WHOLESALE LIST
All of these wines are produced by small growers who make wines that we find exciting, vibrant and delicious. In general they are at the very least organic, rely on natural yeasts for fermentation with minimal additions in the cellar, sometimes none. The list is subject to change. All prices ex VAT.
AUVERGNE
JAUFRE MAS
I was fortunate to first taste Jaufré’s wines at the Beysang/Hurtubise household in south Beaujolais, which a friend of Raphael's had brought straight from the cellar, bottled specially in one of their recycled litre bottle. It was a captivating introduction to a very exciting new producer, a Gamay d'Auvergne brimming with life that stayed fresh and delicious all day open (and into the next). Jaufré Mas, is a long time friend of Raphael & Emelie's from their time working in the Auvergne and his day job is spent working for Patrick Bouju running the cellar and working the vines.
Jaufré works with a surface area of 1ha in Trézioux, in the Puy de Dôme (63), divided into 4 plots (three plots around Billom and one in Courpière). The vines are worked by hand, supporting the vines, producing grapes in a balanced ecosystem. he leaves a total grass cover without any work of the soil in order to promote soil life through its micro-organisms, observing and acting accordingly.
LA TRUTRUKA 2022 £18
La Trutruka is from a plot of 50-year-old Gamay d'Auvergne, planted on a limestone hillside terroir, facing east. The hot and dry year that was 2022 gave him beautiful grapes, very healthy which were vinified as whole cluster for three weeks before pressing. Fermentation finished before the cold winter and he racked off the wine, which remained on fine lees until bottling at the end of May 2023.
It's a delicious vibrant and pretty juicy expression of one of our favourite varietals, brimming with wild fruit. A very promising start!
We find this best after at least an hour open, as there is a little natural co2 which dissipates and the pure fruit comes though. Opens up beautifully into the next day
HEY SO! 2022 £20
Hey So! is Gamay d'Auvergne, planted on granite soils facing north and aged around sixty years old. In the hot dry year of 2022, he didn't need to treat the vines and the grapes were very healthy. He gave them a 3 weeks whole cluster fermentation, before pressing and racking clear before winter when fermentation has been completed. Bottled in August 2023.A more linear, lifted expression of the varietal, this benefits from being opened up an hour before drinking, developing beautifully over a few hours and even into the next day. Delicious!
Egliseneuve-près-Billom, Auvergne
ERIC DURIF, LES VINS VRAIS
Eric has spent most of his life in the butchery trade searching out fine beasts to age and supplying the best restaurants in the Clermont area. He has long had a love of Auvergne wine and curiosity and perhaps the reflection that happened a lot during Covid led him to move into winemaking himself. He began wine training in 2020 at Domaine de l’Arbre blanc in Auvergne, one of his favourite producers in the area and you can see the influence clear in the Zen-type sandstone amphorae (Vin et Terre) he is using in his cellar.
Subsequently, in 2022, he created Domaine Les Vins Vrais in the town of Egliseneuve-près-Billom, on the west side of Livradois.
Domaine Les Vins Vrais is made up of two plots currently undergoing organic conversion:
- La Raquette, located in Mas d'Hauteyras on a south-facing hillside with golden stone-type clay-limestone soil. Centenary Gamay d’Auvergne grape variety.
- Berlin, located in Saint-Georges-sur-Allier, facing west on a basalt basement. Grape variety Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Gamay.
The wines are vinified without sulfites, fining or filtering.
BOVINS 2022 £17.50
The aptly name 'Bovins' is produced from a parcel of 100 year old vines of Gamay d'Auvergne, that Eric is farming located in Mas d'Hauteyras on a south-facing hillside with golden stone, clay-limestone soil. Eric destems 90% of the fruit, the rest whole bunch and macerates for around eight days in the jar, it's taken out and moved back in for elevage. No sulfites are added. Everything we love about this varietal, brimming with wild fruit, this is a vibrant introduction to an exciting new domaine, in one of our favourite wine regions.