NICOLAS CARMARANS, Aveyron – Organic
Maximus (100% Fer Servadou) is natural minimalism in a glass. Scarcely venturing above 11% it nevertheless sports brilliant purple raiment and positively billows with berry fruit. There is the usual graphite/slatey undertow and yeasty seasoning, but, like so many of Nico’s wines it is a lipsmacker. After destemming the grapes are fermented in tank. Delightful red fruit flavours abound amidst the sturdiness of the wine; raspberries and cherries on top of a layer of cool stones and pungent medicinality. It has a sanguine quality that gets the pulses racing; it is good will amplified in a glass; it is the earth, water, grass and stones churned into a ruby-hued liquid.
Nicolas Carmarans, Izagues
For a long time, Nicolas ran a natural wine bar in Paris, Café de la Nouvelle Mairie. Interested in making wine, he travelled regularly to Aveyron, the region where his great-grandfather made wine.
After purchasing his prized "Le Mauvais Temps" site, he sold his wine bar and turned full time vigneron, back in the very region his ancestor had left to settle in Paris, a century or so before.
Nicolas worked tirelessly to restore the natural terroir of this beautiful site, surrounded by forests and all the biodiversity responsible for the unique character of his wines. Never any chemicals or pesticide, gentle handling, minimal sulphur. In the hands of Nicolas, the rather rustic and tannic Fer Servadou becomes docile and soft. Thanks to the quality of his grapes, the very light and gentle extraction, the wines gain in drinkability without compromising the true essence of the grape nor the region.
As Nico says himself “I want to make wines that I like to drink”.