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"Chateau Barouillet has been owned by the family for 8 generations, the winery has existed for a very long time and our ancestors have loved and pampered this land." Vincent Alexis, is the current winemaker, took over his dad in 2010 with a strong desire to continue in his forbearers footsteps by working land as naturally as possible.

Located in Pomport, Dordogne, in the South West wine region, in the middle of Montbazillac appellation Southern Bergerac barely 50km from St Emilion. The vineyard is 45 hectares of vined divided in 5 lots: 20ha Montbazillac, 9ha Bergerac red, 5ha Pecharmant, 1ha Cotes de Bergerac Moelleux sweet and 9ha Monbazillac.

"Our approach is to work like the traditional agriculture, observing carefully each land and each lot with a farmers intuition. Since 2010, we have gradually converted all the domain in organic until having all the domain certified or in conversion in 2014. We push the biological approach a little further by working according to the lunar calendar in the vine as to the cellar. We do not use weed killer and we use organic treatment parsimoniously, which maintains a preservation of the ecosystem and improves the quality of the soil. We adapt the way of working the plants and soil according to the yearly climatic conditions and the condition of the vines."

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Matthieu Cosse and Catherine Maisonneuve are making some outstanding wines in Cahors – very elegant, precise and lifted with a wonderful drinkability. No new oak is used in the ‘elevage’, only old barrels of several wines.

With his experience in the cooperative cellar in the South West of France Matthieu settled on his own with Catherine who was straight out of the famous Chateau Leovillle Las Cases (Bordeaux) and produced their first vintage​ together in 1999 from​ a small plot of 5 ha they managed in “fermage”. They are now the owners of 28 ha in Prayssac, near Cahors.

Very quickly they decided to follow biodynamic practices and they set out to make wines that genuinely reflected th​eir ​place of origin. The vines are spread over 2 different types of soil, and each plot is vinified separately. The first terroir is on clay and limestone ("the plateau") gives structured wines made with an ageing potential. The second, in Prayssac, in the valley, produces wines ​that are ​more fleshy, supple and fruity ("the terraces"). The soils are worked and the vines treated in a homeopathic way. The harvest is done by hand, Mathieu and Catherine ​carefully​ sort out the quality of the bunches that will be destemmed. Weather conditions and low yields provide a natural balance (thick skin and little juice). The vinification starts with indigenous yeasts. Vatting is long, with no remontage and filtration is non-existent.

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Franck Lihour of Domaine Castera is part of a new generation of vignerons in the Jurançon AOC of South-West France, that are determined to showcase just how good their terroir, and the resulting wines can be.

Located in Monein, one of the most highly regarded villages in Jurançon, the Domaine has been in the Lihour family since 1885 when it was purchased by Frank’s great grandfather. It was originally used for mixed farming with a couple of hectares of vines, and the wine from these vineyards was mostly sold in barrels to local bars and restaurants. Franck’s father Christian took over the Domaine around three decades ago and was the first to really prioritise winemaking. He grew the vineyard area to 11.5 hectares and sold all of the wine in bottle. The wines of Domaine Castera quickly gained a reputation for quality. Franck studied viticulture and oenology in Bordeaux before spending time working as a wine retailer in Pau, which exposed him to an enormous amount of great wine, vignerons and winemakers. From here he went on to work at wineries in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Corsica, California and South Africa. His resume includes an apprenticeship at Chateau Suduiraut in Sauternes, and more recently he oversaw the winemaking at the iconic Jurançon producer Clos Joliette for three vintages. In 2014, Franck returned home with a clear vision of what was needed to take Domaine Castera to the next level. This included plans for organic and biodynamic farming, lowering yields, natural fermentations, lowering the amount of sulphur used, using a wider range of fermentation and ageing vessels, and even replanting some local Jurançon varieties that are on the edge of extinction.