Henri Chauvet Ciel a Perdre 2023
Henri Chauvet Ciel a Perdre 2023
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Henri Chauvet Ciel a Perdre 2023

Henri Chauvet
$40.00

Grape: Carignan
Vintage: 2023
Type: Red

Henri Chauvet—a former insurance banker turned winemaker who trained under the legendary Thierry Allemand in Cornas—is based in Boudes (Auvergne). He quickly became one of the most buzzed-about names in natural wine for his volcanic Gamay and Pinot Noir.

For this cuvée, Chauvet traveled south to La Livinière in the Languedoc to harvest grapes from a passionate female grower tending old-vine, organically farmed Carignan. He then brought the fruit back to his cold Auvergne cellar to apply his signature high-altitude, low-intervention magic.

Ciel à Perdre reveals a bright nose of black fruits (blackberry, blueberry), dried herbs and sweet spices, accompanied by a floral and mineral touch. The palate is juicy, fresh, taut, far from the heavy versions of the grape variety, with supple tannins and a digestible, almost saline finish. Traditional Languedoc Carignan can often be heavy, rustic, and highly alcoholic. Chauvet completely flips this script. By utilizing direct-press juice combined with a delicate whole-cluster maceration, he has made a dark grape drink like an airy, ethereal alpine red.

Henri Chauvet is a new-generation vigneron in Boudes, in the southern Auvergne, who left a career in banking and insurance to pursue wine after training with Jérôme Bressy and Thierry Allemand. In 2021 he took over Annie Sauvat's 10.5-hectare estate and began converting its steep vineyards to organic farming. Gamay, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grow across volcanic basalt, colorful marl, limestone and iron-rich clay, giving Chauvet a wide range of distinct parcels. Fermentations use native yeasts, the wines are unfined and unfiltered, and sulfur is used only as needed, creating natural wines of clarity, texture and volcanic energy.