raffaele Mastrovincenzo

In 2013, the city of Dijon purchased a 160-hectare agricultural property called Domaine de la Cras, located just outside the city. They decide they want to release the land to farm the vines were planted there. So they taught to create a kind of competition open to winemakers:  The criteria were:  - The vineyards had to be farmed organically.  - Had to be a young winemaker with no existing family vineyards.  - Also interested in opening the Domaine to the public for educational visits.  - The conditions that the winemaker pay a yearly “rent” of 2000 bottles per year to the city of Dijon.  Marc Soyard was chosen; a young winemaker from Jura with no family past in winemaking or background on wine.  Marc works for six years at Domaine Bizot in Vosne Romanee as chef de culture "vineyard management" also he helped Jean Yves in the cellar and was able to learn the winemaking process.  Messieurs Soyard at Domaine de la Cr...

Geelong is one of the iconic wine regions of Australia in the state of Victoria. Is located in the Port Phillip Bay area an hour from Melbourne. This region has vines planted from 1845 due to Swiss vigneron immigration. This region is home to a multitude boutique family with a different geographical latitude from a cool climate area with long cool and dry autumns, low rainfall with plenty of diversity from their subzone. Maritime microclimate in the Bellarine and the Surf Coast zone with mainly Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris. To the north, inland you will find the Moorabool Valley subregion with quartz gravel through a red volcanic soil, ironstone (called buckshot) with grey sandy loam with a heavy clay base, and volcanic lava rock. The microclimate of the Moorabool Valley is influenced by winds from the western plains and bracing sea breezes, which regulate the temperature on long, sunny days and cool the air overnight. The Producer always s...

Bathonian limestone from the middle Jurassic era as found through the Cote D'Or with a flat piece of stone calcite aragonite. Small berries of Gamay quite old vines on Cordon de Royat training system. Fermentation in conical wooden vats after 11months on lees without racking. Bottled using nitrogen without sulfur dioxide. Looks more Cote de Nuits than Beaujolais, red fruits sour and fresh, minerals elements with powerful energy and kaleidoscopic complexity... Today the Clos des Vignes du Mayne is managed by Julien Guillot. This Clos was registered by the monks in 910. Peter- Julien’s grandfather purchased the vineyard in 1954 and is thought to be a pioneer in the field of additive-free natural wines. The 7-hectare Clos set in beautiful surroundings-comprises 3 parcels planted with 3 indigenous grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Chardonnay. In 1998, Julien Guillot took over this huge heritage with passion, a great deal of conviction and precision. He carried on th...

Domaine L’Octavin is the wine behind Alice Bouvot which farms 5 hectares of vines in Arbois in the Jura,  she started in 2005 with just 2 hectares she increased the production over the years. Currently is a Demeter certified all her works in the vineyard consist in growing wild grasses and weeds so all the insects and animals creating a true ecosystem which generates a healthy balanced life for the grapes. Harvest is done manually. The wines fermented and aged in fiber glass and steel tank with no temperature control considering are done in the caveau of the winery which is quite cold. There is a tendency to vinified single plot separately even blending white and red wine together. From 2009 sulphites has been not used at all. Alice works with Chardonnay, Savagnin, Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir, with holdings in some of the region’s very best lieu-dits like La Mailloche, En Curon, Les Nouvelles & Les Corvées. With just 5 hectares there are a...

Pinot noir, the majestic grape varieties which every wine lovers love to drink and every wine growers want to plant and work with. We all know its home town is Burgundy in France. Everyone gets excited to talk about it; however the Burgundy growers they don't even state it on the label but instead, they print the provenance of the vineyard, commune, village or a region denomination.   In this post, we don't talk about the luxury Burgundy wines but a few experiences I had with some Pinot Noir around the world in the classic New World.  There are so many regions in the north and south hemisphere trying to work with this delicate grape. Yes, this grape is very delicate if you don't nail it you can ruin everything, even French people sometimes messed up with it.   I'll start with one of the last experience I had Domaine de La Cote from Santa Barbara County in California on the Santa Rita Hills AVA (American Viticul...

The Farmhouse TV & Film production from The Netherlands has launched, on 18th March 2018 a new cinematic documentary series called "Wine Master".  http://farmhousefilm.com/ The series tells the stories of some of the most prestigious wine-growing families in 5 different wine regions of France, the storytelling of the terroir, taste, and tradition.  The viewers learn about the  family stories, their  personal drive, and origins, history of the best grapes varieties and vineyard management sharing their skill, passion, task division.  Those families are:  - E. Guigal from the Rhone Valley - Bourgeois family from Sancerre in the Loire Valley - Chateau Angelus from Saint Emilion with the De Bouard family - Drouhin family from Beaune Burgundy - Trimbach family from Alsace  The Series is filmed and directed by Marc Waltman & Klass de Jong, the editor Manfred Poppenk, line-producer Yael Water, sound design Wart Wamstek...

Mark Angeli in 1984 decided to settle in the Loire a man from Marseilles, creating his little Domaine Ferme De La Sansonnière in Anjou in the village Thourace. Eight hectares of vineyards as well Breton cows “Le Pois noir”, which produces top quality manure, two hectares of wheat and an orchard of 3000 square meters. Mark uses electricity from solar panels, he is heated by a wood heater, travels on a car with compressed air, and uses a rectified tractor working with sunflower oil, grown by himself. The vines are not plowed, but only buttage (is a cultural operation which consists in bringing back the earth in the form of "butte" at the foot of the plants) is the practice used, while the grass is removed only when strictly necessary. The vines grow without any support so they can enjoy maximum lighting on both sides. The same philosophy is followed in the cellar: only the perfectly berries ripe and healthy are vinified; most of the operations are performed man...