A long lunch at Samuel Boulay’s last spring proved to be one of the highlights of our year and this collection of wines features our favourites from that day.
Originally from the Loire, Samuel worked for many years alongside the legendary Michel Augé of Les Maisons Brûlées, whilst quietly releasing some of the most original wines we have tasted from the region.
In 2013 Samuel moved to Les Salelles, a small village on the banks of the River Ibie in a particularly beautiful part of the Ardèche. He farms five hectares of old vineyards which are surrounded by forest, planted over clay and limestone, and visibly teem with life. Samuel doesn’t cut the grass between the rows and treats the vines only with homoeopathic treatments according to the moon’s cycle. There is a real sensitivity to his work and a sense of serenity pervades.
In the cellar he is a purist. He favours long, slow presses for both whites and reds, and as barrels were taking up too much space in his tiny cave, the wines are now aged entirely in cuve. Working without electricity, each wine is bottled by gravity with no additions and labelled by hand.
Samuel’s gentle and discrete nature makes for wines that possess an energy and harmony that are rare to find. These are complex, challenging wines which truly reward those who wait.
Samuel’s wines are now available on Tutto a Casa