The estate
Bruno Jouves, in the Lot
Rico’chai is made in the Lot department of south-western France, by a producer who works with rare grape varieties and lets each vintage say what it has to say.
Bruno Jouves
Bruno Jouves is the producer behind Rico’chai. He tends the vines, picks the fruit and makes the wines, and the range carries his name on every label.
Rico’chai is a small, personal project: a red and a white, made in the same spirit, without added sulphites and with a minimum of intervention in the cellar.
The Lot, in south-western France
The estate is based in the Lot department, in the south-west of France. The wines are presented as Vin de France.
Working in this part of France means working with fruit that keeps a real freshness, which is exactly the register Rico’chai is aiming for: expression and drinkability rather than weight.
Rare and little-known grape varieties
- Plot
- Noual
- Valdiguier
- Merriele
The wines are made from pre-phylloxera clone varieties, including Plot, Noual, Valdiguier and Merriele.
These are rare and little-known grapes, and they are central to the identity of Rico’chai: they give the cuvées their originality, their aromatic character and their difference on a wine list.
All winesAn artisanal approach
The approach is deliberately artisanal and low-intervention. The photographs from the estate show the harvest being carried out by hand, bunch by bunch, and the fruit sorted before it goes any further.
In the cellar, the priority is to accompany the wine rather than to shape it, so that the grapes and the vintage remain recognisable in the glass.
Grape expression and vintage character
Rico’chai pays particular attention to expressing the character of the grapes and of each vintage. The wines are not designed to taste the same every year: they are designed to taste of the year they come from.
That is why the range is deliberately small, and why the winemaking is kept as simple and as unobtrusive as possible.
At the estate
Come and taste the range
Rico’chai is presented to natural-wine distributors, wine merchants and restaurants interested in natural wine.
For documentation, availability or a conversation about the estate, contact Bruno Jouves directly.