Francois and Pascaline Plouzeau maintain an immaculate vineyard near the village of Richelieu which lies south of Tours quite close to the Chinon region.
Natural wine
About organic and biodynamic wines that have been fermented with natural yeasts and no additions except for a little sulphur.
Contact Us
To contact us by email: wine@livingwines.com.au To contact us by phone: +61 3 6224 1236
Wim Wagemans – Le Bouc à Trois Pattes – Inspiring wines
Wim Wagemans -Introduction Le Bouc à Trois Pattes means “The Three-Legged Goat” – apparently named after a mass produced “supermarket” wine that featured an animal with five legs. Having spent a jovial lunch with Wim Wagemans and his friend and our long time producer Axel Prüfer, we know he has […]
Mataburro – Great Wines from Laurent Roger and Melissa Ingrand
Mataburro – Introduction Roussillon is the Catalan region of France lying on the Mediterranean side of the country in sight of the Pyrenees mountains that divide Spain from France. Mataburro is the name of small domaine established in Roussillon by rising stars Laurent Roger and Melissa Ingrand. Their wines are […]
Domaine de la Loue: Catherine Hannoun
Catherine Hannoun of Domaine de la Loue produces excellent Jura wines from plots near Pupillin and Marnoz. Her Savagnin, from a plot near Pupillin is a real revelation. It is complex, pure and delicious! Her domaine is named after the Loue river which rises from a spring slightly north-west of […]
Jean Marc Dreyer: Reliable wines from Alsace
Jean Marc Dreyer produces refined and exciting wines in Alsace. He loves to macerate his white grapes to produce orange wines of great complexity.
A visit with Jean Marc Dreyer in Alsace
Jean Marc Dreyer – A visit We first met Jean Marc Dreyer from the village of Rosheim in Alsace a number of years ago at a winter salon in the tiny village of Glaine-Montaigut in the hills to the east of the Auvergne city of Clermont-Ferrand. It is a small […]
A brief history of the term “natural wine”
We love the term ‘Natural Wine’. Let us explain why. We have always been educators and communicators. That is why we love writing to explain our wines and what they mean to us. And that is why the term appeals, because it helps people communicate exactly what they mean about a naturally-fermented wine that has been made without additions and without anything being taken away from the wine.
Just add oxygen – Reflections on the allure of oxidative wines
We have been thinking a lot about oxidative wines lately. There are a number of reasons for this. We have been importing Jura wines that are deliberately oxidative ranging from the Vin Jaunes that are exposed to oxygen for many years through to the table wines made from Savagnin and Chardonnay that have slight oxidative qualities.
Minerality in wine – Part 2
Minerality of the soil – Introduction We want to explore the importance of minerality of the soil in more detail, because in Part 1 of this series, published in the April 2013 newsletter we explained that only three of the sixteen essential elements for plant growth enter the plant via […]
Carmen’s cheese.
Carmen the cheesemaker (she’s holding our perfect apéro for a 39° day - @jeanpierre_robinot’s Fêtembulles).
Carmen’s cheese on a delicious summer dish at @restaurant_circus.
If you are in Arbois it’s something essential to eat.
If you see a tiny herd of goats in the outer streets of Arbois heading home to be milked then you have found its source of the cheese.
3 days ago
Arbois … just subtly reminding you as you arrive in town that it was granted the first (1ere) AOC ( Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) in 1936. Actually it was the equal first wine AOC with several others. Cassis, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cognac, Monbazillac, and Tavel were defined at the same time … Still an important reminder of the importance of Jura wines.
The actual first AOC was for Roquefort cheese, not a wine, in 1925. Comté had to wait until 1958. While the wine accolades came early surely Comté should have been acknowledged much earlier?
5 days ago
Still in June … moments at @bistrot_des_claquets in Arbois, one of our favourite places on the planet.
The calm before the lunchtime storm.
The entrée buffet
Christophe - cheese portioner extraordinaire (@chevredarbois cheese of course)
Sharing a glass of Alice Fahrenkrug‘s wine with Alice (who took some convincing)
A rare sighting of Roger on Instagram (who doesn’t yet know it’s here)
Friday is frites.
7 days ago
June 2026. A restaurant we visit every year - for the people (including here @romainquiboit and @thepocket_rocket in the background in the second photo), the beauty, the produce, the generosity, the garden walk, the impeccable cooking and the wine. Every visit is a joy of the first order something to look forward to with great anticipation knowing there will never be a moment of disappointment.
@james_edward_henry_ and @shaunbarneykelly you are geniuses!
With impeccable timing (this post is from a meal in June - sharing our French trip this year is a slow project) we can use it to share that @le_doyennerestaurant_ is coming to @orson.paris on 20 September with vegetables and more. Go and support them if you can - they are teasing to make it regular! We’ll have a post about @orson.paris eventually too - our last, very gorgeous meal in France this year. But that was the end of July and we are still in June.
2 weeks ago
Setting aside the stress of knowing we couldn’t eat any of this because we were about to walk into the restaurant for lunch visiting @le_doyennerestaurant_ at the weekend and shopping for vegetables at its weekend market was absolutely one of our favourite moments of our summer in France this year.
Done with the same joy, generosity and gorgeousness as every other part of this establishment the Saturday and Sunday summer markets are a brilliant addition to this grand ever-evolving project.
We were heading towards the Jura and the panier of vegetables we took with us was invaluable.
You don’t need to be eating at the restaurant to shop or eat here. We’ve always loved lunch at Le Doyenné and now we’re locked in to a weekend shopping trip each time we visit.
Congratulations @james_edward_henry_ and @shaunbarneykelly. We’re crossing our fingers it’s repeated next summer.
4 weeks ago
We love this first photo of Jean-Pierre and Noëlla Robinot - a reminder of what a formidable and glorious team they make.
An afternoon with them is full of joy, surprises (the 2002 Vouvray as fresh as a daisy), always some new knowledge, delightful people and also always the most delicious food and wine.
1 month ago