Direct-pressed and aged one year on whole lees in stone amphora and second hand Burgundian barrels. Racked off lees before bottling. Just 1200 bottles produced.

Les Grangeons de l’Albarine

Les Grangeons de l’Albarine is the work of Luc Bauer, a paysan-vigneron committed to making honest wines while restoring the agricultural life of his corner of Bugey. His focus is the Coteau d’Argis, a hillside that once supported hundreds of acres of vines at the turn of the 20th century and has since been largely abandoned. Bauer’s work here is as much about renewal as it is about wine.

The name “Grangeon” comes from the small, rudimentary huts once scattered through these vineyards. In Bugey, suitable vine parcels are often isolated from villages, so presses were installed directly in the fields, sheltered by simple stone or wood structures. It’s a reminder that this has never been a place of grand estates or polished cellars, but one shaped by necessity, labor, and close contact with the land.

Bauer farms roughly six acres across several sites, the most important a southwest-facing slope beneath the Roche de Narse. The soils are pale and rocky, rich in chalk, soaking up afternoon sun and releasing warmth through the night — a crucial balance in this cool, alpine-influenced landscape. Everything is farmed biodynamically, not as a statement, but as a practical system Bauer trusts because he’s seen it work. Preparations are used, vineyard and cellar work follow the lunar calendar, and decisions are guided by observation rather than doctrine.

The wines that come from Les Grangeons de l’Albarine reflect that mindset: direct, rooted, and shaped by place more than process. They carry the freshness of Bugey, the imprint of limestone and slope, and the quiet confidence of someone working at a human scale. This is not a revival built on nostalgia, but on steady, deliberate farming — one parcel at a time.