Carafons

Some people encounter God through a moment of divine understanding… Julien Pagès had a spiritual revelation about natural wines when his friends gifted him six low-intervention bottles, just as he was leaving his job in special education teacher training. What followed was a decade spent dealing wines at farmers’ markets in the Ardèche, where he took the time to build a faith-based clientele, before settling down in this corner wine shop back in 2019. A quarter of his selection (300 labels with various levels of added sulfur) come from the Ardèche department, most of which are made by young producers working outside of the realm of appellations, like Pierre Bourlier (Vaille Que Vaille at €22) or Patricia and Rémi Bonneton from the Domaine de l’Alezan (Les Chambés, same price). But that doesn’t stop him from being a loyal follower of some of the biggest players in the natural wine world: Dard et Ribo in Crozes-Hermitage, Lapierre in the Beaujolais, Grappe in the Jura, Corbineau in Touraine, etc. // Adrien Nouviaire 

THE BULLET-PROOF BOTTLE: Anar’décho, a breathtaking gamay produced by Johan Tête (€12).