Montreuil, just outside Paris
There is no shortage of bars and bistrots in Paris in the matter of natural wine but exploring the close suburbs on the other side of the périphérique (the hellish freeway circling Paris)
is also rewarding, in spite of the fact that many people don't cross this divide outward easily. Montreuil was in the past a blue collar town and its demographics changed dramatically over the last decades,
now the town is part inhabited by bobos and young families who moved there because Paris' apartments are way too expensive or because they liked the cooler vibe here, and part by non-European immigrants, especially Malians (Montreuil is sometimes called little Bamako). The two communities don't really mix together but still go along well, and because of the good taste of the alternative crowd there are plenty of nice things in Montreuil, a farmers' market, an American craft beer brewery, an organic wine fair, and a few cool places for natural wine like L'Amitié Rit (read Meg Zimbeck's page on Paris by Mouth for more on Montreuil, ilke pizza joint serving natural wines...).
The wine bar, caviste & bistrot was founded by Thierry Dubourg (the guy with the hat behind the counter on the picture), he worked initially in the movie distribution sector and one day he was out of work and after the shock encounter with the wines of Pfifferling and Gramenon, he decided to start this bar & wine shop. The venue has become a reference including in Paris for it's wide choice of cuvées and affordability.
The wine shop and wine bar is located in an area wit low street houses giving it a feel of a laidback venue in a small town, a relief compared to Paris with all these 7-story lines of boring Haussmanian architecture. The bar is what you call now a cave à manger meaning it's a wine shop but it also serves all kind of excellent stuff from the artisan bread to the saucissons and charcuterie in addition of course to the wine.
And to top that all, once a year, there's yet another vibrant natural-wine tasting in Montreuil, the one organized by L'Amitié Rit, it is named Naturisme and lots of wine people drop there for the event, like here Gilles Bénard who founded the iconic wine restaurant Que du Bon in the 19th (he used to have free street tastings over there too, like the one organized by Gilles Manzoni).
Usually there are about 10 or 11 vignerons coming at L'Amitié Rit to pour their wines in this late-november sunday, the tasting is free, another example to point when I say we're really spoiled in Paris, you'd pay a lot elsewhere ! And what I like in these natural-wine tastings compared to mainstream events it's the generous spirit you feel even in the pouring sizes, these guys aren't stingy, whether you buy wines or not.
The invited vignerons this year (each coming with 3 to 16 cuvées) were Les Bottes Rouges, Domaine du Pech, Le Bout du Monde, Clos des Grillons, Chateau Cassini, Domaine Richaud, France Gonzalvez, Christian Binner, Benoit Arletaz, Philippe Delmée, L'Aitonnement. Two of them couldn't come actually for personnal reasons, Clos des Grillons and France Gonzalvez.
The wine bar being too small for the expected crowd, Thierry had asked the book shop next door to help with allowing part of the tasting to take place there. A woman of the staff reminded people walking in that this was a good idea to go over there and begin
with Binner's whites, which i did willfully...
Christian Binner brought 9 cuvées here, I was so happy to enjoy his generous pours including some pretty wild stuff. I didn't taste all his wines though (Christian brought 16 cuvées to taste !), I don't spit and had to be careful (my motorbike was waiting for me)...
__ Le Brutal de Jean-Marc, a cuvée that started in Spain by a collective (Brutal means genius in Spanish or something like that), all winemakers joining it having to choose a wine that is particularly wild or extreme. Zero SO2. Here, Gewürztraminer& Riesling with skin maceration. Super turbid and exciting color. Aromas of grapefruit, like freshly pressed. Very enjoyable drink, lovely ! This is the only "Brutal" cuvée in Alsace. 22 €, has been on the market for a year.
__ Pinot Noir 2017, unfiltered, no SO2 again. Superb vividly-light color. I the mouth, more concentrated that its color would hint, nice refined tannic grain. Goes down pretty easy too. 22 €.
Here is a domaine from Savoie, Maxime Dancoine who is an oenologist and worked prior for different domaines started his own domaine Aitonnement in 2016, we're tasting the 1st vintage. He took over vineyards in 2015 from people who had made a good work reviving a few parcels since 2000.
__ Genesis 2016, 100 % Jacquère, made from 3 parcels, with 80-year-old vines. Some
Then at the third table was Arnaud daudier de Cassini, i think his domaine is Chateau Cassini, he's located in Saint Emilion (Bordeaux), he's a friend of Paul Barre, the pioneer of biodynamie in Bordeaux. His surface is 3,9 hectares on a domaine he started in 2014 in one block. Before this he had a 2-hectare domaine in Saint Emilion (his divorce forced him to close this domaine). He makes Bordeaux with indigenous yeast from vineyards that
__ Cassini 2016, 100 Merlot. Delicious wine with the typical dust feel brought by thin tannins. 34 SO2 total here. He says that at the time he had his previous 2 hectares he already sold his wines here at L'Amitié Rit in Montreuil in addition to other places.
