ERIC DURIF, DOMAINE LES VINS VRAIS, BOVIN 2022

Eric Durif 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 though and curiosity led him to move into winemaking himself, spending time working with Fred Goonan of L'Arbre Blanc, before starting his own project, in a modest cellar at his house. 

He works mostly with clay jars, like L'Arbre Blanc and has a few small surfaces of his own vines and supplements this with purchases from grapes further south. When tasting in the cellar, we saw the potential of his project, with the 2023 vintage looking quite beautiful across the board

For now we have just our favourite from the 2022 vintage, considering Eric's past in the beef trade, aptly called 'Bovin'. It's 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 ten 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.