2021 Le Temps des Cerises Avanti Popolo

WINEMAKER: Axel Prüfer
REGION: Languedoc, FR
VARIETAL: Carignan, Grenache
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

"Avanti Popolo is a lighter style of wine despite an underlying strength. Named after a revolutionary Italian cry of ‘Forward People’ this wine made from mainly 90 year old vines. The wine is a blend of Carignan and Grenache this year. The wine has not been filtered or fined, and has no additions. The vines grow on granitic quartz soils and the minerality is pronounced. The 2021 vintage is an absolute winner! It is juicier than usual and a deeper shade of red than previous vintages and it has an incredible depth of flavour from the low yielding, very old vines. And, at 12.5% alcohol and being a light red, it is perfect for summer drinking if slightly chilled." - Living Wines

Axel Prüfer was born and raised in East Germany but moved to France as a young man to take up a career in winemaking in a remote vineyard surrounded by forest. Because the forests are the natural habitat of wild boars, Axel collects human hair from the hairdressers in the local village and spreads it around the boundary of his vineyard. He says that the boar pick up the human scent from the hair and avoid the vineyard. The vineyard is a picture of health with spiderwebs everywhere and an amazing biodiversity on display.