Was happy to meet also Philippe Delmée whom I followed years ago in Paris as he was touring the wine bars and restaurants (with fellow vigneron Kenji) to present his wines. I'm pretty sure I visited him
__ Les Ch'nins on Boit et la Caravane Passe 2016, Chenin, Vin de France. Fizzy in the mouth, he bottled te wine with 3 grams of remaining sugar. Dry vintages make it difficult for indigenous yeast to complete the fermentation. Vinified in barrels, blended afterwards. 19 €.
Here is the table of Domaine Arletaz, they make nature wine in the Roussillon region, Benoit Arletaz was pouring the wines. The domaine was started in 2014 in the area of Rivesaltes and Fitou, they work on 7 hectares with vines aged 80 on average (go from 35 to 120).
At Le Bout du Monde, a domaine from the Languedoc, Marius (who is I presume the son of Edouard Lafitte) was pouring, they had quite a good number of cuvées. The founder started his domaine 13 years ago, work with fellow winegrower Loic Roure (super wines !), the domaine
__ Brave Margot, a white Vin de France 2017 made from 90 % Roussanne and 10 % Grenache Gris. Nice tension in the mouth.
Edith Richaud was pouring the wines that day, the three children of Marcel Richaud are very active in the domaine, the two others, Claire & Thomas taking care respectively if I'm right of the winemaking and the vineyard management. The family domaine now has a toltal vineyard surface of 70 hectares, jumping from 45 to 70 after
__ Cairanne Blanc (white) Côtes du Rhône 2015, made from 6 white varieties vinified together. Nice ampleness. 23 €.
The wine bar was really becoming to be crowded, next time I'll come at 11 am when the even starts, I had delayed my coming until between noon and 1 pm but this place attracts crowds in spite of beeing on the other side of the périphérique...
__ Castor, Vin de France 2016, Chardonnay. Again, there's such a nice vibe in these real wines, no spit. 23 €.
Lastly, I reached the table of Domaine du Pech, a biodynamic domaine in the Buzet region (Languedoc), and the owner Ludovic Bonelle was pouring and explaining the cuvées. I met also an acquaintance there, Jean-Baptiste Dhallhuin who worked in the natural wine import in Los Angeles and founded recently OenoFlyer in Lille.
__ Jarnicoton 2014, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, bottled february 2016. The wine has a meat juice feel, with a nice length in the mouth. 14 €.
I was about to leave when Aaron of Not Drinking Poison dropped there with an American friend and her baby, her name is Kelly and if I understood correctly she works at Mokonuts in the 11th arrondissement. Aaron knows tons about natural wine and the new generation of vignerons, in the Beaujolais and other regions too.
I also met Andy Liu, he was there with Aaron if i remember, he's from China where he started an import business with natural wines, Populis Wine. He spent time studying in Boston where he came in contact with these wines and back home in Beijing and Shanghai, he felt that something was missing in this regard. He understood that he was not alone to feel that way and that with both the Chinese returning to China and in general those looking for real products there was a demand for natural wines. They have gotten already 3 pallets of wine from three domaines, Emmanuel Haget, L’Austral (took over vineyards from La Tour Grise, Philippe Gourdon), Les Capriades and Les Enfants Sauvages. They distribute the wine in Beijing and Shanghai to wine bars, and private clients. They will soon also import wine from Pierre Beauger, Gilles Berlioz, Florian and Marie Curtet, Domaine des Ardoisieres, Le Mazel, Cyril Fhal. I'm thinking now that if China just gets one little finger in the natural-wine market, it's over here for cheap wine....
__ Saveurs de Julien 2016, Les Vins Pirouette, négoce wine, grapes purchased in northern Alsace on a cold-type of terroir. No SO2. Acidulous nose, fruity, nice straightness, nice touch on the tongue, feels so gentle and harmonious. 13 €.
__ Si Rose (rosé). Gewürztraminer & Pinot Gris, turbid rosé, onion peel. Grapefruit rosé I'd say. This is a blend of 2016 & 2017. Super-wild bitterness, really awakening feel, love it ! 22 €.
__ Pinot Noir Cuvée Béatrice 2016, from old vines (50). Very turbid in spite of its one-year élevage & 1 racking. Super fresh, 2016 was a cold-weather year. Superb wine, get it if you find it. 26 € but Alsace pinots noirs are real gems when they're well done. Christian still has a few bottles (and this wine bar) although it nears the end.
