Jean Maupertuis tends 3.8 hectares of vines in the commune of Saint-Georges-sur-Allier and La Roche Noir. He works principally with a local strain of Gamay referred to as "Gamay D'Auvergne", but also owns a little bit of Pinot Noir and a tiny amount of Noirfleurien, an ancient local varietal found only in the neighbouring village of Mirefleurs. Most of his vines are aged between 40 and 100+ years. Jean doesn't use chemical fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides in the vineyard, preferring to work his soils and develop their indigenous microflora. Everything here is done by hand, and naturally. This includes the use of no chemical fertilizers or pesticides in the vineyard.

You can imagine quaffing these bulles whilst playing boules. This bubbly pale pink Gamay is relentlessly cheerful with delicious ripe strawberry flavours and mouth-cleansing acidity. Off-dry, it merits the cliché “summer in a glass”.

Producer  Domaine Jean Maupertuis

Origin Saint-Georges-sur-Allier, Auvergne, Loire, France

Grapes Gamay 

Vintage 2021

Alcohol 11% ABV

Style Light body sparkling rose

Bottle size 750ml

Winemaking Manual harvest, whole bunch fermented over 3 weeks in concrete vats. Semi-carbonic maceration. Fermented with indigenous yeast. Lees are disgorged and topped-up with same wine.  No filtration, no fining, No SO2

Notes Natural, Organic

Claus Preisinger’s story starts 20 years ago at the tender age of 20 with a few tanks and barrels. The newly trained winemaker had just started working for Hans Nittnaus - back then, and still today, one of the pioneers of early organic winemaking in the region. What always stayed was his immense talent to reflect purity and balance in his wines. Around 2006/2007, alongside like-minded growers in the village, he switched to biodynamics and this, in his own words, 'changed everything‘. Today Claus farms around 20 hectares around the North stretch of Lake Neusiedlersee in the villages of Purbach, Weiden, Gols and Mönchhof. As impressive as his track record has been since the start, his wines truly advanced around 10 years ago with his early-stage experimentation in the cellar (Claus was one of the first to use Georgian Qvevris and then continued to experiment with vessels from Spain, Italy and even China). His hands-off approach in the winemaking was combined with a naturally occurring earlier harvest and a search for freshness rarely seen in the area before.

A mouth-watering blend of Austrian-natives Zweigelt and Sankt Laurent, topped up with a generous splash of Pinot Noir. This wine unashamedly flirtatious and fun and is served up with zero fining, filtration or added sulphur.

Producer  Claus Preisinger

Origin Burgenland, Austria

Grapes 60% Zweigelt, 20% St Laurent, 20% Pinot Noir

Vintage 2021

Alcohol 11.5% ABV

Style Medium body fragrant red

Bottle size 750ml

Winemaking Manual harvested, 80% semi carbonic fermentation, 20% carbonic fermentation, half aged in large oak barrels, the other half in stainless steel for 6 months. Not filtred and no SO2 added. 

Notes Natural, Organic, Biodynamic