JEAN-MICHEL STÉPHAN

LVT 2016 r 2008 wh Archetype of the grower who is outside the loop: Jean-Michel tries to be organic at every turn - vineyard and cellar. Hence very low sulphur use, and as a follower of Jules Chauvet from the Beaujolais, ferments some of his wines with carbonic maceration. When on the button, the wines carry excellent fruit; they benefit from decanting. They are expensive, but full of interest. These come from mainly southern sector sources, so there is an intrinsic elegance about them. The 2013 Coteaux de Tupin is STGT wine, costing €75. The Vieilles Vignes en Coteau has been made, and is very good, in 2015 - the first vintage since another very good 2011. From 2015 there is also a small cuvée from the mica-schist soils of Verenay in the northern sector, the name to be decided. Jean-Michel also grows organic apricots. He used to make a good Condrieu which ceased after 2008 when the vineyard could no longer be borrowed. His son Romain, 20 years in November 2017, has done wine studies at Belleville.
Jean-Michel, son Romain 1 ancienne route de Semons 69420 Tupin et Semons
Tel: +33(0)474 56 62 66
jean-michel-stephan3@wanadoo.fr
Countries exported to:1) USA 2) Norway 3) Denmark 4) Singapore - before 1) USA 2) Norway (Andy Douglas, Vectura) 3) Denmark 4) Japan 5) Hong Kong/Singapore (La Cabane Avan
Percentage Exported: 60% (up from 45% mid-200s)
British Importers: OW Loeb & Co Ltd, 3 Archie Street, off Tanner Street, London SE1 3JT, +44(0)207 234 0385, finewine@owloeb.com www.owloeb.com
USA Importers: Martin Scott Wines Ltd, 1981 Marcus Avenue Suite E117, Lake Success, NY 11042, +1516 327 0808, www.martinscottwines.com , Jeff Wildburn, Hollywood, California Regal Wine Imports John O’Neill 2 Commerce Drive suite 3 Moorestown NJ 08057 +1856 985 6388 www.regalwine.com info@regalwine.com
Quotes
"I make wines on the fruit, without sulphur. I want fruit and maximum freshness. The late Jules Chauvet in the Beaujolais would saturate his vats with carbonic gas until the cap rose, and vinification would take place around 10?C. That´s what I do with one of my three wines, the one from Tupin that is called Coteaux de Tupin, while my plain Côte-Rôtie is made partly along those lines."
Jean-Michel Stéphan
"The smell of reduction comes with my process; remember, the wine is not blocked in any way by sulphur, and the reduction aromas lessen in the bottle after 16 months´ cask raising. You should also decant the wine, and it will remain good for three days in an open bottle."
Jean-Michel Stéphan
"My great wish is that carbonic gas use becomes accepted as giving a maximum of fruit, a perfection of the elements in a wine. My methods turn more on fermentation than ageing - oak ageing is just to add some polish to a wine."
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“The Serine does not produce black wine, unlike the clone Syrahs.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“I have stopped my apricot growing on the plain near Condrieu, and am planting Syrah vin de pays there.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“2010 is a great year, a keeping year.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“2011 is very droit, a keeping wine with good structure, very tannic, but it is austere, which is logical at this stage.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“2012 has a lack of matter; it is a good 2008. It was lactic when I bottled it in September, but it is getting back its freshness two months later. I made only one wine this year.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“I have used no SO2 in the vinification and raising since 1997: I burn a sulphur stick in the casks, which may leave some traces, but very little. I now make wines that are more digestible and soft, perhaps as I am getting older!” Nov 2013
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“I made my first wine in 1989. I was lent a concrete vat by my female neighbour (voisine); I didn’t heat the vat past 17°C, and used a manual pump for the pumping overs.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan
“If you assemble the Viognier with Syrah after the vinification, the wine becomes too perfumed.”
Jean-Michel Stéphan