PHILIPPE CHEVARIN - OBSCUR DE LA FORCE

In a past life, Philippe Chevarin was an audio engineer. Starting as a musician, he eventually shifted his interests to the technical aspects of sound, After reading a few books on the subject, Philippe started gigging with local bands. Completely self taught, this 23 year career would see him working with unknown noise-bands to more famous acts like Vanessa Paradis. Originally from the Southwest, Philippe moved to Nantes after meeting his future wife. Philippe's already blossoming love affair with wine, and coincided with an increasing disillusionment with the business side of the music industry. Engineering gave Philippe a lot of downtime, so he began studying viticulture and oenology. Philippe now finds himself with about five hectares of vines. Two thirds of the production consists of Melon de Bourgogne , with Gamay, Grolleau and a bit or Cabernet Sauvignon rounding out the lineup. The wines are bottled as Vin de France, but would fall under Muscadet-Coteaux-de-la-Loire for the whites and Coteaux d'Ancenis for the reds if under the appellation system. The vines are worked organically, and in Ecocert conversion. Philippe is the first to admit he is completely new to winemaking, and is still learning his craft. From his first vintage in 2015, he aims to make wines as simply as possible. All the wines are vinified in fiberglass tanks and go through malo. So far he has succeeded in not adding any sulfur at any point during winemaking or bottling, but is not against it if he feels the wines will benefit from it.