2016 Les Maisons Brûlées certified biodynamic. 45% Pineau d’Aunis, 45% Gamay, 10% Pinot Noir. Co-macerated (whole bunch) for 18 days. Fermentation and élevage completed in demi-muid and barriques for one year. Zero SO2. Deep nose, slightly gamey but not feral. The pineau d’aunis characteristics more prominent this time. Darker berries, and a touch of baking spice on the nose, all the notes being quite lifted and aromatic. In the mouth, jubey, fresh, saturating fruits with super fine tannins, and that silex/limestone influence again. So fleshy and flavourful, but in a refined and lifted type way. Tannins quite lingering, but not puckering, just super fine. Slightly spicy and peppery, light and lifted, but with lots of depth. Lots of tension on the finish too. Yum, so tasty! I think best with food too. It is kind of wild, like venison in a forest. But it’s not funky in any way – just well balanced and complex, with lots of charm and super delicious!

Les Maisons Brûlées translates to ‘The Burned Houses’. Some of the vineyards are planted over a section of a village that mysteriously burnt down 100’s of years ago, and you can still find stones from the buildings in amongst the vines! On this incredible site, the soils are made up of silex and clay, with limestone subsoils. Across 8 hectares, they grow Gamay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, Côt, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Menu Pineau and Chardonnay. Paul uses an old coquard press, which is a large square champagne press that allows a slow pressing – so that there is less damage to the skins. The grapes are vinified with their natural yeasts, and fermentations are slow, giving complexity to the wines. The wines are not fined or filtered, and are bottled by gravity. No additives are used at all, including SO2. They have biodynamic certification from Demeter.