He makes small cuvées going from 1000 to 15000 bottles each. He ownd 68 ares, has one hectare planted and aims at a surface of 2,5 hectares. Maxime says that the area where he has his parcels had in the past 200 hectares of producing vineyards and the surfaces dwindled to 5 hectares today, the reason being these very steep slopes where you only can work by foot & hand or with a engine-powered cable. On the surface he works on, the steepest slopes are 75 %, so all is done by hand, they keep the grass and the vines are on échalas (no trellising).
slopes are as steep as 55 %. Nice tension and good length too. 17 €
__ Big Bang 2016
2016, 50 % Altesse, 50 % Jacquère, pressed together and left untouched on lees for a year in 228-liter casks. The winemaking process is the same for the wines, leaving the wines unmoved.
__ Solar 2016, a cuvée not listed on the list I grabbed on the counter for this day's event. 100 % Altesse, but here the vines grow almost directly on the rock table, very dry in summer, water stress. Super refined wine, love it.
__ Dark Side 2016, Mondeuse, the red. Nose : not much to say. In the mouth, tight tannins (this is Mondeuse) but pretty tamed after all. Rustic variety, he says, like Tannat. He adds that if you work it like a Burgundy you get too much extraction, so he does 1/2 carbo, no pigeages, no remontage. Here he made 5 days of maceration, after which pressing and lots of suger goes out and continues fermenting in liquid stage in 650-liter demi-muids which they bought second-hand from Chave in Hermitage. Stays 1 year there. You feel this wine is in its early youth, I understand through this tasting qualities than in two years from now should begin to offer the best. 23 €.
belonged to François de Ligneris (the former owner of L'envers du Décor in Saint Emilion), no filtration and no fining in his wines. His vineyard is certified organic with also biodynamic farming, he's helped in that regard by Paul Barre, an expert in the field.
__ Cassini Saint Emilion 2016. Although he stopped his initial domaine in Saint Emilion his clients kept asking for Saint-Emilion wines, so he bought grapes from a friend there to make this cuvée. THe vineyard is not certified organic here. 75 % Merlot, 25 % Cabernet Franc, no overmaturation, unfiltered, unfined. Super nice tannins, ripeness feel, dry fruits. He says he stops the maceration before extraction takes place, he does microbullage but only with ambiant air (no pure oxygen), and anyway he's not worried with reduction in the élevage.
Arnaud sells to the United States through Josh Adler (Paris Wine Company) and Japan through Mr Yoshio Ito (oenoconexion). Arnaud is also behind an incredible experiment : he planted with friends a vineyard of Chardonnay on the slopes of a mine dump (terril in French), the Terril d'Haillicourt (pictured on right found on the web) between Arras and Calais in northern France. Here's a French article on this crazy experience of reuse of industrial landscape. They made a very nice wine which they named Charbonnay (charbon means coal), they made 1000 bottles this year.
too and wrote a story but oddly can't find it.... He has been making wine for 3 years with an associate, Aurélien Martin but both parted ways a year ago and Philippe downsized a bit his surface from 8 to 6 and he found someone to work with him on the vineyard, these are younger vines compared to the previous surface and they're closer to the chai.
__ Ça Faye Douze, Vin de France 2016, Cabernet Franc, bottled in colorless glass bottle. He put the grapes in 3 different fermenters, with one going through a 115-day maceration, the other one month and a half, and the last two months and a half, he left the grapes there untouched and it wents well. Super nose, very exciting, love it ! The mouth is on the same level of pleasure, great Cabernet Franc, easy drink. He made 3000 bottles of this. 13 €.
__ Les Vieux de la Vieille, Vin de France 2017 (lot vv17). Old vines (40 years), destemmed grapes, no foulage (foot crushing)) no pigeage (stomping). Concentrated feel on the nose, nice balance in the mouth and swallowed.
__ Opoul 2016, a generous southern white made from
Macabeu, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris. Nice texture. Direct press, then half in
cement vat, half in old barrels. Full moth, generous but with tension. 1500 bottles (in 2018 more volume, 3000 bottles). 13 €
__ Same wine (Opoul) from 2017, vat sample, Benoit warns there's reduction here, was to be be bottled the following thursday. Nice fatness in the mouth, with freshness as well.
__ Full Color, Muscat, Vin de France 2017. All the cuvées are labelled as table wine here. Bottled in colorless glass. Acidulous nose, tropical fruit aromas. Gastronmy white. No pumps used here, all moving of wine by gravity, except the reds (for bottling). Zero SO2 and no filtration. This is the first Muscat of the domaine, they recently purchased this parcel.
