Your typical multigenerational vigneron tale this is not. Long story short: here we have a young fellow from the Loire who studies wine in Burgundy, bikes to Georgia (the country, that is) while stopping and working at various vineyards along the route to pay his way, bikes home, crowdfunds a crazy idea to plant vines high up in the Alps, and in 2019 is off and running and turning heads. We get wind of the project, track down our man (we find him working part-time at a local organic grocer to make ends meet), and the rest is history. This blanc is not what one might typically imagine a “mountain wine” to be, as while it has a crystalline edge, there is a surprising dollop of sun, heft, and deep, creamy notes of white flowers and citrus fruit.

Enologically speaking, this is a blend of Poulsard and Gamay from the Cerdon cru of the Bugey, a pocket of hilly natural beauty situated roughly between Savoie, the Jura, and the city of Lyon. In accordance with the so-called “ancestral method,” the wine has been bottled partway through fermentation, refermented in bottle until reaching the desired sweetness and bubbliness, then racked off its lees and recorked to avoid further fermentation (and exploding glass).
       Hedonistically speaking, La Cueille is the liquid, fizzy, deep pink incarnation of roses, wild strawberries, and stone. Fragrant, low in alcohol, and irresistibly crisp, it is a beverage for every occasion.

Apricot and orange peel aromas, with a hearty, silky palate. I like to drink it quite chilled to start, on its own, let the freshness do the talking, and as it warms bring it to table with whatever’s cookin’. Let the hints of honey and pine shine through to see what they can do.