LE PICATIER (Roannais/Loire, France)
Relocated to one of France's most remote wine growing regions, the Côtes Roannaise in the northern Loire, Cristoff and Nadine have discovered a place to practice their way of growing and making wine. After 10yrs of working in cellars in Pommard, the couple sought land in the hills of their childhood. Now they have 7ha of Gamay, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines at their disposal to replant and restore to natural health. They returned here with a mission to bring natural farming methods back to the region. The soils were heavily polluted with chemicals and the rows are widely spaced for machine harvesting. They know, they have some work cut out for themselves. One advantage they have (and why it was selected after a long search for the right land) they are perfectly protected by the high hills from the neighbors, giving them a contained environment to execute their mission. Together they have planned out an effective connection to the terrior. Using plants from the area to make a tincture of remedy, they spray they recovering vines to attract positive energy and ward off disease. The water below is dyanized and sprayed at key times of the calendar to keep copper usage to an extreme minimum (1/50 of what would be sprayed in the vineyards of Bordeaux!). Composted are homemade and the natural grasses are ploughed under to keep natural flora and microbial life active near the roots. Cristoff knows he has to push his vines to go deeper into the granite bedrock (past the sandy-clay topsoils) to get more expression for the grapes. His replantings will cut half the distance between plants to excelerate this. Everything is slowly falling into place. In the cellar, Cristoff handles his wine preparations the same way. Using slow presses into old steel tanks and natural yeasts for long ferments, he musters true gentle terrior that describes his surroundings. He knows he too, will adapt to what he finds as the vineyards become more expressive. By natural wine making, he says, it will be the only clear way to see the benefits of his work and the direction he needs to follow. It is a big undertaking; a risk they knew they had to take to bring something back to where they love to live. Picatier will hopefully prove to be a natural example for the region and for the generations who continue to grow here.
Auver-Nat Noir VDT 2008

100% Pinot Noir. Hand picked and de-stemmed into epoxy tank. Natural yeasts start fermentations. Aged in 10yrold barrels to rest on the lees until bottling. No filtering or fining. Extremely low SO2 used.