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The Club
Portrait / Raphaël Bartucci, the Bugey Cerdon in madness!
Published on March 07, 2023
Self-taught in wine, Raphaël Bartucci is today a star and"the" representative of the Bugey Cerdon appellation. With 2.10 hectares of vines and 15,000 bottles produced per year, his vintages are a hit! Portrait.
Son of Calabrian immigrants, Raphael Bartucci grew up in Moselle. He meets wine while spending his holidays in the Bugey with his family. A discovery that sounds like a revelation! He was convinced: he would come to the region to make wine.Raphaël nevertheless began studying electro-mechanics before settling in 1982 in Mérignat, a small rustic village clinging to a hillside in the south of the Ain region and home to the Bugey Cerdon appellation. There he bought a ruined maison and decided to plant a few acres of vines for his personal consumption.He imagines wine as a noble product, the fruit of nature and not of industry, and is not satisfied with what he is told about how to follow. Raphaël inquires, searches, and through friends, meets Pierre Overnoy and then Marcel Lapierre who confirm to him that one can work differently.Then comes a first vinification in 1983, then he continues to plant a few acres to reach in 2011, 2.10 ha on 10 plots!Employed during the day at the commune, he looks after his vines at weekends and in the evening until nightfall. He quickly made a name for himself in France and abroad, as far away as Japan, for his tenacity and the sincerity of his wines.In 1992, he devoted himself entirely to the production of Cerdon wines. Without artifice and with an ancestral method. A form of respect in continuity for Raphaël and a way to fully claim the terroirs. In 1997, he is certified AB by Ecocert.Since then, Raphael Bartucci has not been looking to expand. His 2.10 hectares are enough for him, and we are content to settle for it... with delight!
