raffaele Mastrovincenzo

 Le Petit Domaine de Gimios is a five-hectare estate located at 320 meters above sea level, in the Hérault department, along the Mediterranean wine-growing perimeter of the Gulf of Lion. Here, Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre follow the principles of biodynamic agriculture. Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre bought their farm in the hamlet of Gimios in 1993. The vineyards attached to the farm were abandoned, unworked, and had not been treated with chemicals.  Saint Jean de Minervois: According to a legend, the Saint-Jean vineyard dates back to Roman times, as in all of Languedoc. The lord of Pardailhan collected from the Middle Ages the right on the wine of Saint-Jean and Saint-Martial. King Louis XVI at the court of Versailles had the Muscat of Saint Jean de Minervois tasted at his royal table. Beyond this perhaps legendary anecdote, the town produces a remarkable Muscat, which obtained the AOC in 1949. The terroir of the area is characterized by a Mediterranean cli...

2016 Le Coste Bianco R Riserva from old vines. The Bianco R of Le Coste is a "Riserva" produced with the best white grapes picked at full maturity, after being de-stemmed they ferment in contact with the skins in open French oak vats for about 3 weeks. After pressing, the wine is decanted into 5 hl French oak barrels for about 20 months. Procanico from old vines trained in albarello "bush vines" in their  vineyard named "La Chiesa".  Gianmarco Antonuzzi and Clémentine Bouveron are behind Le Coste's farm a14 hectares of land, with vines, olive trees, chestnut trees, shrubs, and patches of forest. The vines are planted in the proximity of the Lake of Bolsena in the town of Gradoli in Lazio’s region, the soils are volcanic, rich in iron and minerals. Vines are planted in high-density something close to 10,000 plants per hectare, some are massale selections, and ungrafted vines. Le Coste Vineyard began in February 2004 with only three hectares of abandoned...

  Le Petit Domaine de Gimios Muscat Sec Des Roumanis  Le Petit Domaine de Gimios is a five-hectare estate located at 320 meters above sea level, in the Hérault department, along the Mediterranean wine-growing perimeter of the Gulf of Lion. Here, Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre follow the principles of biodynamic agriculture. Many vines are centuries old, with vegetation between the rows, which helps preserve their biodiversity. Not all the lands of the Domaine are planted with vines: a part is characterized by Mediterranean scrub vegetation. In this way, the terroir is richer, more complex, and protected. The subsoil is made up of limestone. In the vineyard, no sulfur, copper, or chemical or organic fertilizers are used. To protect the vines, herbal teas made from aromatic plants, grown by Anne-Marie, are used. The harvest is manual, in small boxes of 8-10 kg. The vinification is the most natural you can imagine: it takes place in steel containers with indigenous yeasts...

  Joan Ramon spent years working in a large cellar in Catalunya and traveling the vineyards of France. His experiences helped guide him to the biodynamic farming and natural wine movements. His winery started in 1997, in Conca de Barberà a DO which is rarely seen on bottles and has grown from his dream to create naturals wines utilizing biodynamic agriculture. He “respects the fruit to the maximum”, his vines grow next to olives and almonds, and also keeps cows, horses, chickens, and other assorted poultry, enabling him to meet his compost needs ‘in-house’. Vegetation is left between the rows to encourage biodiversity, and maintain soil moisture in this dry climate. And since 2007 they have stopped using sulfites. The vineyards are located in various areas around Montblanc, all utilizing different systems of planting depending on the location, soil, and grape variety. A wide variety of grapes are planted, from many international varieties that Joan personally loves to autochthonous...

