Last Chance

Matens Red 2012

Jean-Louis Pinto

Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Riesling Blanc 2022

Domaine Einhart
Riesling from Domaine Einhart is, as its name suggests, a dry white wine made from 100% Riesling from the Alsace region, organic (Ecocert) and natural, classified as a Vin de France. Riesling, the lord of Eastern European grape varieties, finds here an expression worthy of its nobility.

Vinification
The twenty-five-year-old Riesling vines from Domaine Einhart grow on the muschelkalk (oolitic limestone) soils of the Kreutzweg area. The grapes are harvested by hand and then pressed directly. Fermentation is carried out using indigenous yeasts. Aging on fine lees is ten months in century-old beer barrels (an Alsatian specialty) and precedes bottling without filtration. From the vine to the cellar, Riesling was produced without any additives or sulfites.

Tasting
A beautiful orange-yellow color. The first nose is very delicate, slightly musky, with notes of grapefruit and dandelion flower. The second nose is fresher and mineral with aromas of thyme, aromatic herbs, and flint. The palate begins with vivacity and a beautiful verticality, a minerality typical of limestone. The finish is persistent and saline. Decanting is recommended so that Riesling can spread its wings and express its mineral notes. You can serve this gem from the Einhart estate with any kind of dish; it is easy-going, but it also pairs well with cheese, roast poultry, sauerkraut, or smoked fish.

Learn more about the Einhart estate
In the northern part of the Alsatian vineyard, the Einhart estate is a ten-hectare family estate whose vines grow in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. The soil is clay-limestone and rich in fossils (muschelkalk, or shell limestone and oolitic limestone, and lettenkohle or dolomitic limestone).

A family estate
Since 1990, Nicolas Einhart has been at the helm, now assisted by his son Théo. True to his commitments to the TIFLO association, of which he is co-founder, Nicolas devotes his winemaking work to protecting the land and biodiversity, making wine without inputs, refusing harmful phytosanitary products, and maintaining ecological refuge areas. His estate has been certified organic (Ecocert and AB) since 2011. The estate produces white wines from maceration or direct pressing and a Pinot Noir red.

The best of Alsatian terroirs
Entirely manual harvests, destemming of the bunches, light punching down, and delicate pressing are characteristic of the estate, as well as the separate vinification of each terroir, aging on lees, and the absence of filtration before bottling. The wines are pure grapes, lively, powerful, invigorating, and transcribe the minerality of these very beautiful terroirs in the Vosges foothills.

Gamay Rouge 2019,

Domaine de l'Octavin
Whichever way you look at it, Mayga Gamay is very Gamay: fruity, juicy, with pleasant notes of raspberry, blackberry, licorice, and cherry. Good acidity, lovely minerality, plenty of aroma, and a suppleness that asserts itself in the glass. Mayga Gamay also offers a slight sparkle that awakens the dead. The grapes come from Pierre Boyat's estate in Leynes, Beaujolais, and macerate for twenty days in whole bunches.

Find out more
"You don't need anything," says Alice Bouvot, winemaker at Domaine de l'Octavin, "just a grape that feels good in its skin." Everything is said in favor of natural wine; it's a perfect description. Established in 2005, Domaine d'Alice is located in Arbois, in the Jura wine region, often described as the most organic vineyard in France. The practice of producing – among other things – oxidative wines is a good preparation for nature, as this type of wine does not allow any chemical additives and especially no sulfites. It is a secret of this magnificent region. Originally spread over two hectares, the estate, managed entirely biodynamically (Demeter) since 2010, has expanded through the gradual acquisition of plots and now covers seven hectares. An accomplished musician and passionate music lover, Alice aims to apply her musical sensitivity to the wines she makes. She draws a parallel between the technical perfection of conventional wines, which risks excluding feeling, while "a musician who does not know music theory and plays with his guts creates emotion." For her, living wine is like this: instinctive, improvised, emotional. Introduced to natural wine by Stéphane Planche, sommelier at chef Jean-Paul Jeunet in Arbois, she faithfully followed this path. The sometimes whimsical names of her vintages are inspired sometimes by musical art (Dorabella, Zerline), sometimes by the numerous plots of land that make up her vineyard (En Curon, Les Corvées, En Poussot, etc.), and do not disdain a pun from time to time. Likewise, the labels adorned with happy and salacious little gnomes are a signature of the estate. As for the grape varieties, they are the classics of the Jura: Poulsard, Trousseau, Pinot Noir for the reds, and Chardonnay, Savagnin for the whites. Alongside her Arbois wines, Alice has created a business selling "on the vine" grapes (Ecocert certified) with her winegrower friends in the region. Natural, committed, joyful and highly drinkable, Alice Bouvot's wines are all the more sought-after as the vintages, produced in plot-by-plot mode, appear, disappear and reappear depending on the vintage and inspiration.

