Producer Anders Frederik Steen

France, Ardeche

Anders Frederik Steen is a young winemaker who lives with his family in the beautiful village of Valvignères in the Ardèche. Here the vineyards are located on soils that are a perfect mix of clay and limestone and are full of life, having been organically grown for decades. He has been producing wine since 2013, when he started buying grapes from neighboring winemakers and vinified and produced together with the legendary Jura winemaker, Jean-Marc Brignot. In his previous life Anders was both a chef and a sommelier, and worked in the best restaurants in his native Denmark. First as a sommelier at Noma, then opening Manfreds and Relée. These experiences are transmitted to his vinification as he does not try to follow rules and does not feel the need to do the same thing every year. Instead, during the harvest, taste the grapes and start imagining the type of wine they might be able to make. It's a creative and logical approach, and the results speak for themselves. Its wines are made from grapes pressed directly in a beautiful old wooden press. Any assembly takes place during the harvest and the different varieties always ferment together, spontaneously, in the open. There is never anything added and they are thoughtful and original expressions of the Ardèche.