Jeux de Vins

Natural wine is a rewarding but precarious business. Making the commitment to switch from conventional practices is a daunting proposition for winemakers in Alsace, who have historically ensured the safety of their crops and stability of their wines through chemical intervention. Enter Julien Albertus, the energetic winemaker at Kumpf et Meyer, who noticed an increasing interest in "going natural" but an understandable aversion to the inherent economic risks.

His response? The Jeux de Vins collective, where Julien supports various local domains already using biodynamic farming principles in realizing their first low intervention cuvées. Building on the biodynamic process, Julien shows how to avoid synthetic yeast and filtration, while cutting down on sulphur. The result: natural winemaking techniques returning to a historical region where they were once the norm.

Beyond a space to experiment with natural wine and learn its key oenological principles, the collective allows these winemakers to retain grapes that would usually be sent to the local cooperative or sold on the wider market, instead making them into their own cuvées. This better benefits their bottom line, ensures future financial sustainability, and gives us some excellent new opportunities for drinking.

Current participating vignerons include Domaine Einhart and Domaine Leipp Leininger, with the list already poised to grow and expand. All in all, a genius initiative by an energetic and talented winemaker who we hope will bring even more natural wine from the Alsace.