Bruno Duchene Chouette
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In a past life, Bruno Duchene was a wild mushroom distributor in the Loire valley. Today, he lives in the town of Banyuls, where he produces dry reds from some of France's hardest to work vineyards. Bruno owns 4 hectares spread over 4 parcels, all on schist but with enough exposition and micro-climate variations to keep things interesting. Banyuls and Collioure's vineyards are notorious for being extremely low yielding and very difficult to work mechanically, which has subsequently led to an ever-increasing abandonment of these legendary sites. The vines are worked organically, and because of the region's ideal climate, Bruno averages only 3 sulfur treatments a year (this is an extremely low number). And because odium is not an issue here, copper is never used. The wines ferment spontaneously in tank, then are racked to barrel for aging. Sulfur is never added at any point. Bruno produces three red wines: La Luna, Pascole and Anodine (the latter only available in magnum). All three are made with Grenache Noir/Gris/Blanc with a splash of Carignan. La Luna comes from organic parcels where the grass grows free. La Pascole is a single vineyard partially plowed by hand. Finally, L'Anodine represents the oldest vines in areas that are impossible to work mechanically, and where the soil work has to be done 100% by hand (except for a tiny plot where a horse has room to till and plow). He also produces miniscule quantities of a white called Vallpompo from Grenache Blanc.