2018 Des Vins D'Envie ‘De Tutoyer Le Diable’

Region: Savoie < France              

Grapes: Mondeuse, Pinot Noir, Gamay

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; aged in stainless on the lees after blending; bottled unfined/unfiltered, with zero added So2; 11.5%

Winemakers: Maxime Dancoine and Guillaume Lavie

This is the summer wine we crave when we’re in green, foresty nature – a light, fresh, chillable alpine red from high-elevation sloped vineyards in the French Alps!  A collaboration between Maxime Dancoine and Guillaume Lavie, both of whom farm tiny biodynamic vineyards and make a small amount of wine for their own wine labels. They met just before the 2016 vintage and got to talking. They desperately wanted to find a way to create wines in the same natural style and from grapes that were organically farmed at prices their friends could afford. Enter Des Vins D'Envie.  Their De Tutoyer Le Diable (which translates roughly as “to treat the devil”) is a bright, energetic blend of three local Savoie grapes that tastes like the end of summer, when the cool breeze slides in at 6pm to push you inside. Its bright acidity, tart raspberry and day-drinking alcohol levels scream summer, but the notes of crunchy cranberry & peppery black cherry will have you reaching for some decadent French cheese and your cozy socks. Throw it in the fridge before serving and ride the shoulder-season wave.