__ Opoul Vin de France 2017, red made from 100 % Grenache, destemmed grapes put in cement or fiber vats for 5 days. Super nice grip on the palate, almost inky type of mouth feel, love it !
__ Manon, red made from Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre, vines aged mostly 120 to 80, only the Mourvèdre vines are "young" at 35. . A bit of an aromatic spike on the nose, mousy maybe. In the mouth, lots of character, classy mouth indeed, to eat with for sure. 14,5 €.
has now a surface of 8 hectares
__ Tam Tam 2017, a Côtes du Roussillon red made from 100 % Syrah. Intense feel with sugary feel, not bad.
__ Hop'la, Côtes du Roussillon 2016, 60 % Syrah, 20 % Carignan, 20 % Grenache. Color is relatively light. In the mouth & swallowed, lovely wine, is so fresh, so easy to drink, obviously unfiltered wine. 15 €.
__ Avec Le Temp^s, Côtes du Rhône 2015, 60 % Carignan, 40 % Lladoner. Super exciting color, turbid & chalky. Mouth is rocking, terrific wine to drink ! I'd have no difficulty downing the bottle by myself if given the chance ! 17 €, worth a try also if you have the opportunity.
__ L'Echappée Belle, Vin de France 2017, 60 Syrah, 30 % Carignan, 10 % Grenache. Lovely nose as well, chalky mouth, also superbly easy drink
__ La Luce, Côtes du Rhône 2015, 100 % Grenache obviously unfiltered, real wine too.Sorry to repeat my notes but the nose again hints at something very exciting, and no false flag in the mouth, just more concentrated. 21 €.
the children bought back another domaine. There were 5 wines to taste that day including a white.
__ Côtes du Rhône Nouveau 2018, the one I loved much at Caves Augé the other day, Grenache & Syrah. Very fresh, a bit less exciting that the other day maybe. 11 €.
__ Terre de Galets, Côtes du Rhône 2017, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Counoise. Serious tannins, acerbic grip in the mouth.14 €.
__ Cairanne 2016, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre plus some Cinsault & Carignan and a bit of Counoise. More a wine that you can keep for a while in the cellar, more substance and tannin. Super nice wine, goes down beautifully in the throat, my stomach recognizes the good stuff, and you can have it wait in the cellar as well. 18 €.
__ L'Ebrescade 2016, made from a selection of old parcels, 50 % Grenache, 30 % Syrah, 20 % Mourvèdre, 2-year élevage, one in foudre, one in barrels. Has been on the market for a year. Super mouth & throat, intense, very classy, almost like a Port, it literally illuminates your throat and stomach...
here's a domaine from Jura, and the couple who manage
it since 2012, Jean-Baptiste Menigoz and his wife were both here to pour of Domaine les Bottes Rouges. They farm 7 hectares and a half in the region of Arbois (I love this small town and its friendly, casual bar Bistro des Claquets).I dodn't taste all the cuvées they brought, there were 12 of them !
__ Savagnin 2016, bottled june 2018. Easy drink, good mouth rinse.
__ Boomerang, Côtes du Jura 2016, 50 % Poulsard and Trousseau. Lovely aromas, flowery, peony, delicate, buy that ! They made 27 hectoliters of this. 23 €.
__ La Pépée, Arbois 2015. Turbid color. Intense wine, terrific to drink, love this one too ! 23 €. These Jura wines are not cheap.
__ Aléas Vin de France 2017, Trousseau 50% and the rest is Ploussard and Pinot Noir. Only red made in 2017 because of the nation-wide april frost. In 2016 they had 6 cuvées [of reds I presume], sold out at the domaine but there are still available bottles in the wine shops. Oh, a very delicate and feminine wine, super nice ! The reds are unfiltered, there's 1 gram SO2 per hectoliter at bottling, makes under 25-30 total SO2. The empty glass makes a terrific nose ! 23 €.
__ Le Pech Abusé 2014, Merlot, Cabert Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, bottled a month before, long élevage to get aromatic complexity. Nice tannic grip on the side of the mouth, serious wine although obviously in its early youth. 18 €.
__ La Badinerie du Pech 2008, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3-year élevage. Very intense, exciting, I get good approval signals from my system, love it ! On the market now, he waited the right time for it to be ready. 25 €.
__ Badin 2009, 100 % Cabernet Sauvignon. Surprising, and not so pleasant to be frank, the wine has residual sugar, I'm told about 15 grams. 25 €.
__ La Badinerie du Pech 2012, a white made from Sauvignon Blanc. 14 months vinification & élevage in both vats and 1/2 muids from what I can read on my notes, then élevage in bottles as well (these are now the last bottles). Super good wine, superb mouth, alive, ample, great substance, you feel you eat and drink here. 25 €. He'll bottle and market the 2015 soon.
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