Introducing Marie and Florian Curtet from Savoie!

2/24/18 -

For fans of low intervention, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines, there are only a handful of names to memorize in the Savoie: Belluard, Gonin, Dupasquier, Peron, Magnin, Berlioz, Lucas, and Maillet are some that come to mind. While we have many vintages to look forward to from most of these winemakers, our good friend Jacques Maillet recently made the decision to retire, 15 years after bottling his first vintage of "Autrement." Luckily, there' been a smooth transition from Maillet to his protogés, Marie and Florian Curtet.

A young couple from the region, they are fully comitted to the same philosophy as Maillet, farming without any pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. In the cellar, it's all tanks and cement, long lees aging, and no SO2 during fermentation (typically 1g SO2 per hectoliter added after a light filtration before bottling). Grapes at Domaine Curtet are all familiar Savoie varieties: Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Mondeuse for red, along with Jacquere and Altesse for their whites. We're also were excited to discover that they're planting some Gringet vines that they were able to acquire from Dominique Belluard (the undisputed Gringet master), but we'll have to wait a few years before there's wine in a bottle!

I had the pleasure of visiting Marie and Florian last summer, meeting their newborn baby, and strolling through the vineyards on a sunny day. Sometimes one gets the sense that younger winemakers are still learning the lay of the land, but not so with Marie and Florian. They were so connected to the vineyards, soil, and biodiversity, from the unique terroir of molasses (a type of crumbly calcareous mountain soil) that they have in the region, to the various herbs, flowers and tisanes that help to keep their vineyards healthy.  We're very happy to be working with the very first vintage (2016) from Marie and Florian and are looking forward to many years of great Savoie wine on the horizon! 

Eben Lillie