Unclassifiable. This is the word that immediately comes to mind when we look at the career of Éric Morain, a criminal lawyer – ranked among the 30 most powerful lawyers in France by GQ magazine – who became in the defender of “natural” winegrowers for a few years. With a few flashes to his list, starting with the trial of Olivier Cousin in Angers, “absurdly prosecuted for marking Anjou on… its Anjou wine“. Very quickly, he realizes thatmany of these winegrowers needed a lawyer in order to stop compromising on their rights, and defend themselves against denunciations and the absurdity of controls. In AOC, the most important is the letter O“, he points out, smiling.
But his love of living wines dates back to the 1990s, when he discovered the domain of Trevallon, in Provence, which had just left the appellation, and therefore found itself labeled Vin de Table. “It seemed so curious to me that I wanted to taste it, he confides to us, and I obviously loved it“. Before that, he willingly admits having had more classic favourites, starting with a Yquem 1967, or a Lynch Bages 1989.
Today, despite a minister’s schedule, he does not hesitate to criss-cross the French vineyards, not hiding his penchant for southern wines, from Languedoc to Corsica via Provence, without forgetting Italy, as well as a great affection for Loire wines, “including volcanic, still too little known“. Beyond being a fine drinker with a good fork, Éric Morain is also a man of encounters, who remembers with emotion an autumn evening in the Loire region with the winemaker Nicolas Réau and his cuvée. Victoire, or even a scorching lunch at La Courtille alongside Éric Pfifferling, undisputed master of Tavel and producer of a sublime Anglore.
Author of a now famous Plea for natural wine, published in 2019 by Nouriturfu editions, and elected Personality of the Year 2021 by the Revue des Vins de France, he now occupies a resolutely special place among natural winegrowers, who are grateful to him for having been able to create some game-changing precedents for years to come. “In this book, I have simply told stories of winegrowers who have their hands in the earth and their feet in the vineyard. And who just ask to make the wine they like“.
Domaine Jousset – Bubulle 2018
Montlouis-sur-Loire – Loire Valley
Price: 23€
As a fan of chenin, “king grape variety of the banks of the royal river», Eric Morain could not omit mentioning in his selection the domain of Lise and Bertrand Jousset, which produces according to him «one of the best Montlouis!“. Here, a sparkling version “rwave like a bubble, and taut like a bow“. A cuvée to make you forget many other sparkling wines!
Available online on la-pangee
Nicolas Mariotti-Bindi – Special Edition Cantina Di Torra 2017
Patrimonio – Corsica
Price: €17.90
If Corsica is his country of heart, it is precisely on the region of Patrimonio that he sets his sights, not hesitating to designate it, as “a place blessed by the gods, geological circus between sea and mountain where no less than 7 winds blow: the siroco, the libecciu or the sea breeze“. The only and first appellation to have banned pesticides in its specifications, there are powerful, sunny wines, yet full of freshness, like this cuvée by Nicolas Mariotti-Bindi, a 100% Nielucciu from a unique blend of all the parcels of the estate
Available online at Vins-Etonnants
” READ ALSO: The five favorite cuvées of Blanche Loiseau: “I have the memory of wines”
Jordi Perez – Le Casot des Mailloles Rosé de Zaza 2020
Wine of France – Roussillon
Price: 18€
It is on the heights of Banyuls that Jordi Perez, a young winegrower of Catalan origin settled in 2010 before taking over the legendary domain of Alain Castex in 2015.A fiery man who makes marvelous wines!” enthuses Eric Morain. If the latter is to be believed, and we cannot find him wrong “the rosé is a wine to be consumed all year round, and is tasted ruby in color, far from an overly marketed pale pink“. Here, a subtle blend of Syrah and Marsanne, “a pure delicacy of balance, which goes with everything“.
Available online on bubeurdevin
Alexandre Bain – Miss M 2015
French wine – Pouilly smoke
Price: €42.50
In a region where most farmspesticide at all costs, Alexandre Bain is a magician“. A winegrower defended by Eric Morain, “unfairly deprived of his name, and to whom justice will return him after a lawsuit won in 2017“. If the reputation of the domain is well established, it continues to fight “for cleaner land and virtuous viticulture. Accompanied by his faithful horse, he gives sauvignon its letters of nobility through wines that are recognizable among a thousand. It is time for the rest of the appellation to take inspiration from it, rather than shrinking on a reputation in danger.“. In 2015, Mademoiselle M has an intense yellow color, a fine, balanced mouth… To be kept in the cellar for several years in the following vintages.
Available online at vinnouveau
Frank Cornelissen – Magma 2016
Etna – Sicily
Price: €430 for 1.5l
Heading for Sicily with a cuvéeexceptional, to drink in a magnum“. A 100% Nerello Mascalese from vines perched on volcanic soils, nearly 100 meters above sea level. “We feel the strength and minerality of the center of the earth to which this wine seems directly connected. More than a wine, a lava!
Available online on auction sites
The editor recommends:
» The five favorite cuvées of Christophe Pelé, 2-star chef at Clarence, in Paris
» The five favorite cuvées of David Bizet, starred chef at L’Oiseau Blanc, in Paris
» The five favorite cuvées of Cyril Lignac, France’s favorite chef
