Domaine Les Fauvettes
Maryse Chatelain is a winemaker based in Uchizy, in the south of Burgundy. A trained oenologist, Maryse is also the wife of Alexandre Jouveaux. She joined him to accompany him on his wine adventure. After helping him a lot in his winemaking, she wanted to go solo, and thus Domaine des Fauvettes was born.
They share the work in the vineyard, and then each vinify their own wines. As with Alexandre, interventions are therefore restricted to the vineyard and the cellar.
Maryse is not a fan of tilling the soil, so the vines have been left completely grassed for several years. The treatments are mainly based on essential oils, macerations and infusions. No Bordeaux mixture on the estate which thus accepts very lean vintages when mildew/powdery mildew pressure is high. Maryse is in fact convinced that her wines must reflect the microbiological diversity present in her vines.
In the cellar, here too, Maryse lets the vinification take place as naturally as possible. The fermentations are obviously carried out with native yeasts, the wines are neither fined nor filtered.
The breeding periods are shorter than at Alexandre Jouveaux, this is perhaps the main difference between these two areas. The vintage De l'Aube à l'Aube, a 100% Pinot Noir, well represents Maryse's work. A plot planted in 2012 in a wild environment, far from other vines in the area. A destemmed Pinot Noir, macerated for 11 months (!) and subsequently aged for as long as necessary... A pure and delicate wine.
Domaine des Fauvettes is starting to make a name for itself among lovers of uncompromising natural wines, and this is only the beginning.