Muscat grape variety

Sémélé Rosé 2022

Sous le Végétal

Sémélé, exclusively from Culinaries, is an organic and natural rosé wine from the island of Samos (Greece) that is part of Patrick Bouju's Sous le Végétal project in partnership with Culinaries. Its name alludes to the myth of Semele, mistress of Zeus and mother of Dionysus, god of Wine and Intoxication.

In the Vineyard

Sous le Végétal vintages are primarily based on Samos Muscat à petits grains and, more rarely, on other local grape varieties. Here, the red Avgoustiatis grape variety is blended in equal parts with Muscat. The vines are managed biodynamically and in permaculture.

In the cellar

A blend of avgoustiatis (a very common red grape variety in Greece) macerated for a week and directly pressed muscat, all organic, Sémélé is neither filtered nor fined.

Tasting

With its deep, lively and seductive color, its fruitiness of strawberry and raspberry and its lovely tannins, Sémélé is a natural rosé that leans towards a light red. It will go well with tapas, mezes, starters and Mediterranean dishes: we recommend pairing it with taramas by Lionel Durot, with smoked fish or seafood hors d'oeuvres by Saumon de France, or with the delicious poutargue de Martigues by Frédéric Paez.

Learn more about Sous le Végétal

Under the plant lies the mineral: this is the meaning of this concept of natural and additive-free vintages exclusively for Culinaries, produced in Greece, on the island of Samos, by a team gathered around Patrick Bouju. Sous le Végétal also takes under its wing the vintages A la Natural signed by Patrick Bouju.

History (and geography)
Sous le Végétal marks the rebirth of the thousand-year-old vineyard of this island in the eastern Aegean Sea with its dense, wooded vegetation. This rich plant life covers a unique and varied subsoil: volcanic rocks (basalts), limestone, quartz, pink granites, schists, iron cast iron... In Sous le Végétal, the winemakers of Samos rediscover the wine they made in their childhood, proving once again that natural wine allows, through innovative projects, to reconnect with forgotten traditions.

Grape varieties and vinification
Four of the seven vintages of Sous le Végétal — Livia, Hüpnos, Octave, Palli & Genesia and Auguste — are produced on around sixty plots of Samos muscat à petits grains between 400 and 910 meters above sea level. The other vintages, Auguste, Alexandre and Sémélé, are respectively based on avgoustiatis or asyrtiko, blended or not with Samos muscat. Each plot is vinified separately. Four types of winemaking containers are used: amphorae, concrete eggs, stainless steel vats, and 500-liter barrels. Each lieu-dit is vinified in at least two of the four containers, and the wine is aged in black, wax-sealed bottles. No sulfites are added or filtration is performed.

Es d’aqui Danslezetoiles Rouge 2015

Jean-Louis Pinto
This blend of Braucol, Carignan, and Muscat grown on clay-limestone soils was vinified in amphorae. Notes of candied black fruit and leather are added to the fruity and herbaceous notes, to the delight of natural wine adventurers. Plenty of aromatic presence, character, and originality.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.
Serves with: Organic Cul Noir pork sausage

I Vicini Moscato Blanc 2020

Jean-Yves Péron


I Vicini Moscato is a Muscat d'Asti vinified dry; it therefore offers the aromatic and musky nose specific to the grape variety, but without the syrupy side that is sometimes associated with it, as a very present tannic structure balances the whole. On the palate, it is rich and powerful; we find the charming aroma of Muscat in the retro-olfaction, but with the tension and freshness that the winemaker favors for his dry whites. It is a table wine, with power and presence: not really for an aperitif, but for gastronomy, no limits.
Jean-Yves Péron's "I Vicini" series is made from grapes harvested in Piedmont; for I Vicini Moscato, we are dealing with the famous muscats of the terroirs of Asti. They grow on very fine limestone soils, calcareous-magnesian, and the Asti site benefits from a cold air current that brings increased freshness compared to the rest of the region. The harvest, manual, is carried out on grapes at a fairly advanced phenolic maturity. Maceration is long, with three months of punching down, after which everything is racked in January, pressed and sent directly into 300-liter barrels (new barrels, one-wine barrels and two-wine barrels) for a year of aging. No filtration, no addition of sulfites. Straightness, tension, and freshness: a very fine mountain Muscat.

