Les Caves de Pyrene Shop

26/11/2024

Black Friday Sale at Les Caves de Pyrene - https://mailchi.mp/ec81078a0ecd/auto-8342070

26/11/2024

Looking for Christmas presents?

If yes, then you should check out our online shop where all wines are 15% until Sunday night.

Choose from over 1200 unique wines from small producers, with a wealth of natural and biodynamic options for every budget.

Pictured is a trio of stunners in the winter sun; waxy white Burgundy from , tip top Barolo from and some classy zero dosage biodynamic fizz from .thomasdemarne 🍾

Browse all wines from the link in our bio 🔗

21/11/2024

November at Les Caves - https://mailchi.mp/666e51f7e2fd/auto-8341948

20/11/2024

All hail the Gamay master 🫡

Jean-Claude Lapalu’s range of natural Beaujolais are among the finest money can buy. He farms 12 hectares in Brouilly organically and vinifies with next to no sulphur. His vines are between 60-90 years old on average. This old fruit gives his crus a dense crunchy fruit character underpinned with minerals. We love ‘em!

Here’s a pic of Jean-Claude in his winery and swipe to see the free run juice for this year’s Beaujolais Nouveaux. Speaking of which, as you’re supping on some delicious young Gamay tomorrow, spare a thought for the 10 Beaujolais crus that this day helps support. These wines are amazing, and still very keenly priced relative to their northerly neighbour, Burgundy.

Vive le Beaujolais! 🍷

📸 courtesy of the domaine

19/11/2024

We were in two minds about the name for this new case.

Quotidian means everyday, the usual, the norm. These wines are anything but. Though they do have everyday prices.

The reason for this are manifold; sometimes the wines are made especially for us, meaning we can control (some) costs without compromise. Whilst sometimes we just hit gold.

We’ve got some genuine oddball varieties (Grignolino or Hondurrabi Zuri, anyone?) alongside some ludicrously enjoyable staff faves, such as Colle Stefano’s Verdicchio and ‘s Gre2 Garnacha.

Discover this diverse selection for yourself. Link in bio 🔗

16/11/2024

Christian Binner, Elsassisch Is Bomb, Riesling 2023

This is all kinds of yes. Tangy apricots and lime pith on the palate, with spicy notes of candied ginger and fresh grass on the nose. This wine oozes verve and charm. We had fun with this one, and paired it with some greasy fish and chips!

The Binner’s have been making wine in Colmar since 1770, and were one of the first Alsace producers to release wine under their own name. Christian works both organically and biodynamically, and this Riesling is both unfined and unfiltered with no added sulphites. The wine is pressed very slowly, which adds texture, but not the wild phenols of a maceration, it’s then aged for a year in old oak.

The results are electric (or should we say ‘explosive’!) find this in our new arrivals section online now 😊

12/11/2024

Franck Balthazar makes Cornas of the highest order.

This all Syrah AOC in the Northern Rhone is one of our favourites. The wines typically have a brooding character; sanguine, with graphite and violets to the fore, and over time their savoury depth unfurls.

Franck works his 4 hectares by hand, organically, and his wines have an almost Burgundian finesse to them. The flagship Chaillot cuvee is from 100 year old vines, acquired from legendary grower, Noel Verset. Expect precise and densely packed black fruit, black olive and pepper. The trademark incense note develops with age and air. Seriously impressive stuff.

We’ve just received our yearly allocation from Franck, which includes the fantastic value Côtes du Rhône (from bought in Seguret grapes) and a tiny amount of his 100% Roussanne Saint Peray. Find all of these online now.

24/10/2024

Now it’s cool enough to ship wine again, we’re entering the season of exciting new arrivals, and kicking things off is a mammoth shipment from the US of A 🇺🇸

From Oregon, we’ve got fresh vintages from Kelley Fox, including the rather special Maresh Vineyard Golden Crowned Sparrow Block Pinot Noir. This is alongside colourful new additions from Portland’s Bow & Arrow and Newburg Riesling gurus . Chehalem’s Beckham Estate (look out for the stunning estate Pinot and newbie, Aligoté) also returns.

