbonic skin maceration and three months of punching down in vats. After racking, the wine is aged for at least one year in 300-liter barrels. Unfiltered, unfined, no added sulfites.

Tasting
La Grande Journée is a magnificent polyphonic maceration white, a distinguished orange structured in layers. It evokes white fruits, flowers, with a spicy and mineral dimension. Beautiful controlled oxidation that will highlight Alpine cheeses, or White meats or roasted poultry, stuffed or not.

Learn more about Jean-Yves Péron
Jean-Yves Péron is a talented embodiment of the organic, biodynamic and natural renaissance of the Savoyard vineyard, which is based on varied soils and numerous indigenous grape varieties (jacquère, altesse, mondeuse, etc.). At his Chevaline winery in the Bauges region, he vinifies grapes from his plots in Conflans, near Albertville, and Fréterive, in the Isère valley.

High-altitude biodynamics
Jean-Yves Péron's work follows the principles of minimal intervention. On narrow, steep slopes, his hand-worked mountain vines in micro-plots receive no synthetic products, Jean-Yves preferring horsetail and nettle manure. The grapes are vatted in whole bunches and undergo semi-carbonic maceration. Shortly before pressing, they are foot-trodden in the vat, then transferred to two- or three-wine barrels for twelve months of aging on lees, before blending and resting in the vat. No sulfites are added, or as little as possible, and the wines are not fined or filtered.

Italian-Savoyard trade
Since 2011, a trading activity has allowed Jean-Yves Péron to buy the harvest from neighboring organic winegrowers and to collaborate with winegrowers from Northern Italy: this is the I Vicini series, which allows him to diversify the terroirs and deepen his experiences in winemaking and aging.

i Vicini Barbera Reserve Rouge 2017,

Jean-Yves Peron
Jean-Yves Péron began his career studying biochemistry, but he quickly became drawn to the vine and trained as an oenologist in Bordeaux. Near Lake Annecy, Jean-Yves Péron skillfully combines committed viticulture and merchant winemaking, both with a focus on nature. His Mondeuse reds are magnificent, as are his whites made from ancient local grape varieties—Jacquère, Altesse, Bergeron, and Persan—no less so. He lives in Chevaline, but his current vineyard, three hectares of which have been biodynamic since the beginning, is divided between Conflans, near Albertville, and Fréterive, a little further downstream in the Isère valley.
Jean-Yves learned his trade as a winemaker with Thierry Allemand in Cornas, then with Bruno Schueller in Alsace, before spending some time in New Zealand and the United States. His trading business, which he began in 2011, allows him to buy the harvest from organic winemakers close to home, but also in Northern Italy: for him, it is a new dimension to his work as a winemaker, allowing him to multiply the terroirs and deepen his experiences in winemaking and aging.
Jean-Yves Péron's winemaking follows the principles of minimal intervention. On narrow and steep surfaces, his mountain vines receive no synthetic products, Jean-Yves preferring horsetail and nettle manure. The surrounding vegetation is very rich: it protects the vines and helps to strengthen them. The soils are grassed, mown and reworked with a pickaxe and winch. The harvest is entirely manual. Once vatted in whole bunches, the grapes, both red and white, undergo a semi-carbonic maceration which allows the extraction of fresh fruit aromas. This maceration time varies between five days and nine weeks depending on the vintage. The day before or two days before pressing, Jean-Yves performs foot-treading directly in the vat. After this fermentation, the musts are sent to barrels for aging on lees for twelve months in five hundred liter barrels of two or three wines (to limit the woody sensation), followed by blending and resting in vats. No sulfites are added, or as little as possible, and the wines are not fined or filtered. Savoyard wine has long suffered from a somewhat flimsy image, not taken seriously enough. Yet, what treasures its varied soils and numerous ancient grape varieties produce! Jean-Yves Péron embodies the rebirth of this beautiful vineyard. In 2017, Jean-Yves Péron decided to expand his range by harvesting organic grapes in the heart of the Italian Piedmont. This resulted in several vintages, including this 100% Barbera red. The second most widely used red grape variety in Italy after Sangiovese, Barbera produces full-bodied, colorful wines with notes of red fruits. The "reserve" qualification indicates that this Barbera has been macerated for longer than Jean-Yves' classic Barbera: fermentation with long and patient punching down is followed by three years of aging. It is therefore more structured, more powerful, deeper, offering evolving notes (chocolate, cocoa, etc.), more in the style of Pas de l'Ours. It therefore presents a fairly classic style for a Barbera. A wine that is both serious and joyful.