Has been an amazingly busy time since Melbourne reopen from the 5 months of lockdown ending in November 2019. The trade has been very busy serving delicious dishes and pouring outstanding drinks. I have been running across the city showing wines and talk with wine buyers. As well I tasted extremely good bootles. Let's talk about some in these new post:  4 wines hit my palate:  . 2018 Daniel Sage - Prospérité de L'entreprise Merlot and Carignan . 2019 Ajola Rossetto  Sangiovese  . Cascina Tavijn 68  Barbera, Ruche  . 2017 Clusel Roch Les Schistes Syrah (Serine), Viogner  2018 Daniel Sage - Prospérité de L'entreprise Merlot and Carignan Daniel Sage is fast becoming an icon of the natural wine scene, he works with Pinot Noir, Syrah, Gamay, Merlot, Carignan and Chardonnay and Viognier in an in the northern Ardéche, just south of Lyon, small vineyards plot. Daniel start in 2011. This cuvée is the marriage of Merlot and Carignan, whi...

The Legend Pierre Overnoy  L’histoire récente du vin nature commence peut-être ici. Pierre Overnoy réalise dans les années 1950 que l’enseignement reçu à l’école œnologique de Beaune et qui préconise l’usage des désherbants chimiques va dans la mauvaise direction. C’est dans sa cave, en goûtant et comparant ses vins d’alors avec ceux de son père et de son frère qu’il comprend l’impact de l’œnologie technologique sur le goût du vin. En 1984 sa première cuvée sans soufre est née. En 2001 il transmet son domaine à Emmanuel Houillon.  Pierre Overnoy fait office de figure tutélaire dans le monde du vin nature, les dégustations chez lui sont légendaires.  Ses vins sont malheureusement introuvables et font l’objet d’une spéculation incontrôlable.   Il Poulsard è un vitigno degno di nota  ha caratteristiche uniche  scarico in colore, (la buccia sarà sottile?)  ha sempre un unghia granato (vuole copiare il Nebbiolo?)  Ha queste note di lampone acidule, le ...

Pantom   is a project done in 2019 from the Sardegna producer Panevino Gianfranco Manca located in the town of Nurri in the south of the Island a bit further north of the city of Cagliari.  2018 was for Gianfranco a poor vintage in his vineyards due bad weather, so he decides with the help of his Australian importer Giorgio de Maria to do a vintage in South Australia on the famous Basket Range "Natural Wine" district.  So the Project Pantom is a wordplay around  PA  Panevino A NT  Anton "Lucy Margaux" T OM  " Tom Shobbrrok.  Anton and Tom make him comfortable and help him outsource truly exceptional grapes from Adelaide Hills and South Australia, and collaborate with him on the production of the wines for this project.  2019 Jet Lag    100% Grenache from Vine Vale in SA 30 hours of skin maceration with aging in Tonneau approximately 800L, the idea was to make a PET NAT so to stren...

Tom Shobbrook in his vineyard March 2020 Hello everyone... Most of you know I'm living in Australia and I have been working with wines in Melbourne for some time. Natural wine in Australia has a very identified scene, due to some winemakers in South Australia. The heart of the concentration where the movement starts, it is in Adelaide Hills in the village of Basket Range, with a great producer in Barossa Valley "Tom Shobbrook", in Mclaren Vale Jauma by James  Erskine.  Here a little article by Eric Asimov in the NY Times about the movement:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/dining/drinks/natural-wine-australia-lo-fi.html Basket Range is on the hills of Adelaide city with lots of natural forests with those patches of vineyards very beautiful, you'll find when you drive up with the car. From Adelaide airport, it's very close 30 minutes driving. Long and cool growing season with vines placed between 450 to 600 meters above sea level, make this region a cool climate...

 Auvergne is a region of south-central France a continuation to the east of the Loire Valley, further close to the Jura, and the French Alps; It is dominated by the foothills and low mountains of the Massif Central. The typical red wine from these central French vineyards is a light-bodied red or rosé, produced from Gamay and vinified via carbonic maceration.  The soils here are volcanic through the vineyards with different types of lava rocks, with a little percentage of chalk/limestone. Mostly the producers located in this region they farm halfway between organic and biodynamic. The higher altitude vineyards are between 400 and 500 meters; a continental climate that leads to less densely structure wines. The wines rely on fruity aroma and refreshing acidity. Rivers than come across the region are the Allier and the Loire.  No Control consists of 5 hectares of vines, where one can find several grape varieties : Gamay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvign...