Mazière

After fifteen years of good and loyal service at the "Les Zinzins du Vin" bistro, we wanted to take a step forward, return to the countryside and get closer to the source.

Curiosity has always drawn us to those who stray from the beaten path, the originals who defy categorization: Jean-Michel Labouygues was one of these unclassifiable artists. He passed away in 2006. Our encounters with Judith Labouygues, who had succeeded her father Jean-Michel for a time, led us to a cellar and vineyards that had been abandoned for several years; it was now or never to try to revive them.

We are looking for other plots until we acquire the necessary area, about ten hectares among the last vineyards in the area, part of which is still being cleared: the vines are old, very old, they are becoming rare in this area where wild boar hunting and subsidized uprooting campaigns have finally brought viticulture to its knees.

The adventure truly began in 2013 with our first harvest in Padern. Soil maintenance and vine care adhere to the principles of organic farming, and our application for Ecocert certification has been underway since 2017.

Winter grazing by sheep helps to clear some of the grass while providing natural fertilization. Much manual labor is required in the old vineyards, which are difficult to mechanize except with a rototiller or small tracked tractor. The pickaxe remains the best tool for removing perennial weeds. There is no deep plowing, but rather shallow tilling at the end of winter, followed by mowing the grass in summer.

To preserve ourselves from modern oenology, to best transmit the flesh of the fruit in the juice, to vinify without artifice: there is only grape in our wines, and the fermentations take place slowly under the action of the indigenous yeasts of the terroir and the cellar.