- AUVERGNE -

When Nicolas Carmarans left his renowned Parisian wine bar to return to the land of his origins, in Aveyron, he had only one ambition: to make wines in the spirit of those he loved and offered at his counter, "natural" wines. Mission accomplished: from the traditional local grape varieties, those of the small, almost forgotten appellation of Entraygues-et-Le Fel, he has produced wines of a beautiful, pure and frank character, both crisp and well-structured.

It is in the region of his family origins, in Aveyron, that Nicolas Carmarans decided, after years of Parisian bistrology, to come during the decade of 2000 to give life back to terroirs almost in desolation and to practice the viticulture that he had always defended in his bistro. His vines - 4 ha - are located in the Entraygues-et-Le Fel wine area, in the heart of the Haut-Rouergue on the foothills of the Aubrac, at the northern tip of the Aveyron, on the slopes of the Truyère valley and its tributary the Selves: granitic arena slopes that can only be worked with a chenillard and winch, and where the very typical fer servadou (called mansois in Marcillac and braucol in Gaillac), the local and rare négret de Banhars and, in white, the chenin, thrive. With no inputs of any kind (apart from the occasional minimal dose of sulphur), the wines are remarkably straightforward, with a very straightforward aroma and a beautiful texture that combines the fleshiness of the grape variety with the mineral imprint of the terroir.