2018 Lunar Apogee, cote du rhone

The Leperchois family built the winery in Roquemaure in 1974 and converted the estate to organic in 1997 and to biodynamic practices in 2009. Fabien and Magali, avid advocates of biodynamic farming, explains why they call it natural viticulture: “...great wines can only be produced by working with nature, not struggling against it...after 25 years of observations and occasionally bitter experience, there is no longer a place for the ethics of productivity in the natural equilibrium at Lunar Apogé.”

Fabien is mindful of all of the vineyard's natural surroundings, and takes inspiration from their rhythms. The vines are dry farmed and no chemicals are used (pesticides, fertilizer, additives, etc). Instead, composted grape pomace is used as fertilizer in the fall, plowed in by hand around the base of the vines. The vines are painstakingly cared for by hand throughout the year: vigorous pruning in the fall, disbudding in the spring and thinning of excess clusters in the summer. Finally, the grapes are harvested by hand.

In the winery, traditional methods are used to foster the most natural and complete embodiment of the fruits of the vine. Spontaneous fermentation takes place with native yeasts, no winemaking additives are used and the wines are very minimally fined or filtered. Sulfites are ≤50 mg/L. The results are elegant wines - beautiful expressions of soil, place, and the passion of the men and women who toil there.