To find out more
Jean-Yves Péron embodies the natural renaissance of the beautiful Savoyard vineyard, which has long suffered from a somewhat flimsy image, not taken seriously enough. Yet, what treasures its varied soils and numerous ancient grape varieties produce!
Near Conflans, in Albertville (Savoie), Jean-Yves Péron skillfully combines committed viticulture and merchant winemaking, both under the banner of nature and organic high-altitude vines. Initially destined for a career in biochemistry, he quickly became drawn to the vine and trained as an oenologist in Bordeaux. 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. Jean-Yves's current vineyard, one and a half 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. Composed of micro-plots of vines, it is staggered between 350 m and 550 m above sea level and is worked entirely by hand. His trading activity, which he began in 2011, allows him to buy the harvest from organic winegrowers close to him (such as Raphaël Marin and Adrien Dacquin). Also, the construction of a new winery in 2017 allows him to increase production and collaborate with winegrowers from Northern Italy: Paolo Angelino in Casale Monferrato (Turin), Giorgio Barbero in Asti. This is a new dimension given to his work as a winemaker, allowing him to diversify 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 oaky 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.

Kuku Yodel White 2018

La Sorga

A dry white wine, Kuku Yodel reveals great finesse, freshness, and fruit on the nose. On the palate, the attack reminds some of an unfiltered white beer, others of a tropical lemonade. This wine is pleasant, fruity, floral, refreshing, and very fragrant. It evokes fruits such as peach, apricot, mandarin, lemon, lychee, passion fruit, and rhubarb, with a milky, yeasty finish, with the rich aroma of a summer meadow. It is made from Muscat of Alexandria, either as a single varietal or with a small proportion of Terret Bourret and Grenache Gris depending on the vintage. Kuku Yodel is a macerated white wine made from Muscat of Alexandria vines growing on the schist and clay-limestone soils of the high slopes of Hérault. The destemmed grapes macerate for forty-five days in vats, then the wine is aged for one year. Before bottling, it is neither filtered nor clarified, and no sulfites are added during the vinification process. Kuku Yodel should be drunk very chilled and can be kept for around ten years.

Find out more

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 winemaker, 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 wine technician and oenologist in various vineyards in the south of France, he created 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 dizzying 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: the entire south of France is represented, with muscats, grenaches, picpoul, mauzac, carignan, cinsault, marsanne, alicante, braucol, duras, viognier, len-de-l'el, and tutti quanti.

Moelleux de Muscat White 2010

Le Petit Domaine de Gimios

A sweet Muscat that will intrigue your palate: charm, character, complexity, a touch of mystery, a sweetness that lingers languidly. For lovers of wines that stray from the beaten track without losing their voluptuousness.
Natural wine with no added sulfites.

Muscana White 2022

Domaine Einhart

Muscana is an organic (Ecocert and AB labels) and natural dry white wine from Alsace from Domaine Einhart. Classified as AOC Alsace, this beautifully complex dry white is Domaine Einhart's homage to the Muscat grape variety.

Vinification

Muscana is a 100% Alsace Muscat, hand-harvested when overripe. The vines are approximately twenty-five years old and grow on the splendid oolitic limestone (muschelkalk) terroirs in the Fleckenstein, Westerberg, and Meyen localities. The harvest is destemmed, maceration in vats lasts one week, and fermentation is carried out using indigenous yeasts. The wine is aged in stainless steel vats on fine lees and is not filtered at bottling.

Tasting

Muscana offers a beautiful orange-amber color with superb brightness. The first nose offers rich, slightly smoky aromas typical of overripe Muscat berries. A second, very fine nose brings a hint of citrus fruit that encourages tasting. On the palate, the attack is straightforward and ample, accompanied by a melted acidity expressed through notes of candied quince. The finish is invigorating, with melted tannins linked to the maceration. We recommend decanting Muscana to help it develop its splendid aromas and serving it with choice dishes: fresh or smoked fish, vegetables including asparagus, white meats and foie gras.

