9/12/26 - 

Putting aside personal preferences, most French wine buffs would agree that the top 10 most "important," relevant or recognized wine regions are, in no particular order: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire, Champagne, Rhone, Alsace, Provence, Beaujolais, Languedoc-Roussillon and (take your pick) Jura/Southwest/Corsica. It hopefully does not scandalize anyone to make this generalization, and we sincerely extend our apologies if anyone is offended! Debates and objections aside, the goal of today's offer is to give some love to "off the beaten path" regions, in this case namely the Gard, Bugey, Ardèche and Auvergne. 

The Gard, nestled between the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon, is a fascinating area full of great wine and Roman ruins (or in the case of Nîmes, one of the world's most intact Roman amphitheaters). Here we find a young winery, Berry-Althoff, that is producing energetic and precise wines that caught our attention during a tasting in France last winter. We are proud to present their wines to our readers for the first time ever!

Bugey, though situated at the foot of the Jura mountains, is a distinct region from Jura or Savoie (two neighboring regions that are often lumped together into a greater Jura-Savoie-Bugey power-trio). Though my first exposure and consequent excitement about the region came from drinking Cerdon de Bugey sparkling semi-sweet rosé wines from Renadart-Fache (imported by our dear friends at Louis/Dressner selections and featured today), there are some delightful still wines from the region, including those of another new winemaker in the Chambers Street universe, Jacques Bouchevreau. With 2024 as his inaugural vintage, these wines are brand new to the US and we are honored to introduce them.

The Ardèche river, a tributary of the Rhône (which joins the Rhône near Orange), provides the valleys and rustic backdrop to a charming and soft-spoken wine region with some of the most humble winemakers we've ever met in France. Here we highlight an old Chambers Street favorite La Vrille et le Papillon and natural wine legend Andréa Calek.

Finally, from the Auvergne, in the center of France near Clermont-Ferrand, we welcome new wines from Jean Maupertuis and a reintroduction to a fantastic little estate called Chemin de L'Arkose, which our local customers have clearly developed an appreciation for. The area is known to most French people as a great region for camping, and cheese. Indeed, the mountain ranges, and over 300 dormant volcanos provide the setting for plenty a scenic vista, and the cheese production from the Auvergne accounts for over 1/4 of France's entire output! However, if you ask an avid Parisian natural wine fan about the Auvergne, camping and cheese will be afterthoughts to the singular wines from the area. The soils are a patchwork of granite, limestone, sand, basalt (sandstone) of several colors - including the rare pink basalt - volcanic rocks, and some clay. The wines are singular, especially when the local Gamay D'Auvergne is employed. Gamay D'Auvergne is known to yield darker and spicier wines than its cousins, Gamay de Bouze or Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc (the Beaujolais Gamay), with what Maupertuis notes has a "more noticeable peppery spice quality."

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Imogen Berry (left) and Robin Althoff (right)

Berry-Althoff

Imogen Berry and Robin Althoff began making wine in the Gard in 2015, first partnering with biodynamic growers in the area to source grapes and eventually accumulating about ten hectares of their own land, all farmed biodynamically. Located in Aubais, about 15 miles southwest of Nîmes, the couple continue to source grapes for some wines while working their estate vineyards, using many of the varietals found natively including Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, and others. For reds they look for freshness through the limestone soils around Aubais, formed during the Hauterivian and Valanginian periods. Many of these vineyards date back 50 or more years, producing low yields of high-quality fruit with concentration and depth. For whites they focus on the yellow marl soils in Saint-Mamert-du-Gard, a humid valley protected by the Cévennes. Their winemaking is delicate and precise, allowing the grapes to ferment naturally with no manipulation, resulting in vibrant and fresh wines that harness all the energy and purity that come from the careful farming and thoughtful preservation of the land. There is a clear Mediterranean influence which shines in the whites, adding a salty minerality and depth while retaining acid and texture. The reds are ethereal and lifted, showing great fruit character and tension without any of the heaviness that sometimes comes with Grenache and Syrah. It was one of these reds that introduced us to their wines, when we were recommended a bottle of Syrault (Syrah and Cinsault) at Les Canons in Montpellier. We were taken by the pure, punchy fruit that jumps right out of the glass which somewhat contrasts the more lithe, racy palate, all with perfectly integrated acid and tannins that elevated the boeuf and other dishes perfectly. Getting to taste the full lineup revealed how this balance and tension runs through all their wines, while each has its own unique personality and character. In addition to the reds and whites they make some sparkling wines, including the traditional method Fafar—an outstanding Champagne alternative—and the lively and fun ancestral method Janis Rosé Pet-Nat. What’s perhaps most exciting about these wines is the clear vision that both Robin and Imogen possess about the type of wines they want to make. They are open to experimentation but ultimately have a strong sense of direction that guides everything from how they work their land to the grapes they source to how the wine is made. As an example of this adaptability and vision, in 2024 their Grenache reached a potential alcohol of over 16% so instead of making a wine they weren’t excited about, they pivoted to a red vermouth! Sadly we didn’t get any of the vermouth this time around but perhaps in the future. For now we are thrilled to have an eclectic assortment of their reds, whites and bubbles, including some of the standouts from tasting like Lopin, a crunchy and fresh Cinsault, Garmatcha, an old-vine Grenache that is both powerful and weightless, and Embruns, a Macabeu with incredible depth and texture. All of these wines come highly recommended, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for these exciting young winemakers!

