r/naturalwine

100% Syrah from parcels in Tournon, Mauves and Saint-Jean-de-Muzols in the Saint-Joseph appellation. Partially destemmed, spontaneously fermented in open vats with pigeage and remontage. 16–18 months in large used demi-muids (600 L). No fining or filtration. Minimal use of sulphur.
🏠 Pierre Gonon founded his domaine in Mauves in 1956. In the 88/89 season, his sons Jean and Pierre Gonon took over the domaine after their father fell ill.
But from what I’ve been able to sniff out, it was actually only in the mid-2010s that prices for the domaine’s wines really started to take off. From 2011, the brothers began destemming a much smaller proportion, between 0–20%, so the vast majority of their wines are made with 80–100% whole bunches.
Today, the brothers farm 10.5 hectares. The domaine is certified organic.
Super perfumed and ethereal wine. I fucking love Syrah when it has this kind of lift and you can completely lose yourself in the glass.
Violets, dried lavender, dark cherries, Ribena, blackberries, butcher’s shop, anise, pepper and bonfire smoke. Velvety medium+ tannins that coat the mouth so beautifully, and a brisk medium+ acidity.
So tightly packed and intense, yet at the same time so juicy! 🥤🥤🥤

Started in 2016 in Hautes-Côtes de Beaune by Morgane and Christian, Dandelion works very hands on around 4 hectares in the higher altitude parts of HCdB, following biodynamics with no machinery but the help of their horses Safran and Reine.

The winemaking follows the same minimalist approach, no additions, no pumping, no filtration, delicate small batch pressing using a vertical basket press and aging in old barrels only.

Corail is one of the rarer cuvées, a whole cluster fermentation field blend from a single vineyard planted with Pinot Noir, Aligote and Gamay.

Strikingly beautiful ruby colour and a vibrant, open nose full of red berries, stone fruits, and fresh herbs. The palate is a masterclass in tension, balancing high alcohol, decidedly ripe body with chalky, mineral backbone and surprising acidity.

It’s easily my favourite cuvee of theirs, unfortunately Corail has only been released in 2019 and 2022, and only around 600 bottles each vintage.

Gorgeous wine that is very juicy and tropical and tastes just like pineapple juice to me without the sugar.. hard to find and unfortunately only got one bottle, but I'll be getting more if I see it anywhere

50% Savagnin Jaune, 50% Savagnin Vert planted in 2003 and 1990 on Lias marl.
14% alcohol. Topped up for 6 years in 228, 350 and 650L used oak respectively. Total acidity 5.6 g/L. No added SO₂.
🏠 I’ve now reached the point in my modest amateur career as a wine writer where I’ve already described the producer in a previous post, so it’ll be a little less detailed this time.
The domaine is located in the town of Rotalier in southern Jura, where Julien, Charline and Romain Labet have 14 hectares. Approx. 11 are used for Chardonnay and Savagnin and 3 hectares for Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot.
Curry, salted lemon, walnuts, toasted hazelnuts, hay, windfall apples, apple juice, caramel, a little paint can. Had it blind and initially thought it was Labet’s vin de voile, but then we managed to narrow it down to Élevage Long. I think it became harder to distinguish flor and ox with some age 😬
Just a completely insane wine. Such a compact wine with endless amounts of good flavour, sky-high acidity. There’s just a lot of everything, and some also thought it became too intense, but I actually think it’s absolutely fucking great🥹⚡️✨

One of my favourite winemakers in Spain, Jorge is one of the few, and certainly the most ambitions, attempting to reconnect the region of Aragon with its prolific winemaking past. Located on the foothills of the Pyrenees in Coscojuela de Sobrarbe, Jorge started planting vines on his families land around 2009, the first few years the tiny production went directly to family and friends until 2021/2022 when he decided to leave his engineering career behind and build a winery for himself where he now produces 10-15000 bottles a year from around 10hectares of vineyard.

Entirely self taught, he blends the tradition of the area with his personal taste and experience to create beautifully pure, elegant, lively, fresh, lifted expressions of his terroir and his perspective.

Kemisió is one of the most particular cuvées by Jorge, a tiny production averaging 1500 bottles a year, 70/30 co-ferment of white/red grapes from a single parcel. The vineyard is predominantly Macabeu, Moristel and Parraleta but there’s a bunch of other varieties planted within it that Jorge has opted against identifying, believing that following the long standing tradition of co-planting to allow the varieties to balance each other.

He harvests on multiple passes over different days to ensure each variety reaches optimal ripeness, the bunches are 100% de stemmed and macerated for around 10-15 days (depending on vintage), fermentation with native yeasts and 9-10 months in stainless steel tank, bottled right before next years harvest without filtering or SO2 added.

Skirting the line between an orange, a dark rose, and a light red, it has a vibrant nose full of flowers, citrus, and red berries. The palate follows along with crunchy, bright acidity and delicate tannin, while this is a very easy drinking wine it does not lack depth.

First time trying Gilles' wines and this was simply stunning!

This is a cuvee from Ardèche winemaker Gilles Azzoni who had been making zero/zero wine since 2000 under his Le Raisin et l’Ange project. Gilles originally worked in the Beaune in the late 70s before moving to the Ardèche to take over a farm growing hybrid vines in 1983 that happened to be on a really nice layer of limestone. He planted some vines of Viognier, Grenache and Syrah and by 2000 he was farming everything organically and using no chemicals including sulphur in the wines. Gilles ended his estate wine production in 2023 and currently make negoce wines sourced from organic co-ops in Auvergne and Ardèche with Gilles' son Antonin taking charge.

This wine ‘Monteau’ is a lightly macerated white blend of Marsanne, Muscat and Petit Manseng made with no fining, filtering or other additions. It was tart and juicy with tons of citrus fruit, pureed apple, new leather and a bouquet of white flowers followed by a long fruity and freshwater lake mineral finish. 

A really unique style of skin-contact white that felt insanely fresh and nuanced like a saltier Matassa skin-contact with the aromatics leaning more into orchard fruits. I wish I could have bought more of this wine when I did because this was spectacular stuff!

100% Cabernet Franc from 70-year-old vines on a southeast-facing slope in Coutures in Anjou. 14.1% alcohol, 10 days of carbonic maceration under Co2followed by a week of daily pigeage. Two years of élevage in fiberglass tanks. No filtration, fining or So2.

🏠 In Coutures, Loire, you’ll find the château that houses Domaine Les Jardins de la Martinière. Wine has been grown on the château’s vineyards since the 1700s. In 2018, the Japanese importer of the domaine took over the winery from Xavier Caillard. Today, it is run by the granddaughter, Kaya Tsutsui. The domaine is certified organic and follows the Japanese Fukuoka philosophy, which apparently is somewhat in line with Steiner’s biodynamics.

Absolutely captivating, perfumed nose, really a wine for sniffing! Hanging meat, green pepper, black pepper, smoke, blackcurrant, blackberry, rusty nails, dried violets, a little VA, medium grippy tannins, fresh medium+ acidity. 2018 must have been the first vintage under Tsutsui?
It was, at any rate, my first bottle from Les Jardins de la Martinière. Honestly think this is absolutely huge!
What’s the vibe around the whites? 🧐🤩