Last Chance

Magnum VN Vinel.lo Ancestral Blanc 2016, Partida Creus
This lively and easy-drinking white sparkling wine (10% alcohol) is a blend of native Catalan grape varieties: Garnatxa Blanca, Macabeu, Moscatell, Vinyater, Xarel.lo, Parsé, and Parellada. The harvest is pressed directly, and the must ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats with indigenous yeasts. A second fermentation takes place in the bottle, where it ages for 10 months on its fine lees. Dry, light, and fruity, it will easily replace a champagne with a sunnier nuance. The nose offers aromas of ripe white fruits and yeasts reminiscent of pastries. On the palate, it is elegant, fresh and suitable for all occasions, but we recommend it as an aperitif or to accompany desserts (galette des Rois, pithiviers, millefeuille and all puff pastries).

Natural wine without added sulfites.

Pause Rouge 2020

Les Chais du Port de la Lune
Pause is an organic and natural red wine vinified in Bordeaux by the Chais du Port de la Lune, a merchant winery. Like all of this estate's vintages, it is a blend whose name refers to a musical theme. Pause is classified as a Vin de France. A relatively old vintage, this is a rare cuvée, as it comes from a small yield.

Vinification
Pause, from the Chais du Port de la Lune, is a blend of Carignan from Limoux, Gamay from Beaujolais (Côtes-de-Brouilly) and Syrah from the Hautes Corbières.

Tasting
Freshness and liveliness characterize this natural red wine. It is balanced, digestible, fruity, powerful and intense. Robust and concentrated, it will keep for several years. It will go well with red meats, charcuterie, cured meats, and will be admirable as an aperitif.

Learn more about the Chais du Port de la Lune
Under this poetic name hides a wine merchant house run by two oenologist partners, Laurent and Annica. The winemaking and aging cellars are located in the same place, in Bacalan, a northern district of Bordeaux that has undergone massive renovation in recent years, including the construction of the Cité internationale du Vin.

All the terroirs of France
Bordeaux, of course, but also Frontonnais, Anjou, Beaujolais… The grapes come from everywhere, harvested from partner winegrowers working organically. They are transported to Bordeaux to be vinified and aged. This gives rise to atypical blends and varied vintages, each of which is a discovery.

Organic, artisanal and urban wine
All the grapes are organic, the winemaking methods are gentle and natural (adding inputs in small quantities and as a last resort), often natural (no addition of sulfites). Crushing is done by foot and pressing in a vertical press. Fine craftsmanship for pure and honest wines, as representative of their winegrowers and their terroirs as of an innovative approach in the ancient city of wine.

Vervain by Stephane Spirits

Liqueurs Granier

After Vincent Granier created his vervain, his brother Stéphane wanted to make his own version: here it is. Entirely organic and artisanal, sourced locally, it's the big brother's vervain. Its production is different, as is its taste.

The Plant

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora) is a favorite in cottage gardens. A member of the Verbenaceae family, it is cultivated for its fragrant leaves, with a slight hint of lemon peel. It is tonic, calming, fever-reducing, antispasmodic, and digestive. The one infused for this liqueur was grown organically and harvested by hand in the Alps.

Production

Stéphane's initial recipe is identical to that of Vincent's Vervain (link), but it is aged for six months in vats to "settle," then it is passed through a barrel of arranged rum, which gives it a different, more sophisticated taste and olfactory envelope. Lemon zest from Menton, biodynamic Egyptian lemongrass, and organic coriander seeds are also present.

Tasting

The reddish-brown color is more intense and deeper, the nose more vanilla and caramelized due to the aging in wood. More powerful on the palate too: roasted aromas of old rum coat those of the plants. To be enjoyed as an aperitif over ice, as a digestif, as a long drink and to be paired with high-end hams: Ibérico de bellota from Don Bardem, the Gascon from Porc Noir de Bigorre, or the delicious beef hams from Maison Aitana. But if you want to pair it with chocolate, that works very well too!
To the vervain are added organic lemon zest (from Menton), organic coriander seeds and lemongrass grown biodynamically in Egypt (the closest and most eco-friendly place to find 100% natural lemongrass). The plants and spices are infused in natural water from the Boubioz spring, near Lake Annecy, and the alcohol is made from 100% organic wheat. Organic sugar is produced in the Palatine Forest.

Learn more about Granier liqueurs

The Granier liqueur factory—two brothers, Vincent and Stéphane Granier—makes artisanal liqueurs from the Haute-Savoie region. Flavor, sweetness, and balance are their great qualities, resulting from a meticulous and measured infusion technique to minimize extraction.

