COUNTRY :
France
REGION :
Languedoc
PRODUCTION :
22,000 bottles/year
Christine and Regis Pichon
Regis Pichon works 7.5 hecatares of vines on sloping shiste hills surrounding the small village of Aspiran in the Languedoc. He grows a range of grapes from Cinsault, Syrah and Grenache to Terette, Roussanne and Clairette . Before making wine, Regis worked as a sommelier in one of the world’s great cellars at La Tour d’Argent in Paris and at the equally renowned wine shop Hediard, where he met his wife Catherine.
In 2005, Regis decided to move his family from the city to a tiny village and begin making wine. It wasn’t his background in the classics of Bordeaux or Burgundy that inspired him, but rather a bottle of Pierre Overnoy from Arbois in the Jura that opened his eyes to natural wine beauty.The wine was cleaner than he had thought a wine without sulphur wine could be and so much easier to drink than the extracted, conventional wines that he worked with daily as a sommelier. He knew that making wine rather than pouring it was his true path.
Today Regis leases a small winery and shares space with David Caer, from Clos Mathélisse. They have their sights set, however, on co-owing a larger winery in the future. Regis ferments with naturally occurring yeasts and only adds small amounts of sulphur at bottling to his roughly 22,000 bottles a year.

“Les Canilles”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Clairette, Terret
Vineyard Size:
Soil: clay, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: spontaneous fermentation on skins with indigenous yeasts
Aging: 10 months in cuves
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: low

“A Bicyclette”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Grenache
Vineyard Size: 7 hectares
Soil: clay, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: spontaneous fermentation in cuves with indigenous yeasts
Aging: in cuves
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15mg/L

“Lusside”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Cinsault
Vineyard Size: 7 hectares
Soil: clay, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: spontaneous fermentation in cuves with indigenous yeasts
Aging: in cuves
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15mg/L

“Tintorela”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Cinsault, Grenache
Vineyard Size: 7 hectares
Soil: clay, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: spontaneous fermentation in cuves with indigenous yeasts
Aging: in cuves
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15mg/L

“Amassa”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Grenache, Syrah, Carignan
Vineyard Size: 2 hectares
Soil: clay, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: fermentation in vats with indigenous yeasts
Aging: 8 months in vats
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15 mg/L

“La Vista”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Cinsault
Vineyard Size: 2 hectares
Soil: marl, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: destemmed, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts
Aging: 10 months in stainless steel
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15mg/L

“Causse Toujours”
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape: Grenache, Syrah
Vineyard Size: 2 hectares
Soil: marl, red stone
Average Age of Vines: 35 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: destemmed, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts
Aging: 10 months in stainless steel
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 10-15mg/L