La vi y sone White 2012

Bodega Barranco Oscuro

This Viognier comes from a plot planted at an altitude of 1,300 meters on schist and clay soils. The harvest ferments in stainless steel vats and is aged in old barrels.
A natural wine with no added sulfites.

Une Autre Histoire Du Vin - Book

Tout Le Monde Sait Déguster - Book

Le Vin Nature Au-Delà Des Modes - Book

Jacques Perritaz - Thirst-Flavouring Cidre - 2016

Cave Culinaries
This ultra-refreshing cider truly deserves its name, thanks to its wonderful balance of sugar and acidity. A true pleasure.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Special Gentian Beer 2017, Brasserie des Voirons

Cave Culinaries
Flavored with natural gentian, this extraordinarily fresh beer is aged for six months to a year in barrels. It is produced in limited quantities.

Bière Rousse 2017, Brasserie des Voirons

Cave Culinaries
Fiery in color, this beer is delicate on the palate and not very bitter. Elegant, distinguished, and aromatic, it will be a wonderful aperitif paired with charcuterie, such as terrines and smoked hams.

The Blanc Blanc 2021,

Patrick Bouju
Auvergne Chardonnay clearly has no fewer stories to tell than that of the terroirs where it is better known: this is a magnificent white wine obtained through skin maceration, aged for eighteen months in barrels. It's a superb wine to drink without hesitation. Boasting a magnificent structure and beautiful complexity, with notes of white fruits (pear, apple), it's particularly suited to food. It will pair well with roasted and grilled dishes: fries, Darphin potatoes, roast chicken, or roasted rack of black pork. Aging potential: ten years. Open twenty minutes before tasting, decant if possible.

To find out more
Near Billom, the Limagne clermontoise rises towards the east to form a hilly area with a mild climate, dominated by volcanic hills. This is the Auvergne Tuscany, so named because of its resemblance to the Italian province. This land of mixed subsistence farming was once covered with vines and was the preferred domain of Gamay d'Auvergne, a robust ancient strain, the origin of dense, deep and fruity wines. This is where Patrick Bouju cultivates and vinifies, on these high-quality volcanic soils and mainly on old vines. The soils vary between basalt, limestone, clay-limestone and pozzolan. Patrick collects and cares for the best terroirs of Puy-de-Dôme, often abandoned, and gives them new life. He also preserves native grape varieties, of which he cultivates a good fifty, and also works as a wine merchant using purchased organic grapes. The current renaissance of the Auvergne vineyard (which was once the third largest in France) owes a lot to Patrick. The fact that he likes to lend a hand to his winegrower friends in France and elsewhere only confirms his image as a model, a leader. His partnerships are famous: with Action Bronson for the A la Natural series, with Jason Ligas in Greece for Sous le Végétal… Patrick practices long macerations, and the wines rest for up to six months after bottling. Very sensitive to sulfites in wines, Patrick has found that his own wines do very well without them. He has also observed that if the grapes are healthy and concentrated, the balance is achieved on its own, regardless of the successive phases a vintage goes through. His noble, chiseled, distinguished, never bland wines are immediately recognizable in the glass. They are straight, clean, precise, often marked by floral notes and a spicy minerality. They also constitute a formidable anthology of the terroirs and ancient vines of Basse-Auvergne and its volcanic soils.