Auvergne
Spread around Clermont-Ferrand and partially on the banks of the Allier, the Côtes-d'Auvergne constitutes the southern end of the vineyards of the Loire Valley. After a period of prosperity and then, at the end of the 19th century, that of the destruction of phylloxera, it is a only small area of the region that has survived, with in particular its 5 historical “crus”: from North to South, Madargue, Châteaugay, Chanturgue, Corent and Boudes.
The real revival came from a generation of young winegrowers committed from the 2000s to highlighting (again) the best terroirs of volcanic or clay-limestone soils. Their fight and the qualitative exigencies of their work – organic/biodynamic farming, natural vinification – illustrate the desire to give real meaning to the uniqueness of these various terroirs.
On their estates made up of small selected plots, Gamay – Gamay du Beaujolais and local variety Gamay d'Auvergne –, Pinot noir, as well as Chardonnay and other grape varieties such as Syrah (known as Damas Noir), yield cuvées that hold an emblematic place in the world of natural wine: wines that are distinguished by their personality, even their audacity, combining good drinkability with a surprising aptitude for aging, as evidenced in particular by the magnum format.