Domaine Bärtschi, Sous Les Rochers La Vigne Pinot Noir, Bugey, France

Who - Clément Bärtschi
Where - Manicle, Bugey, France
What - Red Wine - Pinot Noir
When - 2024
How  - Organic with some Biodynamic practices, 100% whole bunch, carbonic maceration in tank for one week followed by bi-daily pump overs and alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts for three weeks. pressed into one, two and three year old Burgundy barrels for around 12 months before bottling, unfiltered, vegan.

Clément Bärtschi has a starry wine-making pedigree, having worked at M Chapoutier in the Rhône and Romanée-Conti in Burgundy. Rather than work in a similarly starry appellation when he started his own project though, he has brought his talents and experience to the little known region of Bugey where he spent many summers as a child on his grandparents farm. 

But he has brought his Burgundian sensibilities and winemaking to Bugey. All grapes are handpicked to ensure the bunches are intact. Pressing is very gentle and includes stems to minimise maceration and preserve fruit clarity and purity. Fermentations are natural in old oak with extended maturation in large, neutral Burgundy barrels.

In Savoie, at the southern apex of the Jura mountains in eastern France, Bugey is building a reputation for great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This wine is 100% Pinot Nor from the diverse terroir of Manicle. A walled vineyard, with part clay and part limestone soils, surrounded by high mountains which funnel cold air through the site at night, extending the ripening season to the benefit of the complexity of the wine. This is a spicy, structured Pinot with fine tannin and the potential to age and mature beautifully.