Aleofane Crozes Hermitage

The Wine

Winemaker and owner, Natacha Chave, hails from a family with a rich and celebrated history of winemaking. She crafts this wine from a 50-year-old, organically farmed vineyard located in the Chassis plain. A textbook example of Northern Rhone Syrah.

The Winery

As a child, Natacha Chave knew she would make wine like her parents. But before doing so she decided to got a Masters in the Philosophy of language. Her father is Bernard Chave, who created his domaine in 1970 and became well renowned for his wines from  the Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage appellations.  

Her brother, Yann Chave, took over his father’s renowned domaine in 2000. Natacha enrolled at the Suze la Rousse wine university in 2003, passed the difficult 'Farming Professional Capacity' certification, then travelled to various winegrowers to complete her work experience.

In 2004, she bought 3.5 acres of vines in the Saint Joseph appellation at Tournon-sur-Rhône. Three years later she added to her vineyard holdings, buying 40-year-old vines in the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, extending her domaine to 16 acres. The name of her domaine is Aléofane, in reference with the imaginary island from a favorite book from her childhood, written by John Macmillan Brown. 

According to Natacha: "Our immediate focus is to respect nature, its soils and grapes and to Intervene as little as possible both in grape growing and in winemaking. Grass cover is grown between the rows, we work the soil according to the year to either induce or restrict competition with the vines. And with vinification we use indigenous yeasts with no added nutrients or enzymes, no filtration, no fining and few sulphites."

Natacha Chave also uses biodynamic preparations that favour the stimulation of the plant's natural immunity and its balance. In brief, Natacha Chave is into an approach that requires a lot of work! But it's an approach she finds rewarding, as the final result is a wine of great character that is a unique expresion of its origin.