Soif de Mal Rouge

He bought a piece of wasteland at the foot of the Arbel Mountains near the Spanish border and cleared the bushes himself. They reclaimed the wasteland, which had been abandoned for decades, into vineyards. Although it sounds like a simple task when you say it in one word, pioneering, it is actually an incredibly difficult task.

A person who is like Marcel Lapierre of Beaujolais in southern France, who cultivated natural wine in southern France. When Jean-François Nick arrived in Roussillon, there were almost no natural brewers in the region.

Nowadays, the number of young naturalists he fostered is increasing like bamboo shoots. He generously teaches brewing methods to young people. You could almost call it a Jean-François school. It can be said that he is a person that young people respect and admire.

It is no exaggeration to say that his natural brewing abilities are genius. I learned how great it is when I worked at the Estesargue cooperative. Most of the existing natural brewers only know about small-scale brewing. The greatness of Jean-François is hidden in the practice of successfully producing large quantities of natural wine in large tanks at an agricultural cooperative's brewery, which is not particularly well-equipped. For the first time since 1989, the agricultural cooperative was able to reduce SO2 usage to 10 mg in 1991 , and in 1996 it succeeded in achieving zero SO2 .

Even for Philippe Pacare, who is said to be a genius, it would be difficult to make natural wine using agricultural cooperative equipment and large tanks. Once again, you can get a glimpse of Jean-François Nick's genius practical skills. I was humbled by the work he was doing in his own way under the conditions of a large tank and conditions that did not allow for the cleanliness to be as desired.

Jean-François, who had been the head brewer at the Estes-Argues agricultural cooperative in the southern Rhône for many years, had a dream that he had dreamed of with his best friend, Eric, the current owner of Langlore. The two had a dream of starting a brewery together. But one day, when I visited the foothills of Mount Arbel, everything changed. For Jean-François, who originally majored in geology, he was more than moved when he encountered the diversity and complexity of the geology and soil of this region. There was something that really shook me to the core. This is where I make my wine! Jean-François made an immediate decision.

Rocks called Roches Mer, which rose up as the Pyrenees rose and are hundreds of millions of years old and were once part of the sea, are now visible near the surface. On the ground surface, there are some cyst-like rubble, quartzite, crystal-tinged pebbles, ironstone, granite, and the soil is made up of crushed volcanic rocks and becomes sandy. Never before had I seen a land with so many diverse and complex elements. Moreover, it is located at an altitude of 300 meters, and there are winds from the Mediterranean Sea at night, so there is a large difference in temperature between day and night, and acid remains low. The ideal wine that I wanted to make was a pure wine that had acidity as its main ingredient, but also had a touch of sunlight. The region had the perfect microclimate conditions to make such wine. For Jean-François, this was the only place he could think of to bet his life on.

Twenty years have passed since the domaine was established in 2002 , and Jean-François wines are now extremely difficult to obtain. My beloved partner is Yoyo , a charismatic brewer from Roussion .