Concentrated, powerful and tense with a long, saline, mineral finish. A complex wine that showcases its beautiful mountainous origins. One to lay down. Find out more.
About the wine
The standout wine of the brilliant 2023 vintage, Lépiny is a natural wine that really showcases the meticulous work and talent of Lucas Madoni. Showing a beautiful balance between concentrated fruit, spice and Alpine minerality, this is a wine with remarkable finesse and a silky-smooth texture and a finish that just keeps going. Tasting great already, we imagine this will just get better with time.
Made with a blend of Gamay, Pinot Noir and Diolinoir (a Swiss grape that is a cross between Pinot Noir and a rare French variety Rouge de Diolly) grown on steep, terraced vines on limestone schist soils. The grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed by hand and macerated for about 25 days before pressing into barrel. As with all of Lucas’ wines, there is remarkable purity here that reflects it’s mountainous roots.
About Lucas Madonia
Hailing from Burgundy and having trained in the Jura, Lucas Madonia is a young winemaker who is now making waves in the Swiss Alps. In the most picturesque Alpine setting, the 1.7 hectares of vines can be found on the steep terraced vineyards of the Valais, located in and around Ayent, between 600 and 820 meters above sea level. The soils are mainly composed of schists and limestone, but also of loess, quartz, clays and others. Everything here must be done by hand, with the steep terraced vineyard preventing any mechanisation of winemaking tasks. Grass management is done with the backpack brush cutter and the organic treatments (<1kg copper ha) are carried out using a backpack atomiser.
Since establishing the project in 2022, Lucas’ commitment to natural practices and terroir expression have been uncompromising. His 0/0 approach has resulted in some of the purest expressions of the region you can find. In the Burgundian style of his origins, Lucas tends to bottle by plot, looking for terroir that excites him. Destemming is manual and is done through sifting. All bottling is done by gravity from the barrel itself.
The work here is meticulous and considered, the resulting wines showcase the potential of the terroir and the talent of this young winemaker. With the wines having already achieved ‘sought-after’ status, it’s exciting to see what lays ahead for Lucas.
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£55
