Les Bois Perdus 'Aphrodite' Ardeche Rouge 2022 750ml

FRANCE : ARDÈCHE : AUBIGNAS

BIODYNAMIC : Syrah, Grenache Noir

MED-BODIED, SOUR CHERRY, RED FRUIT, VIOLET, SPICE, NO OAK

Les Bois Perdus is Léna Perdu and Alexis Robin, two former film industry workers who traded their Paris careers for three biodynamic hectares in the Ardèche — the wild, gorge-cut department east of the Rhône where natural wine producers have quietly been doing serious work for a decade. The name is a bilingual pun on their surnames: Robin evokes Robin Hood, which evokes the woods; Perdu means lost. Les bois perdus: the lost woods.

Aphrodite is built from equal parts Syrah and Grenache Noir, with a technique that sets it apart from standard red winemaking: the Syrah is destemmed and macerated in direct-pressed Grenache juice, picking up color and structure without heavy tannin. Stainless steel throughout, indigenous yeast, zero additions, nothing added. The 2022 vintage was hot and dry across southern France — at 12.5%, the wine made it out lighter-footed than the vintage required.

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