Winemaker Maud BLACHE

After studying Environmental Protection, Maud Blache, found a job in the civil service in Lyon, studying the problems of purification. In 2013, a milestone is reached with a fundamental reflection on who, how, what... She then met Jean-Christophe Pellerin (St Sorlin en bugey), a winemaker in Biodynamics, to whom she asked: "What if I wanted to set up a business from scratch to make wines in accordance with my convictions?". The answer is quick and straightforward: "Then you must go and see Raphaël Bartucci, in Mérignat".

The appointment was made the very next morning, and it was off to a 6-month internship! We are still in 2013... Everything follows with a Brevet Professionnel Exploitation in Beaune, in Burgundy. And as you don't leave the civil service like that, Maud is part-time and won't leave her job definitively until June 2021.

The project then takes shape with Sébastien, her husband, who supports and encourages her. In the village of Vaux-en-Bugey, Maud finds a few acres of old vines with dozens of old and rare grape varieties (Ribier Noir, Gueuche Noire, Madeleine or Abondance, Rayon d'Or...) that look like nothing else and have never seen chemistry.

Every year, from 2014 onwards, they will be grabbing vines on the right and left with more classic grape varieties on a rental basis. 2014 will be a first vintage for them

2018: first commercialized harvest. Maud and Sébastien are then lucky enough to recover Grand-Mère's cellar on the place de Vaux-en-Bugey, with old handcrafted materials.

The Winery is then 1.3ha, made up of many small, very sloping plots with a high density and 0.3ha of young plants that will enter the wines in 2022 and finally 70 ares in planting rights. The work is organic (labelled for the 2021 harvest). In any case, the slopes of the area prevent any mechanizable work! Work in the vineyard is done in the old-fashioned way: backpack sprayer, pickaxe, winch...

The vinification is an accompaniment; no chemistry, no inputs, just a little sulphite at bottling to reassure oneself a little and stabilize the wines :-)

Our visit in February 2021 allowed us to taste the whole range, except for the whites already sold out... We have selected both classic wines in blends and wines made from these old grape varieties, which we look forward to showing you! Also note an ancestral method (like a Cerdon) which does not have the right to the official appellation because too many grape varieties are planted on the plot. But which is a credit to Raphaël Bartucci, who is never far away to advise Stéphane and Maud, guide them and reassure them.