Learn more about Domaine Einhart

In the northern part of the Alsatian vineyard, Domaine Einhart is a ten-hectare family estate whose vines grow on 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.

Muscat Sec des Roumanis White 2009

Le Petit Domaine de Gimios

This dry Muscat à petits grains comes from century-old vines planted in limestone soil very close to the bedrock. The grapes are foot-trodden, very lightly macerated, then aged for several months in stainless steel vats.
A natural wine with no added sulfites.

Es d'aqui Danslezetoiles Red 2016

Jean Louis Pinto

This blend of Braucol, Carignan, and Muscat grown on clay-limestone soils was vinified in amphorae. Notes of candied black fruit and leather complement the fruity and herbaceous notes, much to the delight of natural wine enthusiasts. Plenty of aromatic presence, character, and originality.

Sémélé (exclusive vintage) Rosé 2023,

Sous le Végétal

With Sémélé 2023, Sous le Végétal revisits the notion of rosé by offering a cuvée halfway between a light red and a structured rosé. A bold blend of 50% Avgoustatis macerated for a week and 50% Muscat Petit Grain pressed directly, it reveals beautiful aromatic intensity and vibrant acidity.

A rosé off the beaten track

This wine is distinguished by its deep, vivid color, revealing its structure and aromatic intensity. The short maceration of Avgoustatis gives it fine tannins and a nice length on the palate.

A fruity nose and a balanced palate

The nose explodes with notes of strawberry, raspberry and crisp red fruits. On the palate, the attack is fresh, the structure light but persistent, with a tangy and dynamic finish.

How to enjoy Sémélé?

At 10-12°C and decanted before tasting, Sémélé will accompany summer grills, Mediterranean dishes and soft cheeses. With an aging potential of more than 10 years, it will gain complexity with time.

Muscat Sec Des Roumanis White 2010

Le Petit Gimios

This dry Muscat Petit Grain comes from century-old vines planted in limestone soil very close to the bedrock. The grapes are foot-trodden, very lightly macerated, then aged for several months in stainless steel vats.
A natural wine with no added sulfites.

Bain de Bulles Artemus Ka White 2021,

Fréderic Cossard

Sparkling, flavorful, fresh, dry, but without abandoning the opulent side of its grape variety... In Frédéric Cossard's "Bain de Bulles" series, bringing together excellent sparkling wines from the négociant family, we ask for Artemus Ka. But who exactly is it? The answer is obvious: arte is art, and mus ka is... muscat, the base grape variety of this beautiful natural sparkling wine. For parties, large aperitifs, joyful meals and all kinds of excesses.

To find out more
Through his entirely natural work, Frédéric Cossard gives voice to the terroirs and Burgundy wines, undeformed by agricultural chemicals. Having observed, during his years of trading, the existence of harmful viticultural practices, the winemaker used this counter-example to practice unadulterated viticulture. Thus, he produces vintages of purity and elegance without artifice that are among the most sought-after in Burgundy. Frédéric worked for some time as a wine broker before creating the domaine de Chassorney with his partner Laure in 1996: initially a few ares of vines in Saint-Romain, Auxey-Duresses and Savigny-lès-Beaune, and currently ten hectares spread across the Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommard, Volnay, Bourgogne-Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune and Bourgogne appellations. In 2006, he created his own wine trading house and buys organic grapes to vinify, according to his style and convictions, great vintages such as Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée and several Beaujolais crus. The practice is not limited to Burgundy, as vintages are made from grapes purchased in the Jura, Languedoc, and elsewhere. At his farm, the soil and vines are worked as naturally as possible: regular horse-drawn ploughing, no addition of chemical fertilizers or weedkillers. The vines are tended according to biodynamic principles: homeopathic treatments based on essential oils, copper, and sulfur in minimal doses. The harvest is entirely manual, carried out at full maturity, at the end of October. Red or white, classic Burgundies or more atypical or less "regional" bottles, Frédéric's vintages are rare and sought-after wines, which sometimes require waiting.

