2020 Renardat-Fâche Comme dans la cave à Mémé

WINEMAKER: Alain Renardat
REGION: Bugey, FR
VARIETAL: Gamay
VITICULTURE: Organic

This is 100% gamay (a still red) with lots to love. Fresh, juicy and spicy. "Mr. Renardat took a great deal of convincing that I should purchase some of his delicate, ethereal wine and send it in a ship all the way to Australia. He was concerned about the voyage; sure, it’s a long way. I explained that I would only ever be using ‘reefer’ containers and trucks (in France) and Kirsten stood and smiled. Finally he let me have 30 cases. I drove 500 km and came away with only 30 cases....I hope you like the wine!" - Andrew Guard

Alain Renardat is a respected vigneron in Cerdon, and, among others, he has been a long-time supplier of Alain Chapel's restaurant, in the Dombes. The Dombes, which, like the Bugey, is in the Ain department, is an area of ponds and marshes, known for its fish and birds. Alain Chapel, of his eponymous Restaurant, was a chef beloved among chefs, and famous for his love of wine and winemakers. A winemaker and his wines selected by Chapel are guaranteed to have great personality. Currently, cult Parisian Chef Yves Camdeborde (La Régalade, Le Comptoir) serves Renardat-Fâche Cerdon as a ‘pick me up’ at his restaurants after the meal.

The small French town of Merignat rests just near the Swiss border in a little-known VDQS called Bugey. The vineyards are hard to detect, little patches here and there on steep slopes looking southeast or southwest, lost in the midst of fields with grazing cows, and dense forests. The total Bugey acreage in vineyards is just 170 hectares. The varietals are many, borrowed from all the surrounding areas: Gamay, Poulsard (a grape from Northern Jura), Roussette, Mondeuse (both from Savoie) and Chardonnay.