Wild or organically grown

Plants grown organically, or picked in the mountains surrounding Annecy, are obtained through short supply chains and, for this reason, reflect the flora of the steep meadows or gardens of Haute-Savoie. Everything is organic and additive-free, from the initial infusion to bottling.

Intact flavors

During the tasting, we were amazed by the Granier liqueurs, one after the other. Never before have such fresh plant flavors been conveyed to us by liqueurs. We have the sensation of tasting the plant itself, infused in all its singularity, supported by just the right amount of organic sugar (that is to say, little) produced in the Palatine Forest and just the right amount of alcohol. An organic beer alcohol that allows the plant to convey its message without interference. Not only is it delicious, but it's also an excellent digestif. Vervain, genepi, gentian, mint, or meadowsweet, we guarantee you: you'll have a good time.

Mint Spirits

Liqueurs Granier

This organic, artisanal mint liqueur is produced locally by the Granier liqueur factory, near Annecy, in Haute-Savoie. It is made from peppermint, faithfully reproducing its fresh flavor.

The Plant

Peppermint (Mentha piperita) is a member of the large mint family, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. A spontaneous hybrid between water mint and spearmint, it was first cultivated in England in the 17th century. Peppermint is present in many aromatic and medicinal products.

Production

The mint is grown organically by growers-gatherers in Auvergne, dried, and infused in 40% organic alcohol. It is blended by the Granier liquorist factory with an organic sugar syrup produced in the Vosges and the Palatine Forest.

Tasting

Refreshing and reassuring—it doesn't taste like toothpaste at all—this mint is also powerful and long-lasting. A slight hint of pepper on the finish. It has a 26% alcohol content with less than 5g of sugar per liter. Drink it neat with a few ice cubes; it will put your mind and stomach back in place. It will go very well with a square (or two) of chocolate or a stuffed lamb breast from the Ferme de Mayrinhac.

Learn more about Granier liqueurs

The Granier liqueur factory — two brothers, Vincent and Stéphane Granier — produces artisanal liqueurs from the Haute-Savoie region. Flavor, smoothness, and balance are their great qualities, resulting from a meticulous and measured infusion technique to minimize extraction.

Wild or organically grown

Plants grown organically, or picked in the mountains surrounding Annecy, are obtained through short supply chains and for this reason reflect the flora of the steep meadows or gardens of Haute-Savoie. Everything is organic and without additives, from the initial infusion to bottling.

Intact flavors

During the tasting, we were amazed by the Granier liqueurs, one after the other. Never have such fresh plant flavors been restored to us by liqueurs. We have the sensation of tasting the plant itself, infused in all its singularity, supported by just the right amount of organic sugar (that is to say, little) produced in the Palatine Forest and just the right amount of alcohol. An organic beer alcohol that allows the plant to convey its message without interference. Not only is it delicious, but it's also an excellent digestif. Verbena, genepi, gentian, mint, or meadowsweet—we guarantee you'll have a great time.

Bianco White 2012

Le Coste

A delicate amber color for a wine with an elegant and lively nose that lingers on the palate with notes of yellow fruits, enhanced here in the magnum format. This pleasant Italian macerated white, simply called "white" (bianco), is made from a blend of Procanico and Malvasia grapes grown on the volcanic soils of Lazio, on the borders of Tuscany and Umbria. After a late harvest, entirely by hand, the grapes are lightly crushed by foot and then macerated for two weeks in truncated French oak barrels. After pressing, the must is decanted for a few days before slowly completing its fermentation in tuns for about a year. The wine is then aged for seven months in barrels at the bottom of the cellar, in a natural cave, before being bottled. “This wine may not change the course of winemaking history,” writes one Italian commentator, “but it managed to give me a very good time, and that’s what matters. Believe me: we desperately need wines like this… In the glass, a beautiful yellow tending towards amber, opaque and rich. On the nose, a crackle of yellow fruits and volcanic sparks, and a beautiful acidity. After a few minutes, Bianco becomes sensorially capricious on the palate, like a chameleon, its beautiful acidity supporting the structure and highlighting its complexity. Almond, peach, hazelnut, yellow flowers, Annurca apple… Every moment in the glass reveals something new. »

