Domaine Curtet - Marie and Florian Curtet

Natural Chautagne wines

You are going to tell us Savoy again, yes, but in Chautagne, we hadn't stopped there yet! And it was at Marie and Florian Curtet that we went to unearth beautiful bottles.
Returning to ancestral know-how, respecting nature as it should, these are the great convictions of this young couple. By taking over the estate of Jacques Maillet, Marie and Florian want to be authentic and produce wines in their image.
Epi-curieux.com invites you to discover these local wines, free, fresh and digestible.

The story of the Curtet estate

It was in 2011, during a fair in La Roche sur Foron, that Marie and Florian Curtet met Jacques Maillet, THE winegrower of natural wines in Savoy, (follower of biodynamics and respect for nature, he has been committed since 2003 to produce wines with unconventional methods, it is a big name in natural wine in Savoy). From that day, they decided to work together in the vineyards of Chautagne, on 3 hillsides in Motz and Serrières, north of the Bourget lake. Jacques Maillet will pass on to them his love for nature, his know-how for biodynamic cultivation and his knowledge of how to protect the vines in natural ways.
4 years later, Jacques handed over the torch to Marie and Florian. Filled with convictions and beautiful values, they wish to perpetuate the work and the passion for the lands of Chautagne.
Marie and Florian Curtet want to be the least interventionist possible, they want to work in harmony with nature, therefore towards a biodynamic farming, without inputs, without pesticides and without artifices.
The values ​​for Marie and Florian Curtet are simple. Respecting nature by providing it with what it needs and this first of all involves listening to the landscape but also through regular tastings of their wines. Over the years, they have learned to analyze the nature of the landscape, their views and their knowledge develop every day, they love the richness and complexity that is biodiversity. Humans in osmosis with nature!
Convictions and values ​​that give Marie and Florian Curtet the will to transmit. Cultivating in this way, listening to the land, should be reintegrated from an early age to impact.
In order to inspire young people to understand the process of life and the importance of soils, they organize visits to their vineyards, plant trees together and explain their job.
All these approaches then created great freedom and diversity in the red and white wines of Marie and Florian Curtet.

Natural Savoy wines

The human scale vineyard of this young couple extends over approximately 6 hectares on a slope, along the Rhône, west, located in Chautagne. The southern climate of Chautagne allows soil fertility. The soils are composed of sandstone and molasses (a sandy-loamy soil of marine origin).
Marie and Florian Curtet were notably trained by Gilles Berlioz, a master of the natural Savoy soil.
The Curtet estate puts nature back at the top of the scale, and this involves different layers of vegetation across the plots. If they want to be as less interventionist as possible, this means developing biodiversity through the vines.
They then sowed trees and plants across their various hillsides. Because yes, we know that machines have replaced the work of trees for 80 years, industrialization has led man to add sulfites, pesticides in vines and wine. Automation has gradually made humans forget the knowledge and sense of observation of the environment.
Marie and Florian Curtet say STOP to machines! Let's go back to ancestral farming!
Let's leave room for the role of the tree, which is to manage the water needs of the vines. This one has the role of the conductor, they manage the periods of dryness, stormy: all the climatic changes!
Marie and Florian Curtet decide to let go: they don't plough, don't prune, don't cultivate... the land.
Thanks to the planting of trees and plants in the plots, the vines are naturally cared for by them such as thyme, nettles, thyme (an antiseptic with antiviral properties). They want nature to take the lead and the earth to self-regulate.

Wines from the Curtet estate

It is in concrete vats but also in sandstone that the wines of Marie and Florian Curtet reflect the work of the vine, the vinification and their continuous commitment.
Since 2019, they have chosen to offer only 2 bottles per vintage: a white wine and a red wine. Each bottle is a blend of their red and white grape varieties: Mondeuse, Gamay, Pinot Noir, Jacquère, Altesse... Today, they only make blends since they plant new grape varieties and replant current ones.
Marie and Florian Curtet's first bottle, Mondeuse from 2014, is the year Jacques Maillet left his estate to the young couple. A 100% Mondeuse bottle that surprises with its freshness and complexity.
A few years later, they offer us a second Mondeuse, vintage 2016, all in flexibility and delicacy. With only 10% alcohol, this bottle has matured for 9 months on the lees.
We find on Epi-curieux.com, the bottle Frissons des Cimes of 2019. An alliance of Mondeuse, Gamay and Pinot Noir grape varieties, which gives a perfect combination of fruits, spices, all with great finesse. Also available in magnum.
Tonnerre de gres 2019 is a blend of Jacquère and Altesse. A wine without filters, without inputs, with fruity and citrus notes. Purity, vivacity and salinity.
We find fruit, finesse, freshness and complexity through these wines. Happiness secured!