The Wine: Lucas Madonia The Litre Chasselas 2022

Lucas Madonia The Litre Chasselas is a natural wine made from 100% Chasselas grapes grown organically in Valais, Switzerland. It comes in an old-school one-liter bottle.

The Producer: Lucas Madonia

Lucas Madonia's vineyards are situated in and around Ayent, Valais region of Switzerland, positioned between 600 and 820 meters above sea level. The predominant soil types include Schists and Limestone, along with Loess, Quartz, Clays, among others. The terrain's terraced nature prohibits any mechanical winemaking processes.

Vegetation control is managed manually using a backpack brush cutter, while organic treatments, utilizing less than 1kg of copper per hectare, are applied with a backpack atomizer. The grapes are harvested manually and transported on foot.

Drawing from Burgundian winemaking traditions, the operation focuses on cultivating plots within Valais. Destemming is performed manually through sifting, with maceration periods averaging 25 days. The aging process is conducted in old Burgundy barrels, ranging from 228L to 600L. White wines are pressed on the harvest day and then aged in 400L barrels. Bottling in August is executed by gravity directly from the barrels. All produced vintages are made without additives and devoid of sulphites.

In the vineyard, he uses minimal intervention – 500 and 501 biodynamic preparations and not much else. In the cellar, Aris is equally non-interventionist, allowing for spontaneous fermentation and avoiding any type of filtration.