Find out more
The Le Coste azienda is located in Italy, in Gradoli, in the province of Viterbo, in the northeast of Lazio. The estate was created in 2004 by Clémentine Bouveron and Gian Marco Antonuzzi. Clémentine is an oenologist and has already worked at Domaine Hauvette and Trévallon, in the Alpilles, as well as in Sauternes, at Château de Rayne-Vigneau. When Clémentine and Gian Marco took over the estate, it covered three hectares at an altitude of 450 meters and appeared as an abandoned garden of vines and olive trees. They recreated it in a traditional polycultural way with agroforestry, livestock farming, and viticulture to produce wines without additives and without deviation. The surface area has since grown to approximately fourteen hectares. The terroir overlooks Lake Bolsena. Its volcanic nature explains the lightness of its recently formed soils: lapilli tuffs, volcanic ash in varied layers, rich in minerals. This soil, very poor in organic matter, must be amended, and natural caves enlarged by older generations serve as cellars. Shared between vines, olive trees, elms, century-old oaks and wild chestnut trees, the site is a marvel of plant diversity. The biodynamic methods used at the estate include manure compost, horn silica and herbal teas that strengthen the defenses of the vines, which are trained in the traditional way, in low goblet training with a stake. The grape varieties are numerous, indigenous and ancient, reproduced by mass selection in the old vines still present on the estate. The wines express the local terroir and a strong Italian identity, with very varied profiles.

The Crystal Ship White 2018

Les Valseuses

A Doors song inspired the name of this wine, a Jura Savagnin macerated for two months in whole bunches. Guitars and organ, richness and structure: pure pleasure!
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Rosso 2012

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.

My Sweet Navine White 2015

Les Vignes de Babass Dervieux

A small bottle but a great wine! A sweet white made from 100% Chenin, My Sweet Navine is produced from late harvests on the schist plot where the estate's other Chenins are also grown. A delicate amber color, with notes of citrus and candied fruit on the nose. On the palate, there is a surprising freshness despite the residual sugar: this is explained by the lack of sorting, as the grapes are at varying stages of ripeness. We thus benefit from green berries, ripe berries, and varying degrees of noble rot. and a light sparkle which gives way to a beautiful length, always with notes of candied fruit.
Natural wine without added sulfites.

Foresta Blanc 2021

La Vinicola di Antonio Gismondi
From the outset, the palette is admired: a beautiful, intense amber color, and notes of bitter orange marmalade, spices, and fresh sage on both the nose and palate. Foresta is a powerful and robust wine, yet nuanced and sensitive. Marked by maceration, this orange wine offers a veritable explosion of tropical notes and warm spices on the nose, followed by a vibrant, mineral finish and a strong, dense body. Notes of orange peel, dried apricot, and ripeness are evident: this is more of an autumnal wine than a springtime one. Within the Azienda Gismondi repertoire, it represents the robust and structured side of the winery, while exhibiting the purity and freshness that characterize the estate. It comes from a site a little away from the azienda, at a lower altitude, where the Trebbiano Rosa grape variety grows on heavily clayey soils. This terroir, slightly heavier than that of the estate itself, gives the wine a denser, more intensely flavorful nuance that distinguishes it from wines produced at higher altitudes. Trebbiano Rosa makes up 50% of the blend, with Malvasia di Candia making up the remaining half. The manually harvested grapes macerate on the skins for two weeks in open-topped fiberglass vats, then, after pressing, the wine is transferred to stainless steel vats for aging for six to eight months. Bottled without filtration, sulfite, or additives.

Find out more

Antonio and Anabel Gismondi's azienda is located in Cerreto Sanita, in the Benevento region of Campania. A microclimate gives this area an almost continental feel: humid winds from the Tyrrhenian Sea collide with the first ramparts of the Apennine chain, causing condensation in the air and lowering temperatures, which are significantly cooler and more humid than on the coast. If we add a thermal inversion phenomenon between day and night, common in the Apennine climate, the freshness of the wines from the Antonio Gismondi estate is nothing mysterious in this southern Italy, which is nevertheless known for its very hot climate. The estate is family-run: for generations, the Gismondi family has cultivated vines and made wine using the most traditional and natural methods, to which are added biodynamic techniques. For a long time, of the fifteen tons of grapes produced each year, one ton was reserved for vinification on site for family consumption, the rest going to the local wine cooperative. It was the meeting with Massimo Marchiori and Antonella of Partida Creus [link] that led Antonio and his wife Anabel to decide to start producing their own natural wines from the entire harvest. The two-hectare vineyard is located between 350 and 380 meters above sea level, on clay, loam, and stony soils, with two-thirds facing south, planted with vines around six years old. The rest faces southwest and corresponds to the Pietre and Cerreto cuvées, with vines thirty years old. The grape varieties are Merlot, Freisa, and Sangiovese for the reds, and Falanghina and Malvasia di Candia for the whites.

