Natural Wines from Living Soils: Balazu des Vaussieres, Pierre Frick, Vignes du Maynes and Christian Ducroux!

In "The Pour" of July 7th, Eric Asimov discusses the new documentary film by Lori Miller "Living Wines" which hopes to change the stereotypical arguments about natural wines.

"Forget funkiness. The focus here is farming, culture, the environment, climate change and, yes, great-tasting wine,"  says Mr. Asimov about the film. This is an important point when considering wine and our role as consumers. Most wines are produced with only the finished product in mind, offering the purchaser an experience that conforms to certain standards - how we think a wine should taste. But if we think of wine as part of a culture that seeks to preserve the life of the soil - the microbes, flora and fauna that make life on earth possible -  as well as the vineyard environment and the vibrant diversity of life that is possible in and around it, then wine and our experience of it becomes something different.

For me, in this way a wine that would seem flawed to some people can become something beautiful, because as I drink it  I'm sensing the work of the vigneron(ne) and seeing the soil teeming with life, the grasses, plants and trees in the vineyard - which is covered with vegetation all year round, absorbing atmospheric CO2 - and I'm tasting the wine as a natural living product that is good for me (despite the alcohol!) and that is good for the planet as well. And while most of my favorite wines have sulfur-dioxide added, in small amounts preferably, the wines offered today are free of additives and are genuinely "living wines"  from living soils.

Nadia and Christian Charmasson at Balazu des Vaussières in Tavel quietly produce some of the most extraordinary natural wines of France. The estate practices natural winemaking at it's very finest, beginning in the vineyard, where they work with organic and Biodynamic methods and refuse to apply the permitted organic treatment of copper-sulfate as it is harmful to the life of the soil. (This is a key difference in farming as soil fauna are essential to the conversion of minerals in the bedrock to usable compounds for plants, and for us.) Vinifications here are totally without additives, essentially semi-carbonic, with the red spending three to four years in vat and bottling is without SO2. This the work of intelligent, hard-working people who have the courage of their convictions to produce a pure and healthy wine from living soils. Each year they produce one red, one white and one rosé, with different blends depending on the character of the vintage. The new releases: 2017 Rouge "Hysope" 50% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 20% Carignan and 10% Cinsault from 94 year-old vines surrounding the house and 70 year-old vines on clay/galets soils in Roquemaure;  2021 Blanc "Hibiscus" 50% Grenache Blanc with Roussanne, Viognier, Clairette, Marsanne and Bourboulenc; 2021 Rosé "Bois de Rose" direct press Grenache and Cinsault from sandy and clay/limestone soils in Tavel.  (For more information and great photos, please see the excellent article in Wine Terroirs.

Domaine Pierre Frick - Pioneers of organic and Biodynamic agriculture (organic since 1970 and Biodynamic since 1981) and among the first producers of natural, zero-sulfur wines. The Fricks continue to experiment, creating new and wonderful skin-contact and orange wines, small quantities of which are offered today from our recent shipment. This is an estate which epitomizes the concept of "Living Wines" and was instrumental in spreading the ideas and techniques throughout France and beyond.

Clos des Vignes du Maynes With vineyards dating back to 910 AD that have been farmed organically since the 1950s, and three generations of experience vinifying without additives, Julien Guillot is producing some of the most unique and delicious natural wines of France! "The Clos has never been treated with chemicals and has always been cultivated in the greatest respect for the earth. From the beginning, my grandfather decided to make wines in organic agriculture, without chemical products, without herbicides, without pesticdes and without sulfur." - Julien Guillot.  Learn about the estates philosophy and techniques by visiting their website. (Mostly in English!) A new shipment of these beautiful natural wines is arriving in mid-August - today we can offer a case of the 2018 Morgon "Charmes," (in stock) and a small quantitiy of their unique "Cuvée 910" on pre-arrival.

Christian Ducroux in Thulon (Beaujolais) was one of the first in France to produce natural no-sulfur added wines and has been practising regenerative agriculture - organic and Biodynamic farming, with minimal or zero plowing, since 1985. It's hard to communicate the committment and energy at this estate, showing that viticulture can be healthy, almost totally self-sufficient, and beneficial to its environment while producing vibrant natural wines at the highest levels of artistry!  Lookout for his 2021 "Exspectatia" and 2022 "Prologue" in the fall.

Wines arrive 7/26,  "Cuvée 910" arrives mid-late August