A 10 hectolitre vat, 1.6 hectares of vines, energy, friends and ideas, and here is Raphael Baissas de Chastenet! On the steep and wild terroirs of the Col de la Dona in Calce (Pyrénées Orientales), he succeeded in offering very promising natural wines in 2014, from his first vintage.
These moments gave him a taste for agricultural work. Without abandoning the desire to make his own wine one day, he tried other professional experiences, elsewhere where he cultivated his need for freedom and developed his interest in art. Then one day, his father gave him the opportunity to take over the vines he had planted thirty years ago. He left his job, which no longer suited him, and moved to Calce, his home town perched at an altitude of 200 metres in the Roussillon, where he followed the advice of Jean-Philippe Padié. Raphael first encountered difficulties in recovering the land of this wild and sloping terroir which had not been maintained, but with hard work, the first vintage was born in 2014.
The grapes are hand-picked and made without any chemical products, the grapes are selected to get the best out of them. The wine is aged in vats, without blending or filtration. The yeasts are indigenous. Today Vandal-Wine / Nada has grown; new grape varieties and 7 hectares to bring towards what they inspire. His goal is to share a true conception of life: carpe diem. Raphaël, we are following you!
