2021 Domaine Arretxea Rose, Irouleguy, France

The Basque country lies along the southwestern border of France and Spain, deep in the dramatic Pyrnes mountains. The eleventh century monks of Roncevaux made wine to cater to a population of touristsreligious pilgrims traveling through the mountain pass from France on their way to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. However, throughout the centuries, wine production dissipated drastically. Although Iroulguy was awarded its own A.O.C. in 1970, by the late twentieth century, most of the remaining vignerons were selling to the local cooperative. And then along came Michel and Thrse Riouspeyrous
Just after losing his father at the age of thirteen, Michel was raised by his grandfather, with whom he worked in the family farm and vineyards. He eventually gravitated towards studies in Agronomy before the mandatory service militaire sent him to Africa for duty. While in Africa, Michel met Thrse, an Alsatian who was on vacation. They married and returned to Michels home in the Southwest in the early eighties. In 1989, they decided to start their own domaine by renting two hectares of vineyards. The decision to farm organically came rather instantaneously to Michel. Once certified as organic, he and Thrse pushed on towards the next logical progression: biodynamics. Juxtaposed against a backdrop of co-op wine that has come to categorize the appellation in recent decades, the Riouspeyrous seem even more radicalnot only for bottling their own wine, but also for farming it as they do. For Michel and Thrse, it just translates into a more authentic expression of the grape. A mere glimpse of their steep, terraced land, amid beautifully lush wildflowers, set against the white peaks of the Pyrnes, with sheep grazing on the soft, aerated soils in between vineyard rows, makes it easy to see what inspired such a decision.