2023 Renardat-Fâche, Cerdon, Méthode Ancestrale, Sparkling Rose Wine, AOC Bugey, France.
Made by a small family winery that is now on to their 18th generation, the Renardat-Fâche’s Cerdon Rosé from the Bugey region between Lyon and Geneva, in the Jura’s remote hillsides is a wonderfully expressive disgorged Pet-Nat that is absolutely delicious with a zesty palate garden strawberries, red peach, blood orange and sour red cherries, along with a hint of yeasty brioche, red apple, mineral notes, delicate florals and wild herbs. Fresh and vibrant, with a little kiss of sweetness, this Méthode Ancestrale bubbly is a fun all organic quaffable wine of easy and tasty seriousness, but without pretense, great for any occasion. The Renadat-Fâche winery is based in the small village of Mérignat and they farm a mix of grapes on a clay and limestone terroir, which brings out the complexity of fruit in the wine. The bright ruby Cerdon Bugey Rosé Sparkling Wine is blessed with low alcohol, just about 8%, and It is made from a combination of Gamay Noir and Poulsard, following those ancient traditional techniques.
The Renardat-Fâche Cerdon Bugey bubbly is done Pet-Nat style or “Méthode Ancestrale” which, as the winery notes, is a fermentation technique that makes it possible to obtain a sparkling wine without the adjunction of any yeast nor sugar, like is done in Champagne. The fermentation process here is natural, and uses only the yeasts and sugars contained in the grapes. There’s a first phase at Renardat-Fâche that happens in thermo-regulated tanks, where the fermentation process starts, in this case after a short skin contact to produce the bright Rosé hue. Then after a light filtration, the wine is bottled immediaty, and fermentation process continues, producing the bubbles and or a fine almost creamy foam. The Bugey region got its full AOC in 1958 and the sparkling Rosé here got its Cerdon Vin de Bugey certification in 2009 and Ranadat-Fâche has been at the top of the producers here since the beginning and continue to be the winery to set the standards for quality. Cerdon Sparkling Rosé wines are hand crafted wines that remain a unique rarity in the United States and I highly recommend getting out and discovering them as soon as possible, with this Renardat-Fâche version at the top of my go to versions along with long time classic producer Patrick Bottex, which usually is an easier find thes days.
($26 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive