Sparkling White Festival 2021

Festejar Sparkling White 2021

Patrick Bouju

The scope of Festejar white ("To celebrate" in Occitan, a clear indication of the use of this wine) is dizzying, as this thirst-quenching wine is also a complex vintage, combining very fine bubbles, delicious freshness, a slight sweetness, measured acidity, and a structuring bitterness. Perfect for an aperitif with friends, perfect for the table, perfect for thirst: an all-terrain vehicle for everyone's greatest joy. This semi-dry natural sparkling wine is available in rosé and white. The rosé version (dark pink, almost a red) is based on Gamay d'Auvergne. This white version of Festejar is based on Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and finally Sylvaner directly pressed. The marriage of Auvergne and Alsace.

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 the native grape varieties, of which he cultivates a good fifty, and simultaneously 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 much to Patrick. The fact that he enjoys lending a helping hand to his winegrowing friends in France and elsewhere only confirms his image as a role model, a leader. His partnerships are famous: with Action Bronson for the series A la Natural, 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 wines do very well without them. He also found that if the grapes are healthy and concentrated, balance occurs naturally, 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 Lower Auvergne and its volcanic soils.