# Les Vignes des Enfants (2023)

- **Producer:** Anders Frederik Steen & Anne Bruun Blauert
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Syrah
- **Region:** Rhône, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €78
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** No
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 14–16 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** blackberry, plum, black pepper, smoke, game

## About this wine

Anders Frederik Steen, formerly a sommelier at Copenhagen's renowned Noma and Relæ, produces natural wines in Valvignères in the Ardèche alongside Anne Bruun Blauert. Les Vignes des Enfants originates from a tiny 0.6-hectare terraced parcel in Valgrand planted to Sérine, an ancient strain of Syrah. The 2023 vintage benefited from a cooler growing season, yielding a rare and highly sought-after cuvée filled with vibrant energy and terroir expression.

## Interesting facts

- Producer Anders Frederik Steen was head sommelier at Noma before becoming a natural winemaker.
- The vineyard name translates to 'The Children's Vineyard' and consists of seven tiny terraced plots.
- Made from Sérine, an ancient, rare Northern Rhône strain of Syrah.
- The 2023 vintage was bottled almost exclusively in 1.5-liter Magnum format.

## Food pairing

The wine's rich dark fruit intensity, bright natural acidity, fine tannins, and signature salty-olive undertones make it exceptional with duck, game, and lamb. Dishes featuring black olives, wild mushrooms, or herbal seasonings complement its savory mineral depth perfectly.

## Wine making process

In 2023, half of the hand-harvested fruit was destemmed and macerated for three weeks in fiberglass tanks, infused directly into the freshly pressed juice of the remaining half. Fermentation occurred naturally using native yeasts without temperature control or chemical additives. The wine aged in neutral oak demi-muids and barriques on fine lees for one year before being bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with zero added sulfur.