UGM Qvevris White 2023,

Frédéric Cossard

With UGM Qvevris White 2023, Frédéric Cossard offers a captivating natural white, made from a unique blend of Grenache Blanc, Muscat, and Ugni Blanc. Grown at the foot of Mont Ventoux on clay-limestone soils, these organic grapes are then vinified in Burgundy according to the winemaker's exacting principles.

Vinification in qvevri for a vibrant and expressive white

This wine is made with a no additives approach, with total respect for the fruit and the terroir. After a direct press, it is aged in buried amphorae (qvevris), an ancestral method which promotes gentle oxygenation and preserves a great aromatic purity. This unusual vinification process gives the wine a subtle balance between tension and roundness, with a texture that is both silky and invigorating.

An aromatic and indulgent white

The nose immediately seduces with its expressive notes of ripe white fruits, enhanced by a delicate floral touch. On the palate, the attack is gourmet and ample, carried by a beautiful liveliness which prolongs the tasting with a fresh and persistent finish. The combination of the natural acidity of Muscat and the elegance of Grenache Blanc creates a harmonious and luminous wine, perfect for awakening the taste buds.

Food Pairings and Aging Potential

Served between 8 and 10°C, UGM Qvevris White 2023 pairs wonderfully with cooked fish, roasted poultry or white meats. Ideal to drink today on its freshness, it can also be kept for 5 to 10 years, evolving towards more complex and textured notes. A white with character, natural and vibrant, which will surprise lovers of lively wines.

Conciliabulle Sparkling Rosé 2018

Es d'aqui Jean Louis Pinto
This beautiful sparkling natural rosé is a maceration of Muscat and Mourvèdre in separate vats, with the addition of pressed juice. A joyful, lively wine that will be wonderful as an aperitif.

Natural wine with no added sulfites.

La Tour Sarazine White 2022

Jean-Yves Péron

La Tour Sarazine is an organic, biodynamic, and natural dry white wine from Jean-Yves Péron. Made from Muscat à Petit Grain, this white wine macerated in Vin de France is sometimes blended with Jacquère when the vintage is low-yielding.

Vinification

Sourced from a schistose micro-plot in the Albertville vineyard, the La Tour Sarazine harvest ferments using carbonic maceration for fifteen days. After pressing, it is aged for one year in tuns and barrels. Unfiltered, unfined, no added sulfites.

Tasting

Jean-Yves Péron's Tour Sarazine has a very muscat profile – musky, floral, aromatic, exotic – reinforced by the mineral clarity of Savoyard schist. For pairings, it's a call to the imagination, between cheeses and cuisines from elsewhere: for the former, we recommend them creamy, and for the latter, don't hesitate to delve into Asian repertoires.

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. All of Jean-Yves Péron's wines are sulfite-free, made from hand-harvested grapes, vinified in whole bunches and foot-trodden in the vat. For all vintages, the free-run and press are blended, then aged on lees for at least one year, in two- or three-wine barrels, amphorae or tuns, before final blending. They must be stored at a temperature below 18°C. No sulfites are added, or as little as possible, and the wines are not fined or filtered.

Italo-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.

Muscat Petit Grain White 2002

Le Petit Gimios

A liqueur muscat in the tradition of Saint-Jean-de-Minervois, the region where the estate is located. This petit grain muscat is a fortified wine, meaning a must whose fermentation has been interrupted by the addition of alcohol. This produces a delicious beverage, both sweet and fresh, with incredible aromatic complexity. You can keep it chilled almost indefinitely after opening, tightly corked: ideal for pouring a drink for friends who are visiting. Also interesting for catering, served by the glass, due to its stability once the bottle is uncorked. Almost unlimited pairings. Serve chilled.

