Domaine La Bohème-Auvergne-France

Patrick Bouju started making wine because he wanted something alive in the glass- and because he couldn’t stomach sulfites. He planted his feet in the volcanic foothills around Saint-Georges-sur-Allier, working tiny, scattered plots on basalt and granite. Over the years Justine Loiseau joined the project and the pair now run a small, hands-on operation: organic farming, old vines, a lot of curiosity and very little cellar intervention. 

The work is small scale, scrappy and honest- Patrick still does a chunk of physical work himself, from horse-ploughing plots to bottling. The result is a catalogue of wines that are textured, immediate and easy to like: fruit-forward and energetic, but never overworked. Because the estate farms little land, they often bring in grapes from trusted neighbours and make négociant cuvées — which means some bottlings appear in very small quantities and disappear fast. People who love natural wine collect them; people who don’t usually drink natural wine find them surprisingly generous.