Château Revelette - Peter & Sandra Fischer

In the heart of Provence, 30 kilometers north of Aix-en-Provence, in the commune of Jouques, lies Revelette, boasting 30 hectares of vineyards, comprising 17 plots situated between 330 and 400 meters in altitude, and 11 grape varieties. The continental climate, with its cold, harsh winters and hot, dry summers, makes this the northernmost terroir within the Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence appellation.

I've been based in Revelette since 1985, and I started working in organic farming in 1990. Ecocert certification didn't come until 1998. My first wine with no or very little sulfites, labeled "PUR," dates from 2001. I've been practicing the full biodynamic cycle since 2011, alongside Jacques Mell (without any certification; the children can obtain it when they take over the business...). I've always preferred the term "terroir wine" to organic wine, biodynamic wine, or even "natural wine." The term "terroir wine" best encapsulates the magic of wine: a unique, singular, recognizable wine that truly reflects a place over time (vintage). You can't claim to make a terroir wine if it comes from barren soil and uses technological winemaking techniques.

In practical terms, this means in the vineyard: - (old) sheep compost after the harvest every 3 years, every other row, then plowing to incorporate it. - shredding of pruning shoots on frosty days in these same plowed rows - plowing these same rows again in the spring to bury the shredded shoots - all tractor work during the season is done on the grassed rows. The following year, we change - mechanical weeding under the row (part of which is done with a horse) - heavy bud thinning between May 15th and June 30th to aerate the vines - treatments with copper (below 2 kg of metallic Cu/year since '98!!), powdered and wettable sulfur, horsetail and nettle manure, seaweed juice. Energized herbal teas according to the year and assessment, preparations 500 and 501 (7 times in 2018). - hand-harvesting

In the cellar: - the Rosé, which represents 30% of my production (we are in Provence, after all!), is inoculated with yeast and fined with peas. Since 2018, I have used my own yeast, selected by a laboratory in Nantes. - for all my other wines, no yeast is added, no balance correction is performed, no fining is used, no stabilization is employed, and no other high-tech winemaking practices are employed, except for the (very) measured addition of sulfites. The PUR range receives between 0mg/l and 1mg/l of SO2 maximum. - the reds are bottled at the estate without filtration or with very light filtration.