Find out more

Le Petit Domaine de Gimios is located near Saint-Jean-de-Minervois, an ancient terroir and source of sweet muscats from the Languedoc. In fact, the estate is dedicated to the region's typical small-grain muscat (in addition to a few other varieties), and Anne-Marie Lavaysse is firmly rooted in tradition by producing fine wines from this precious grape variety. In 1993, she and her son Pierre took over several old, abandoned vineyards, which she now uses to create the estate. Small, certainly, but multicultural and almost self-sufficient: the muscat from old vines shares the space with vegetable and food crops, fruit trees, and some livestock farming. None of this receives any chemical inputs, sulfur, or mechanical force, and the estate, certified by Écocert, is cultivated biodynamically. On these five hectares, viticulture and mixed farming are one. The harvest is carried out by hand in the early morning, destemmed and foot-trodden, before macerating for approximately ten days using native yeasts. No sulfites are added during bottling. The wines are universally described as "delicious," "pure and fresh," "clear and easy to drink." The house produces dry, sweet, liqueur-like, and fortified muscats, as well as very fruity reds made from traditional local grape varieties. Everywhere, the impression of biting into fresh grapes is felt.

Alsace Blanc 2024

Domaine Einhart 

Le Domaine Einhart, vigneron engagé de longue date en agriculture biologique, nous livre ici une cuvée blanche qui capture toute la fraîcheur et la gourmandise des grands blancs alsaciens, sans jamais trahir leur finesse. Ce millésime 2024, tout juste embouteillé, est le fruit d’un assemblage emblématique de la région : Auxerrois majoritaire, accompagné de Muscat, Pinot Gris et Riesling. Un quatuor alsacien vinifié en presse directe, sans fioriture ni sur-extraction, et élevé 7 mois en foudres sur lies fines pour conserver la pureté aromatique et la tension du vin.

Le sol argilo-calcaire, typique de la plaine alsacienne, confère à cette cuvée à la fois rondeur et verticalité. Aucun intrant œnologique, des levures indigènes exclusivement, et une vinification respectueuse des équilibres naturels : un blanc vivant, expressif, et absolument digeste.

Vivacité florale et gourmandise des fruits mûrs

Dès le service, la robe pâle et brillante annonce la fraîcheur du vin. Le nez est très aromatique, dominé par le citron jaune, des notes florales délicates (tilleul, jasmin) et une touche de fruit exotique bien mûr (litchi, mangue fraîche). En bouche, c’est une explosion de fraîcheur : attaque vive, milieu de bouche souple grâce à l’Auxerrois, et finale tendue portée par la patte du Riesling. L'équilibre est parfaitement maîtrisé.

À déguster dès maintenant, à 10-12°C, sur des crustacés, un poisson cuisiné aux agrumes, ou même des fromages à pâte pressée. Une cuvée de plaisir immédiat, à boire dans les deux prochaines années.

UGM Qvevris Blanc 2024

Frédéric Cossard

Avec UGM Qvevris 2024, Frédéric Cossard pousse encore plus loin sa démarche artisanale et intuitive du vin naturel. Cette cuvée de négoce est un assemblage original et solaire de Grenache Blanc, Muscat et Ugni Blanc, issus de raisins bios vendangés au pied du Mont Ventoux, sur terroirs méditerranéens. Un blanc du Sud, mais vinifié en Bourgogne dans un contenant ancestral : la qvevri géorgienne.

Pressurés directement, les jus sont vinifiés sans aucun intrant, avec une fermentation spontanée grâce aux levures indigènes. L’élevage se déroule pendant un an en qvevris enterrées, un contenant en argile qui permet une micro-oxygénation douce et un travail sur les lies finement intégré. Cette méthode traditionnelle offre une texture unique, une bouche ample sans lourdeur, et une pureté vibrante.

Dans le verre, UGM Qvevris dévoile un nez expressif aux notes d’agrumes frais, de fleurs blanches, avec une pointe légèrement anisée, typique du Muscat. En bouche, l’attaque est souple, la matière généreuse mais tenue par une belle trame acide, qui équilibre le gras naturel du Grenache Blanc. La finale est longue, saline et persistante, avec une fraîcheur qui appelle un second verre.

