Nicolas Gonin

Located between Lyon and Grenoble, the Isère is just now gaining attention for its wines. Part of the attention is because of young growers like Nicolas, who are seeking out and rediscovering the great, noble grapes of the past that (mostly for political and economic reasons) have been abandoned in favor of the more well-known grapes of France. Nicolas discovered the 'cépages anciens' while working at Domaine Tempier in Bandol, where he found a book that outlined the great old grapes of all the regions of France. Nicolas was hooked, and he now spends his weekends seeking out old vineyards in France to find cuttings of these grapes. Nicolas currently owns part of the only 10ha of Persan that exist in the world, and will soon make wine from grapes like Bia and Mècle de Bourgin. The vineyards are all certified organic, and fermentation and aging are exclusively in enamel tank in order to give a true, unobstructed taste of these ancient varieties.