La Tour Sarazine Blanc 2019,

Jean-Yves Peron
Savoyard wine has long suffered from a somewhat flimsy image, not taken seriously enough. Yet, what treasures its varied soils and numerous ancient grape varieties produce! Jean-Yves Péron embodies the renaissance of this beautiful vineyard. In Chevaline, in Savoie, near Lake Annecy, he skillfully combines committed viticulture and merchant winemaking, both with a focus on nature. His Mondeuse reds are magnificent, as are his whites made from ancient local grape varieties—Jacquère, Altesse, Bergeron, and Persan—no less so.
Initially destined for a career in biochemistry, he quickly became drawn to the vine and trained as an oenologist in Bordeaux. His current vineyard, three hectares of which have been biodynamic since the beginning, is divided between Conflans, near Albertville, and Fréterive, a little further down in the Isère Valley. He learned his trade as a winemaker with Thierry Allemand in Cornas, then with Bruno Schueller in Alsace, before spending some time in New Zealand and the United States. His trading business, which he began in 2011, allows him to buy the harvest from organic winemakers near his home, but also in Northern Italy: for him, it is a new dimension to his work as a winemaker, allowing him to multiply the terroirs and deepen his experiences in winemaking and aging.
On narrow and steep surfaces, his mountain vines receive no synthetic products, Jean-Yves preferring horsetail and nettle manure. The surrounding vegetation is very rich: it protects the vines and helps to strengthen them. The soils are grassed, mown, and reworked with a pickaxe and winch. The harvest is entirely manual. Jean-Yves Péron's winemaking adheres to the principles of minimal intervention. On narrow, steep surfaces, his mountain vines are not treated with any synthetic products; Jean-Yves prefers horsetail and nettle manure. The surrounding vegetation is very rich: it protects the vines and helps strengthen them. The soils are grassed, mown, and reworked with a pickaxe and winch. The harvest is entirely manual. Once vatted in whole bunches, the grapes, both red and white, undergo a semi-carbonic maceration process that extracts fresh fruit aromas. This maceration time varies between five days and nine weeks, depending on the vintage. The day before or two days before pressing, Jean-Yves performs foot-treading directly in the vat. After this fermentation, the musts are transferred to barrels for aging on lees for twelve months in five hundred liter barrels of two or three wines (to limit the oaky sensation), followed by blending and resting in the vat. No sulfites are added, or as little as possible, and the wines are not fined or filtered.
This Tour Sarazine is a wine from a schistose micro-plot planted with Muscat à petits grains. Jean-Yves sometimes blends it with Jacquère when the vintage is low-yielding. In 2017, for example, the Muscat produced one bunch every three vines... Maceration varies depending on the vintage: between three weeks and two months. Aging is one year in barrels. The wine has an obviously very Muscat profile – musky, floral, aromatic, exotic – reinforced by the mineral clarity of the schist. For the pairings, it’s a call to the imagination, between cheeses and cuisines from elsewhere.

Cotillon des Dames Amphore Blanc 2018,

Jean-Yves Peron
Initially destined for a career in biochemistry, Jean-Yves Péron quickly fell in love with the vine and trained as an oenologist in Bordeaux. He lives in Chevaline, in Savoie, near Lake Annecy, skillfully combining committed viticulture and merchant winemaking, both with a focus on nature. His Mondeuse reds are magnificent, as are his whites made from ancient local grape varieties—Jacquère, Altesse, Bergeron, and Persan—no less so.
His current vineyard, three hectares biodynamic since its inception, is divided between Conflans, near Albertville, and Fréterive, a little further downstream in the Isère Valley. He learned his trade as a winemaker with Thierry Allemand in Cornas, then with Bruno Schueller in Alsace, before spending some time in New Zealand and the United States. His trading business, which he began in 2011, allows him to buy the harvest from organic winemakers close to home, but also in Northern Italy: for him, it is a new dimension given to his work as a winemaker, allowing him to multiply the terroirs and to deepen his experiences in winemaking and aging.
On narrow and steep surfaces, his mountain vines receive no synthetic products, Jean-Yves preferring horsetail and nettle manure. The surrounding vegetation is very rich: it protects the vines and helps to strengthen them. The soils are grassed, mown and reworked with a pickaxe and winch. The harvest is entirely manual. Jean-Yves Péron's winemaking adheres to the principles of minimal intervention. On narrow, steep slopes, his mountain vines are not treated with any synthetic products, Jean-Yves preferring horsetail and nettle manure. The surrounding vegetation is extremely rich: it protects the vines and helps strengthen them. The soils are grassed, mown, and reworked with a pickaxe and winch. The harvest is entirely manual. Once vatted in whole bunches, the grapes, both red and white, undergo a semi-carbonic maceration process that extracts fresh fruit aromas. This maceration time varies between five days and nine weeks depending on the vintage. The day before or two days before pressing, Jean-Yves performs foot-treading directly in the vat. After this fermentation, the musts are sent to barrels for aging on lees for twelve months in five hundred liter barrels of two or three wines (to limit the woody sensation), followed by blending and resting in vats. No sulfites are added, or as little as possible, and the wines are not fined or filtered. Savoyard wine has long suffered from a somewhat flimsy image, not taken seriously enough. Yet, what treasures its soils with varied pedology and its many ancient grape varieties produce! Jean-Yves Péron embodies the renaissance of this beautiful vineyard. This cuvée is built around Jacquère grown on limestone soils, with the addition of Altesse from schistose terrain. The winemaker sometimes adds Roussanne and Mondeuse through direct pressing. The idea is to be able to precisely control the evolution of the juice and balance the wine according to the behavior of each grape variety. The grapes are vinified separately and aged in terracotta before bottling. This is a complex, elegant, velvety, and fruity white wine—a terracotta-aged variation of one of the winemaker's flagship vintages.

Magnum Vamos Vamos Blanc 2011, Joan Ramon Escada and Laureano Serres
Natural wine without added sulphites.