Place: Saint Remy-de-Provence —Provence, FRA

Variety: Clairette Rose/Clairette/Vermentino/Marsanne/Villard Blanc

Farming: Biodynamic

We were first introduced to Bastien Boutareaud four years ago by our mutual great friend: Brendan Keys (BK Wines) of Adelaide Hills notoriety. Like many great producers, Bastien was first a sommelier for more than ten years. His work took him on many trips through France and internationally (including Australia).

The ‘Garage’ wine he was producing soon graduated to a fledging commercial operation, albeit still very small, and in 2017 ‘La Ferme Viticole’ (The Wine Farm) was born. Bastien organically farms three unique sites, totalling a minuscule 2.5ha. The farming is undertaken organically, using horse and hoe and manual labour and no additives are added in the winery whatsoever. Likewise everything is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

A five grape cuvee from Bastien's most recently planted vineyard (2018). No treatments are applied here whatsoever, not even copper or sulphur. All the vines are goblet pruned and worked only with horse and hoe as well as manual human labour. No sulphur is added in the winery at any stage.

Waxy, textural and slightly skinnsy, it has a copper-edged structure that supports the subtle fruit character that shows itself more and more with time in glass. Perfect for dishes that have smoke or fat as the hero!