Caroline worked in wine in Paris and this is where she discovered natural wine, after being told by a sommelier that ‘they all taste the same’ she went to find out for herself and at Vinisat, a wine fair she had a moment with a bottle from Pat Desplats. She never looked back. After studying in a viticultural school in the Jura she went to stage with a few winemakers and spent time with Gregoire Perron in Bugey, which is where she found her inspiration to start in this region.

For her first vintage she only had one parcel of Chardonnay and everything else was negociant, but now she works two hectares of her own vineyards split around South Bugey. She looks for small, isolated parcels of native varieties with good biodiversity, for example fruit trees planned among the vines.

Her curiosity leads to a myriad of cuvees made often in tiny quantities, hence our allocation of some of the wines is limited to just 24 bottles. Despite it just being her second vintage the wines have real clarity and focus, with very pure fruit and like Caroline, a lot of energy!

The Vineyards:

Leyzieu, near Belley, the parcels, Tomassette & Aux Cries both face le Grand Colombier, the mountain sat at the southern extremity of the Jura. A mixture of fruit trees sit among the vines. Gamay, Aligoté, Jacquère, Chasselas, all planted in 1985/ 1990 on soil of clay and limestone.

Corbonod, which is to the frontier with Savoie. It’s Altesse and Molette planted 1998/1999, There is a coteau with altesse, all on limestone and clay..A beautiful parcel of 0.9 hectares facing the Rhône and with houses on the other side with fruit trees and gardens.

Musin, a tiny parcel of 0.26 hectare. Mondeuse & Chardonnay from 1990.

Caroline’s first parcel in the commune of Gevrin, La Cote. The vines were planted in 1985, facing north at a 450m altitude. The parcel is very remote and as Caroline says ‘the animals they love to pick the grapes before me. All on clay and limestone.