Chateau Romanin works 58 hectares of biodynamic vines on the north slope of the Alpilles, within the Les Baux-de-Provence AOC that has required 100 percent organic farming since 2023. Dr Carolyn Sheetz acquired the estate in March 2024.
Tip: The cathedral cellar is carved into the limestone hillside; book a guided tour to see it.
Dominique Hauvette has farmed her small Alpilles estate biodynamically since 1988, working native yeasts, long aging in foudre and concrete, and minimal cellar intervention. The wines are a touchstone for serious Mediterranean low-intervention farming.
Tip: Allocations move through specialist importers (Kermit Lynch in the US); cellar visits are limited and best arranged through the wine merchant network.
The Cartier family certified Mas de Gourgonnier organic in the mid-1970s, decades before the modern wave, and continues to farm without chemicals at Mouries on the south slope of the Alpilles. The Reserve du Mas red and the Les Baux rose are the calling cards.
Tip: Importer Kermit Lynch carries the wines in the US; Mouries is also the olive-oil capital of Provence and the estate sells its own pressing.
Dominique Hauvette works native-yeast ferments, no added enzymes, no fining and minimal sulphur across her Cornaline red and Roucas white, the Alpilles reference for natural-leaning farming and cellar work.
Tip: The Cornaline red is the canonical Hauvette wine; the small-production whites move quickly through specialist merchants.
Dominique Hauvette works with minimal added sulfite across her range, with the Cornaline red and Roucas white bottled with no fining and only protective sulfite at bottling. The Alpilles reference for low-sulfite Mediterranean reds.
Tip: Low-sulfite reds travel less robustly than conventional bottles; buy from a temperature-controlled merchant and drink within a few years.