Cerreto Blanc 2021

La Vinicola di Antonio Gismondi
The nose is marked by citrus (lemon zest), as is the palate: the citrus lingers, the minerality asserts itself. Cerreto, named in homage to the town where it was born, will be a good companion to seafood, shellfish, and raw fish. It is a lively and fresh white wine with a pale yellow color and an acidic, lemony nose with notes of white flowers: gardenia, jasmine, and orange blossom. Cerreto is made entirely from Malvasia di Candia vines, a grape variety also known as Uva di Cerreto. It is a very old local grape variety, even said to be indigenous, a clone of Malvasia di Candia. The vines grow on clay-limestone plots facing southwest. The harvest, carried out manually, undergoes a skin maceration of four or five days in stainless steel vats, followed by pressing and aging for six to ten months, also in stainless steel vats to preserve the purity of the fruit. No sulfites are added, no filtration.

Find out more

Antonio and Anabel Gismondi's azienda is located in Cerreto Sanita, in the Benevento region of Campania. A microclimate gives this area an almost continental feel: humid winds from the Tyrrhenian Sea collide with the first ramparts of the Apennine mountain range, causing condensation in the air and lowering temperatures, which are significantly cooler and more humid than on the coast. If we add a phenomenon of thermal inversion between day and night, common in the Apennine climate, the freshness of the wines from the Antonio Gismondi estate is nothing mysterious in this southern Italy, which is nevertheless known for its very hot climate. The estate is family-run: for generations, the Gismondi family has cultivated vines and made wine using the most traditional and natural methods, to which biodynamic techniques are added. For a long time, of the fifteen tons of grapes produced each year, one ton was reserved for on-site vinification for family consumption, the rest going to the local wine cooperative. It was the meeting with Massimo Marchiori and Antonella de Partida Creus [link] that decided Antonio and his wife Anabel to start producing natural wines at home from the entire harvest. The two-hectare vineyard is located between 350 and 380 meters above sea level, on clay, loam, and stony soils, with two-thirds facing south, planted with vines around six years old. The rest faces southwest and corresponds to the Pietre and Cerreto cuvées, with vines thirty years old. The grape varieties are Merlot, Freisa and Sangiovese for the reds, and Falanghina and Malvasia di Candia for the whites.

Eternel Retour Blanc 2019,

La Sorga
Antony 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 area of ​​activity 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 favorites, and each of these favorites 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.
Frédéric Nietzsche, on the label, savors a glass of wine, and we wish him all the best. Does this mean that we are tempted to keep returning to this macerated white? Only tasting will tell you... The grape variety is unique, a yellow mauzac harvested on pudding soil in Castelreng, in the upper Limoux valley. The harvest is done in two selections and the vinification is done in soaking (maceration of berries or whole bunches in must obtained by direct pressing) for forty-five days. The aging, on lees, continues for eight months in vats. This is a wine that will not leave you indifferent with its nose of baked apple confirmed by a sensation of tarte Tatin in the mouth! Also on the nose, sweet spices, saffron, roast juice, we already taste the complexity. On the palate too, complexity, florality, salted butter, and yet freshness. This wine will literally go with everything.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Sorga Blanc 2019,

La Sorga
Antony 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 area of ​​activity 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 dizzying 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: the entire south of France is included, with muscats, grenaches, picpoul, mauzac, carignan, cinsault, marsanne, alicante, braucol, duras, viognier, len-de-l'el, and all the rest.
Simply called "white," because it's white. Is that all? The reality is much more complex. This wine comes from a terroir of puddings located in Castelreng, in the Limoux valley. It is composed entirely of yellow mauzac (thirty-year-old vines). The harvest is carried out in two selections, then goes through direct pressing without settling. The aging, on lees, continues for eight months in vats. Pudding is agglomerated pebbles, a soil of fluvial origin: this pebbles is beautifully reflected in the nose of this wine, all white flowers, with notes of lemon and green apple. The palate is extremely refreshing and remarkably mineral (still the pebbles), with a complex and floral finish on white fruits. This white is wonderfully pure, it's rock water, it can accompany a declaration of love if you want to illustrate the purity of your feelings. In other circumstances, serve it with anything fish. It can be kept for about ten years.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Rancio - Deuxième Mise White 2009

La Sorga

Natural wine with no added sulfites.