From a little further south, in California, we’ve got and . And also a top up from natural heroes in Utah.

You can find all of these wines in our new arrivals section online (link in bio and stories), and our trade customers can taste them next Monday at our ‘Rediscovering The Americas’ tasting 😊

11/10/2024

A quartet of mixed cases for October

https://mailchi.mp/e00d52e1e1a8/auto-8341191

08/10/2024

Vignes du Maynes is all the things we love about Burgundy. Supremely elegant wines made with no additions.

Julien Guillot farms 7 hectares spread across 27 plots in Cruzille. This is on the old site of Cluny Abbey, a Benedictine monastery which also produced wine, with records dating back to 910. Vineyards were included in the original ‘deed of gift’, devised by the Duke of Aquitaine in 910, on the abbey’s foundation.

The monks or ‘moines’ tended the vines and made the wine for centuries, with the ‘clos’ being demarcated by a series of stone markers, one of which is pictured above, and can be seen at the winery today.

What the monks might not have known was that the terroir was a special one, with limestone crystals formed from fossilized deposits, and a super shallow top toil of clay- limestone. All of which makes for tensile and beautiful Pinot, Gamay and Chardonnay. The farming here has been organic since 1954, and biodynamic since 1998.

We have new 6 bottle parcel case available from Vignes du Maynes. It features 3 of their reds, including the legendary ‘Cuvee 910’ Macon Rouge. Find the link in our bio.

03/10/2024

There’s nothing disreputable about this sextet of Chenins. Their glazed apple fruit and racy minerality are strictly above board, and worthy of admiration.

CheninIgans unites three Chenins from its spiritual and historical home, The Loire, with three from a little further afield in Swartland and Central Otago, respectively.

Chenin Blanc is one of our favourite grapes, find out why with this selection of tried and tested winners🏅

Wines from:








Link in bio & stories.

27/09/2024

Some of the many highlights from our recent trade tasting ✨

The Perpetuel Riesling from was tasting fabulous, along with the ever delicious Romorantin from Cailloux du Paradis. Patrick Sullivan’s single site Chardonnays were on fire too, along with many, many others.

You can find all of these and some 1300 others online now.

18/09/2024

With apologies to John Donne, we have a new mixed case that promises to delight and instruct with its 6 wines from sundrenched isles.

This case panders to both the post-holiday blues market, and plain old lovers of the good stuff. It’s got everything from full bodied Sardinian reds, to deeply saline Zibibbo from Pantelleria.

It’s no secret that beautiful places make beautiful wine, and this selection hopes to illustrate that point.

Link in bio and stories.

Wines from.

17/09/2024

Desert Island Drops and Autumnal Aceshttps://mailchi.mp/36f23d607610/auto-8340515

13/09/2024

06/09/2024

Back to school bangers 💥

When September hits we often revert back to red wine drinking. And there’s few grapes we enjoy more than Gamay.

Gamay is like a mirror of terroir, and these three from France’s volcanic interior give structured expressions of the grape.

If smoky minerality and unbridled bramble fruit are your thing, you should get to know the wines of The Auvergne and Cotes du Forez.

You can find these three wines discounted on our site now, along with many other options perfect for early autumn drinking.

Wines from:

04/09/2024

Nature can be cruel, but also resilient…

The first two pictures are from February 2023 when Chile’s Itata Valley and its ancient vines were engulfed by raging forest fires.

The third is from May in the same year, showing secondary growth already, literally rising from the ashes.

The fires are a contentious subject in Chile with many claiming poorly managed industrial forestry was to blame. Non native trees like eucalyptus and pine are widely planted, and these use up vast amounts of water, drying the water basin, whilst often being planted without fire breaks.

The fires raged for weeks and almost solely affected small growers, of less than a couple of hectares, often with a family home next to their holding.

Though, as we can see from the pictures, not all is lost. Sometimes nature can find a way. Indeed, remarkably we have some 2023 wines from on the way ☺️

Hopefully out of tragedy comes reform, and more protection for these amazing dry farmed old vines and their growers.

Pictures courtesy of Leo Erazo (1 and 2) and Francois Massoc (3) 📸