You may not yet be familiar with the name Aurélien Lefort, so it’s well worth exploring his craft, which has certainly piqued our curiosity. The winemaker has an unconventional background, in that he holds a degree in fine arts. Passionate about nature and wine, he decided to embark on this adventure after taking his first steps with Patrick Bouju among others. In 2011, he settled in the small village of Madriat, in Auvergne working a handful of once abandoned leased vines, that he lovingly nurtures according to organic principles. The vineyard benefits from an unusually diverse range of soils: clay, sand, gravel, basalt, granite, marls… Here, grape varieties draw their nobility. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay are worked by hand with a hoe to let the roots “breathe”. Harvests are, of course, manual and the berries are meticulously sorted before vinification.
The winemaking stage shuns all chemical products. Macerations can be lengthy (up to three months), and intra-pellicular fermentation (inside the grape cluster itself) is encouraged.
The wines left a lasting impression on us. Most are red, sometimes sparkling, sought after for their intensity, power and upright structure. Each wine is a unique and authentic memory of a terroir and a vintage. A discovery well worth following closely, though these gems remain hard to come by.