COUNTRY :
France
REGION :
Langeudoc
PRODUCTION :
Martial Berthaud, Theresa Bullmann, and Matthieu Collin are the current faces of cooperative distillery L’Atelier Bouilleur. Martial and his fellow spirit experimenter Quentin LeCleac’h founded L’Atelier Bouilleur in 2014 when they took over the local coop making Fine Faugères from local juice. The distillery was built in the early 1900’s and has been operational for over 80 years (there was a brief break in production from ’86-’99). The distillery uses Charentais stills, some of which have been used since 1927. The spirits use no chemical or animal-based additives and are filtered by gravity. There are 57 foraged botanicals used. The spirits are not labeled organic – the team feels that the standards of the EU do not match their own and choose to not partake in the bureaucratic systems of organic certification.
Martial and Theresa, in collaboration with Alcools Vivant and Distillerie Baptiste, created the Natural Booze Manifesto in 2018.

GN
Region: Autignac, Languedoc
Base: grape eau de vie
Process: eau de vie infused with botanicals
Sugar: none added
Botanicals: juniper berries, rasberries, cactus fruit, citrus leaves, bupleurum fruticosum blossoms. all botanicals grow around the distillery.
ABV: 42%

Fine Faugères
Region: Faugères, Languedoc
Base: grape brandy
Process: natural wine from Chateau Haut Fabrègues double distilled in a copper pot by previous distiller Matthieu Frécon in 2009. aged in a barrel from the winery until 2022. diluted with reverse osmosis filtered water.
Sugar: none added
ABV: 41%

Esprit du Midi
Region: Autignac, Languedoc
Base: grape marc eau de vie
Process: base spirit flavored with botanicals
Sugar: concentrated grape syrup
Botanicals: anis, fennel seeds, licorice root, lentisc berries, cistus ladanifer blossoms. everything but the anis is foraged nearby. as it is hard to cultivate in the area, the anis is purchased from a friend who imports organic spices; the anis is from the Kampot region of Vietnam.
ABV: 45%