Bugey Rouge (2021 + 2022)

100% Gamay. The Renardats are 7th-generation vignerons in the tiny Bugey village of Mérignat. They farm their 13 hectares of Gamay and Poulsard biodynamically (certified as of the 2022 vintage) in these high, rolling, wooded, steep hills of rocky clay-limestone soils. Their raison d'être is méthode ancestrale Cerdon du Bugey wine but they began making a tiny amount of dry red wine from their Gamay in 2018. It is classified as a Bugey Rouge. This bottling is a blend of 70% 2022 and 30% 2021 (no vintages on the label). The bunches are destemmed and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and without sulfur. The maceration lasts around a week. The wine is aged in old foudres and bottled without filtration and with a very small amount of sulfur.