New Arrival : Le Grain de Senévé, Hervé Ravera
Hervé and Adeline Ravera are located in South-West Beaujolais in a small village called Marchampt. Their vineyard, Le Grain de Senévé (The Mustard Seed) is modest at only 2 hectares however the wine speaks volumes.
Once a nurse, Hervé clearly takes as much care in his vines as he did in his previous profession. The wine he produces reflects the work carried out in the vineyard, vibrant yet delicate.
Fortunate enough to be one of the very few domaines to use no machinery whatsoever the soil is preserved from the effects of compaction. Hervé carries out all the work in the vines by hand and everything on the ground is done in the direction of the slopes using a winch at the end of a cable which he guides with a plough. Finally, with the ground supple he can pass the plough through the vines with the help of his horse, Reggae Nights. The finer work in the vines is carried out using a pickaxe. Tending to the youngest vines first which suffer the most from the competition of the grass, the grass doesn’t stay away for long, especially if Spring is rainy. Hervé ends the maintenance of his vines by switching to a brush-cutter during the summer which leaves him with vines that are easy and pleasant to harvest.
Hervé allows nature to do its work, welcoming each wine as they are and allowing each vintage to express their character to the full. He does not subtract or add anything to his wines for fear of moving too far away from the wines personality and the connection they have with the terroir; this is also why he refrains from using oak.
His only devices are the work completed in the vineyard, time, quality of sorting and maceration. This therefore excludes additions of preservatives, yeasts, any forms of gas or filtration but also any mechanical manipulation such as pumping over or punching down. All grapes enter the vat in whole clusters and fermentation begins spontaneously eventually releasing juice. There is no controlling of temperature and everything from the harvest to the bottling is done by hand.
His wines are available now.
