Baptiste Nayrand “L’Astrale”
Coteaux du lyonnais, france | 2020
One of the things that sets Le Midi’s wine club apart from other clubs is our vested interest in finding niche wines from around the world that go against the common grain. Whether it be a unique varietal, appellation, winemaking technique, or simply a cool backstory, each of the bottles we bring in speak something to our overall philosophy of choosing the most spectacular bottles we can find and educating our guests on why they made the cut. This makes our club particularly unique as we are not finding bulk wines for cheap prices then passing them off to our guests for a huge profit. We choose wines that would cost as they would on our retail wall, but with the club you get first dibs at being able to take four of these gems home with you without having to play the cat and mouse chase!
This selection is one of those rare birds. Only 1,800 bottles were produced which have to be shared with the rest of the world! Not only is this wine made in miniscule amounts, it also comprises the perfect recipe to get a Le Midi stamp of approval: the varietal is one that we love and comes from an unexpected appellation that deserves greater recognition, the farming techniques are focused on organic and biodynamic methods, the young winemaker is an up and coming rockstar in perfecting quality product in the weird world of natural wine…and the label is freaking cool looking! (Ok less emphasis on the last remark but we have to recognize great art when we see it.)
In the Coteaux du Lyonnais AOP, Gamay reins king in this funky little French appellation that rests smack dab in the middle of Beaujolais and Northern Rhône, but that gets overlooked by its more famous northern and southern siblings. It takes on more DNA likeness to Beaujolais and Burgundy, but decidedly turns their attention away from anything Northern Rhône-inspired.
Now let’s chat about this “garagiste” winemaker: Baptiste Nayrand. Getting his start in 2014, Baptiste procured 6 hectares of vineyards which was the maximum amount he was comfortable with managing by himself as he is truly a one-man-band working his alchemy from his garage. Adding no additional SO2, this wine is the definition of “natural” but made in such a clean style that you won’t expect any bottle variation gambling on what the final result will be. The “L’Astrale” bottling is only made in the best vintages from 60-year-old vines grown in a scant .8 hectares of his overall 6. This hand-harvested wine goes through 100% whole cluster fermentation then rests in fiberglass tanks for six months before release. The mixture of old vine Gamay and whole cluster fermentation brings with it a sense of the Northern Rhône with its power and structure alongside the delicate nature of Beaujolais. This is not a Gamay for the faint of heart! Make sure to pair with some chargrilled lamb kebobs drenched in a quality herb infused olive oil and get ready to take off into the flavor cosmos!