Un vin blanc de gastronomie, parfait à l’apéritif, sur des fruits de mer, des fromages affinés ou encore des viandes blanches aux herbes. Sa complexité et sa vinification en qvevris en font un blanc rare, précis, et profondément vivant.

Tri-Aux White 2022,

Jean-Marc Dreyer

Tri-Aux is an organic, biodynamic, and natural dry white wine from Alsace (AB label) produced by Jean-Marc Dreyer without added sulfites. Its name is a play on words based on its composition: three successive vintages of the Auxerrois grape variety.

Vinification

Auxerrois or Pinot Auxerrois is a typically Alsatian white grape variety. For all three vintages, the harvest is vinified using direct pressing, fermented, and then aged in barrels for one to three years. The resulting wines are blended to create this cuvée. Biodynamic viticulture method, fermentation by indigenous yeasts, unfiltered, unclarified, no sulfites added in the vineyard or in the cellar.

Tasting

Tri-Aux is a lovely, seductive and fresh wine, aromatic and floral, delicious and dry at the same time. It offers spicy notes (cinnamon, dried fruits), a round and complex, saline body, and a finish of white fruits. Lots of energy and character. For all occasions, from the most relaxed to the most distinguished. Offer it roasted white meats, pata negra ham and other high-end cured meats. It will also be very comfortable with shellfish and oysters.

Learn more about Jean-Marc Dreyer

Jean-Marc Dreyer, biodynamic and natural Alsace winemaker (AB organic certification label), succeeds several generations of his family at the Dreyer & Fils, created in 1830 between Obernai and Molsheim. Upon taking over the estate, he immediately opted for biodynamics. In 2009, upon returning from a pilgrimage to Compostela, he decided to never again add sulfur to any wine. Having made this decision, he asserted his style around skin-to-skin maceration, accentuated and chiseled, bringing out the soul of the Alsatian grape varieties. Jean-Marc also works with direct pressing and often with single varietals. He also produces Pinot Noir reds of surprising depth.

Maceration and Direct Press

Jean-Marc Dreyer's wines are characterized by whole-bunch maceration (but you should also taste his direct-press whites). "Maceration in Alsace," he says, "is an ancestral tradition! In the past, we worked by hand and let the grapes macerate before sending the marc to the press. » Gentle oxidation is also a particular feature of his wines, generally vinified without topping up. Jean-Marc is best known for his "Origin" series, a finely macerated expression of Alsace grape varieties, but we invite you to discover his other wines.

Magnum Gauthier White 2022,

Jean-Marc Dreyer

Gauthier is a dry, organic (AB label), biodynamic, and natural macerated white wine (orange wine) from Jean-Marc Dreyer, vinified in Alsace from all the grape varieties cultivated by the winemaker and without the addition of sulfites. Always packaged in magnums, it is simultaneously a rarity, a challenge, a curiosity, and a precious bottle to savor. Gauthier is the first name of a pilgrim on the Way of Saint James who spent some time with Jean-Marc Dreyer and took part in the work in the cellar. Having noticed that the blend of the fin de cuvée was excellent to drink, he suggested to Jean-Marc that he make a special cuvée: "It tastes so good, it would be a shame not to do it!" It tastes incredibly good, even, notes the winemaker.

Vinification

If you are familiar with Jean-Marc Dreyer's Origin range - a series of maceration vintages based on six Alsatian white grape varieties - you will find in Gauthier the synthesis and summary of this range. This wine is in fact the result of the blending of the fin de cuvée of each Origin reference. Once blended, the fin de cuvée are kept for two to three months in barrels to unify the flavors. No added sulfites, no additives, no filtration, indigenous yeasts.

Tasting

This atypical production makes Gauthier a full-bodied, characterful vintage, with a distinct touch of controlled oxidation. Gauthier, of course, contains no more sulfites or additives than the vintages it is made from. That is, zero. It is the synthesis of the Jean-Marc Dreyer estate, and that in itself is a tasting note: refer to each of the other vintages in the Origin range on this site to piece together the puzzle, or, better yet, drink it. With everything that goes with macerated Alsace whites, whether cheeses, local dishes, Lacaune charcuterie or Lyon.