November 2022
PHARE Ô VINS – STRASBOURG
Well the Phare ô Vins worked out well – report coming soon. On the 17-19th November we are involved with a bunch of partners in hosting an event around natural wine, with food, conferences and music. Around 50 winemakers will be presenting their cuvées during the three day salon. As Strasbourg is one of the key natural wine hubs in France, its about time an annual salon becomes a fixture on the calendar and this event is the prototype for that. The Phare Citadel site is where the event will take place. A post industrial complex of buildings situated in the Port du Rhin neighbourhood, sitting right along the water and almost bang on the French German border. The organising committee includes members from the Phare Citadel Co-operative, Marcus Restaurant, the Au Fil du Vin Libre retail wine shop, Pierre Berthier and our good selves. The lineup of winemakers and the timing for the tastings is displayed below for each day. After the close of the tasting part of the wine fair, the bar, bistronomic food, music and a general open party atmosphere will be going on. 
Salon Brut(es) edition number four took place on the 5th and 6th of November, at the MOTOCO complex in Mulhouse. Super well organised in such an excellent setting and atmospheric with late Autumn vibes. Details around the Brut(es) project on the most excellent Brut(es) web site here We tasted quite a range of wines from around France and Germany, but with the nature of our interest, we did spend some time at the Alsace contingents tables. Fourteen Alsace domains attended the Brut(es) salon, plus a cider maker and also Michelle Ramponi with her exquisite grape seed oils. A great group of people making a difference in Alsace with their attitude in the vineyards and in the cellars. We could write a book about the 14 wine domains in how they provide a view of the range of natural winemakers working in Alsace. First photo L-R top row. Claudine Dreyer from the Jean-Marc Dreyer domain, Louise Meyer from the Meyer family at Julien Meyer, Léo Dirringer from Ruhlmann Dirringer, Émilien Revers from Raisin Sauvage. Julien Albertus from Kumpf & Meyer, Vincent Larcelet from Petit Bouchon, Regis Bard (away for lunch), Christophe Lindenlaub.
L-R top row. David Spenlihauer from Ciders René-Sens, Elsa from Muller Koeberlé, Vanessa Letort from Du Vins aux Liens, Sarah and Jean Fallay from Les Enfants Terribles. Michelle Ramponi from Miralla, Clément Goepp, Anais Fanti, Jeanne Gaston-Breton from La Ferme des 9 Chemins. 
July 2022
Meanwhile there is stuff going on………. Summer Fascht 4, organised by the Association des Vins Libres d’Alsace is set for the 10th and 11th of July. See the poster below for the details. The Salon des Vins Libres edition 8 is all set for the weekend after, the 15th and 16th of July. Again, see below for details. Around the VINS LIBRES wine fairs there is a bunch of independent events organised, loosely linked to the attitude of a week of VINS LIBRES. Check our Instagram feed for details. 
– the project –
The Lost In Alsace Project is focused on two main areas; providing a platform for “les vigneron.ne.s artisans d’Alsace” and secondly, a follow up and reporting of the major events, twists and turns and initiatives that shape what matters with Alsace wine today. As with any “old world” wine region, there are plenty of issues, degrees of bull-shit, and bad attitudes stuck in the industrial agricultural recent past. We will be giving all that sort of stuff a body swerve as we firmly focus on all that vibrant, forward looking, energy that is currently buzzing in the region.
We are big supporters of producers who practice organic or biodynamic husbandry in the vineyards. Vignerons who are looking after the earth. In fact, that is the foundation of our interest. And we love winemakers that carry this attitude through to techniques in the cellar; with natural fermentations, the use of traditional and non-traumatising physical methods, and a healthy disrespect for the use of additives. These are the foundations that allow winemakers the opportunity to express a sense of terroir, a sense of wine that comes from a place, from a time with the input of human skills and attitudes. With a lot of attitude. That takes us into a space where we are mainly focused on, what can loosely be termed NATURAL WINE.
And there is more to it than that, as the Lost in Alsace Project is interested in the community around natural wine; the winemakers, the producer associations, the retail outlets, the wine bars and restaurants, the importers, the distributors, the journalists, the authors, the publishers, the barrel makers, the artists doing labels and posters, the wine fairs and salons, and most importantly all the workers involved in making this all whirr and rattle along. And, of course the humble masses who buy and drink the stuff. 
Three shades of red from Lucas Rieffel – captured by Mona Neilson – website here