-Jeff DiLorenzo

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Jacques Bouchevreau

Jacques Bouchevreau is a young winemaker who who grew up in Le Mans, a city just north of the Loire Valley. After a rigorous cycling career, he found his way to winemaking. With countless generations of his family involved in agriculture, he had the farming background and was inspired to work without chemicals in the vineyard, with a respect for nature and focus on regenerative agriculture. To better understand winemaking, he first helped at an estate that was converting to organic certification, and then was greatly influenced by his time working alongside Marc Pesnot of Domaine de la Sénéchalière. Here he developed a deeper understanding of how to make wine with minimal intervention, which he brought with him to the Bugey, where he eventually settled. After brief stints in the Bugey with Francois Galeyrand (Domaine de Pacotille) and a small estate called Domaine Ici-Là, Jacques discovered a dormant estate in the small winemaking village of Vaux-en-Bugey that needed some tender love and care, and he started his new adventure! His fermentations are slow and gentle, typically around 18 hours for whites and 8 hours for reds (after maceration). As would be expected from a producer we're introducing, there are no enzymes or artificial yeasts used, only native yeast fermentation and minimal sulfur addition (when necessary). For white wines, he has vines of Chardonnay and Altesse, and for reds, Gamay, Pinot Noir and Mondeuse. The wines are bright and very well balanced, with lovely fruit and mineral character. The Chardonnay Sous la Tour has a zippy tickle on the tongue, which settles after 10-15 minutes of air and gives way to very pleasant acidity and fresh, light mouthfeel. His Altesse, Petite Rousse, is fuller bodied, though still very delicate and totally dry, with beautiful density and a long, mineral finish. It's a treat for folks who like a white with a bit more body but don't want anything overripe or oaky/buttery. His Au Grangeon Gamay from his first vintage, 2024, is ethereally light with very fresh acidity and close to no tannins, a result of an overall grey and cool vintage. His other Gamay offering, Montgrillere, from the riper and sunnier 2025 vintage, is rich and generous with darker color in the glass, blackberry and black cherry notes, and nice grip. Though we don't have any of his Pinot Noirs in stock currently, his Mondeuse Cotes de Beaumollet is a real treat, showcasing the violet and earthy tones that hint at Syrah (Mondeuse being a grandparent of Syrah, after all!). We will have some new wines coming later this year from this young estate, so this offering serves as an introduction to many more delicious wines to come!

-Eben Lillie

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Rounding out today's offer are a handful of wines from producers we love and regions we rarely highlight. From Ardèche, two stellar wines from Domaine Andréa Calek, a Chardonnay/Viognier blend called Blonde and a Grenache/Syrah blend, A Toi Nous. Also, a blast from the past, a lovely, short maceration style Syrah called Tous Cousins from Geraldine and Meryl Croizier at La Vrille et le Papillon, an estate that we worked with for many years in the 2010s. 

Finally, new wines from Jean Maupertuis in the Auvergne and a reintroduction to the wines of Chemin de L'Arkose, a Chambers Street exclusive that we've been enjoying sharing with our local customers over the last month and a half since they arrived to NYC. To read more about Jean Maupertuis, check out our archived article here. 

From our newsletter earlier this year introducing Les Chemins de L'Arkose:

One of the most exciting tastings of last winter's trip to France was with Yvan Bernard of Les Chemins de L'Arkose, based in Montpeyroux, south of Clermont-Ferrand in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne. Certified organic and biodynamic, the estate grows primarily Gamay d'Auvergne and Chardonnay, with smaller quantities of Gamay from Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Aligoté and Syrah, on varied terroirs of granite, limestone, basalt and volcanic ash. The unique terroirs, the altitude (450 - 500 meters), the hot, dry climate and the great farming produce very distinctive wines with unique mineral flavors and textures. (The estate is featured in the RVF Guide Vert 2026)

"Winemaking: The grapes are harvested by hand, in 25 kg crates. The wines ferment with their indigenous yeasts; we do not use sulfur during vinification. Depending on the style of the cuvée, the grapes are destemmed or not. Maceration lasts between 15 and 25 days, and up to two months for the longest. The wines are then aged either in tanks, oak barrels, or stoneware amphorae. At the end of the aging process, we decide, based on tasting, whether or not to filter the wines and whether to add a minimal dose of sulfites before bottling" - Yvan Bernard

These are wines of superb texture and freshness that will drink beautifully this summer and fall, and perhaps encourage you to venture far off the beaten path to the ancient volcanos of the Auvergne...

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